Fuel tank strap repair

It's been a busy summer with too much ordinary work and too less time spent in the garage, but I manage to squeeze in a little repair project that took me one hour to perform and had a total cost of around 20$. As a lot of Dino owners know, the fuel tank strap has a tendency to break, either due to serious corrosion or due to the high grade spring steel becoming brittle after electro galvanizing. Mine broke during installation due to the latter. You can buy new straps from a well known vender but I am not sure if they will fit the earlier type of 206/246 and they cost quite a bit. I bought a strip of hardened spring steel on ebay in the following dimension: 0.5 x 50 x 1000 mm and cut two new strips of metal with ease. The old straps was then repaired as follows:

-Grind down backside of all rivets and punch out old rivets with a steel driver.

-Remove the old straps from the latches.

-Transfer length and hole locations from old straps to new straps. Be very accurate, latches are slightly angled to fit the tank geometry.

-Punch new holes in straps using small hand held sheet metal puncher (5mm) You cannot drill in this steel!

-Install new straps into the old latches using preferably old style steel rivets and appropriate tools or a hammer.

Voila, you have then saved $$$$ and kept another few of the original parts in the car.

Good wrenching.

Peter
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Thanks Matthias. I wonder if anyone can guess what the next project is about.....
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Andrew, you nailed it spot on. Engineered a drawing and started "casting work" late last night. Now left with filing the round edges, drilling a hole, prep and black paint...The knob is a modified fuse box lid knob from SF.

Alberto, you can get the spring steel from UK (Guess the tax is the same for you whether they are member of the EU or not...-.

172215492042 | eBay

Best regards

Peter
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Rounded the edges, gave it a final finish with size 600 sanding paper, then trial installation and a layer of primer before cooking in the sun for a couple of hours....Soon ready for a final layer of glossy black and installation. Estimated cost 4$ excluding the knob, who said that it is expensive to be a Ferrari owner...-

Peter
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Thanks Chris. This is the finished product:
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It is a heat resistant phenol print board rated to minimum 100 deg C continuous heat exposure + extra strong araldite epoxy glue. This is the same type of board used for the fuse box panel in the front of my car. I believe most of my engine room will be melted before this lid is toast...- The board is a type Etronax MF phenol board produced in Denmark and exported to most of the world for use in high amp electronic according to a product engineer from the company I spoke to. I am serious considering making a replica fuse box lid as well since these also are NLA for the L series. I am NOT considering going into production....Others are welcome to go that route....-