.... one of the many benefits of a project like this - the amount of new stuff to learn about. I'd brazed the long seam on the fuel tank...

and then came to the business of offering it up to mark out where the brackets, filler neck and gauge mount would go.

I'm moving the gauge and fuel tap from the centre of the tank over to the nearside so that the line of the body doesn't interfere with their operation. Then all I had to do was whack a few holes in it...

and solder everything on. The filler neck and the gauge mounting are made of too thin a metal for me to risk brazing so I got out the soldering kit and had a go. Waste of time. I just couldn't get any of the various types of solder I'd got lying about, to stick. I remember that the Austin's radiator cowl had holes and dents all over it, plus when I lengthened it there was a certain amount of filling to do which I did with solder. It worked alright then so this was a bit of a poser. I had a quick look on the web and read about a tinning paste made from all sorts of noxious stuff and which did the job. I tracked it down and expect it any day.

Once I've mastered the technique, I can also get the baffles in, the ends on, make up the straps and give it all a coat of paint. Job done. In the meantime I've been laying the sections which carry the rails for the printing carriage (what's 'e on about?) It's not all cars and fun you know, chap's got to earn a crust...

At work, I'm building a textile printing table. The rails for the screen carriage (which I shall mount on top of the tube) go on either side of the print table and have to be perfectly straight and parallel for the whole 32 metres. Any misalignment would result in the mis-registration of the design being printed and with, for instance, a 12 colour design - 12 separate silk screens, one for each colour - that wouldn't look too good. There are various aids for getting the rail straight - lasers, fishing line, piano wire and so forth but in the end it comes down to the eyeball for the final adjustment; just like rigging an old aeroplane.

And while I was talking about that, the soldering paste and 'blowpipe' solder arrived. Excellent. I made a start by soldering on the brackets and the pressing for the gauge and tap. Then I took the brackets off again because I'd failed to prepare them properly.

The brackets were more successful the second time round and the next item was the baffle. There were 2 baffles in the original tank but, as I'd moved the position of the fuel gauge, the arm of the float would interfere with one of the baffles so I elected to put just the one in the middle.

In my enthusiasm, I went ahead and put one of the end plates on and then realised that I hadn't properly prepared the inside surface. There's a hint of rust in part of the flange which I forgot to sort out - it'll have to come off again and to do that, the baffle will have to come out too.

Old dog - new trick; bound to trip up somewhere.