Curbside Alert Free Solvent Tank

[Tom Wesenberg]

I've had good luck with free neighbor's curbside stuff lately. A couple months ago I got the free like new air compressor because the belt slipped off the pulley. Yesterday my other neighbor set out a free heavy duty solvent tank and very heavy duty work table. I don't know what was mounted on the work table, but it weighs about 200 pounds with 3/4" steel plate on the bottom, and it was all I could do to lift it onto my trailer. The bottom has holes where 6 heavy duty casters were mounted. Another neighbor had some free scrap aluminum. The solvent tank is 2 feet by 3 feet, and 13" deep, so it can easily hold a Model A engine. Now I need to find a good circulating pump for it

The top two logs in the background is what I had on my hoist the other day from the large maple tree that blew down. If I keep stacking logs, then the neighbors won't have to look at my stuff in the yard, and it helps keep the deer out of my yard. :D


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[Mitch]

Nice find those items will come in handy

What is that tripod on the L/s of the picture? Another homemade tool? I don't remember you posting that

[Tom Wesenberg]

I'm not sure, but it was another curbside free item. The only thing I can think of is it might be for holding a big long punching bag on the right side, and the adjustable left side might hold the small teardrop punching bag. Anyway, it has nice heavy square tubing that might come in handy for something.

Today it was miserably hot and humid, but I did manage to get the solvent tank frame cleaned up and painted. Hopefully the tank will get done tomorrow.

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[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Is that '46 Dodge PEA GREEN or a Studebaker color??
SA Bill W.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Is that '46 Dodge PEA GREEN or a Studebaker color??
SA Bill W.

It's Rustoleum 2X Satin Leafy Green. It's the same color I painted my engine hoist.

[Dennis]

Nice color. Looks Model A Is that in a qt can or spray bomb? HD? Lowes? Tractor Supply? I actually located a Tractor Supply out here of all places.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Nice color. Looks Model A Is that in a qt can or spray bomb? HD? Lowes? Tractor Supply? I actually located a Tractor Supply out here of all places.

I bought the last 5 cans of that color at Menards yesterday. It's only $1.99 after the mail in rebate. I used just over one spray can for the frame.

[Dennis]

Hmmm, no Menards out here.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Yesterday I drove my Cub Cadet and trailer down the block to pick up the metal enclosure the owner had on top of this heavy work bench. This is about 7 houses down the road, and 4 houses down I met Gary and told him about the nice solvent tank I got for free. Gary said "that was my solvent tank". He made it about 25 years ago and gave it to the other guy when he bought a new solvent tank with a pump. Gary builds custom cars and just finished restoring a 56 T-Bird to all original. His cars have appeared in national magazines, and his metal work and restorations are first class. That's why I thought this solvent tank might be factory made.

By all the metal chips on the blue table, I determined that he had a milling machine mounted on it, and had a coolant sprayer, and that was the reason for the metal shield and all the silicone to seal it. Anyway I picked up the metal shield yesterday and took it apart. The aluminum panels will be perfect to make carburetor heat shields for the Model A. I like the one someone posted a picture of a couple years ago. It was aluminum and went where the carb bolts to the intake, and then went to the rear and down to keep the exhaust heat from being sucked into the carb.

Today the temp and humidity each dropped by about 10, so I could work outside again. I sanded and painted the top of the work table, and was thinking it would make a great test stand for the Model A engine. I already have one made from the front part of a truck frame, so I think I'll use the work table to mount an anvil, vice, drill press, and grinder on. BTW, the drill in the pictures is my Montgomery Wards drill found at a swap meet for $1. It's from the 50's and made by Millers Falls, and very good quality, as were most of M/W tools. My dad had two of these drills that he bought new, but his had the Millers Falls company name on them.

I cleaned, sanded, and painted the tank today, so that's finally finished and ready to use. I'd still like to find a circulating pump for it though.
I started out using the orange abrasive brush in my drill, and thought it was doing a good job, as shown in the second picture. I had a flap wheel, so I thought I'd see if that would work as well as the orange wheel. Well, it turns out the orange wheel was just removing the loose rust and polishing the solid rust. The flap wheel removed all the rust down to shiny metal, and it didn't take too long. BTW, does anyone know the correct name for the orange wheel, which has abrasive on the plastic quills?

[DaWizard]

Great work Tom, make sure you have a good ground on that drill.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Great work Tom, make sure you have a good ground on that drill.

Funny you should say that because my house was built in 1952, and the fools didn't even use grounded outlets. Every once in a while when I touch my drill press in the basement I get a tingle in my hand.

[DaWizard]

YUP!!

[BNCHIEF]

Tom you are a innovator, love seeing the things you do, Tom you can still get a ground to your sockets just talk to an electrician especially on tools like your drill press.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Tom,
You're sure messin' up a NICE door, with that GREEN paint. I could have used that door!
Bill Poor

[Tom Wesenberg]

My neighbor gave me 4 of those interior doors, and I didn't have any use for them, and no good place to store them. They got wet on the bottom, and started to fall apart, so they were good for this project.

One dining room outlet was bad and I replaced it about 20 years ago with a new grounded outlet, but don't recall what I did about the ground. I would have thought by 1952 houses would have all been built with grounded outlets. In the 80's I saw a house that still had post and tube wiring.

[tbirdtbird]

Tom, change out the older 2-prong duplex receptacles from the '50s (they were all like that) to modern 3-prong. If the wire was run in BX then the armour is your ground. If not BX, then connect the grounding prong to the white wire (the neutral). In the breaker box or fuse box, the bare ground (equipment ground) and the white wire (neutral) all connect to the same bus. Only 3 wires come in from the street: both legs of the 240 and the neutral. The stepdown transformer on the pole has a center tap in the secondary winding, and that center tap is both the neutral, and bonded to the ground rod and the overhead ground conductor high on top of the pole