Tank sticker-now what?

[Charles P.]

Here is what was waiting when the tank was dropped on the L-82. I posted a few weeks back regarding the leak I was having above the driver side muffler. The new Quanta tank is now in along with semi gloss black tank straps, NOS FV separator, sender, misc hardware, lines, gaskets and pads etc.

Any ideas on preservation of what is left of the sticker? What is there is very legible but tattered and still attached and I am aware that once detached it could have come from anywhere but I am firmly in the camp of tossing the tank. Besides the leak the crud inside it was was the cause of erratic accel due to rust, etc. Thanks

[Terry M.]

Re: Tank sticker-now what?

Actually your tank sheeet should have the last six digets of your VIN on it. Generally on the lower left of the sheet, printed in reverse by carbon paper -- just like the key codes. Same location. This began in mid-1971, and I don't know that it went past 1972, but I think it did.

[Tom R.]

Re: Tank sticker-now what?

I downloaded the photo and attempted to blow up but the resolution wouldn't permit a close up view. I was curious if all the pieces with data were present or if the gaps are areas of deterioration.

Here's what I would do. Use a razor blade and attempt to scrap each piece with glue in place. I would have a rather stiff (60# cover stock) piece of cardboard, what you would find at the back of a legal pad. Lay it out on the cardboard with gaps where paper is missing. If successful at this point, I would shoot a high res photo. Afterward, I would laminate and than scan, creating a jpg file.

Or, leave it in place and cut the tank metal from around it. You have to assess how fragile the remains are at this point and if they can be removed from the metal or must be left on the metal. If you can straighten out the overlapping corners, do so. If you can get some laminate over it, do so and than scan or shoot a photo. Your attempting to preserve the data rather than the paper and if removing from the tank destroys data, than its best to leave it on the metal and capture what remains of the data.

I say scan because you can create a high resolution image than can be used to capture the date and recreate the manifest. A scan can be blown up to view the data whereas the resolution of a photo is limited.

[Tom R.]

Re: Tank sticker-now what?

Actually your tank sheet should have the last six digets of your VIN on it. Generally on the lower left of the sheet, printed in reverse by carbon paper -- just like the key codes. Same location. This began in mid-1971, and I don't know that it went past 1972, but I think it did.

Terry & Charles

Location of the VIN changed in 73 as the tank sticker became the manifest (build sheet). The last six digits of the VIN were typed in the upper right hand corner (box 9). Over the top in the same box would be preprinted 1Z37T3S (for the L82). Key codes were typed in boxes 2 and 3 on the left upper corner and seem to be visible in the photo. Charles, look at the darkened letters in the upper left hand corner...these could be your key codes but low res image would not pick them up.

Here's link to build sheet article published in the Restorer. Terry may recall piecing this together as former editor. Charles, the images are from 78 but you'll see 1973 was first year for the landscape style build sheet.

http://www.hunt4cleanair.net/Articles/C3BuildSheets.pdf

[Harmon C.]

Re: Tank sticker-now what?

From the picture of the tank I would say the area where the VIN was is missing. If everything is readable that you have I would remove it from the tank because having the tank will not prove it came from your car any more than whats left of the paper.
I know it is from your car but ten years from now if you are selling fake paperwork will make people look closely at what you have.
Nice find as I have found a blank paper intact with no lettering.
Lyle

[Terry M.]

Re: Tank sticker-now what?

Thanks Tom. I didn't remember that the manifest format started in 1973 -- I thought it was later.

[Charles P.]

Re: Tank sticker-now what?

Just took some more pics--it looks like all the important info is there including the VIN which is visible in bold in the top right corner. Also someone has the last three digits of the VIN circled in pencil in the field below the options. I put the washers were there to keep it flat for the pics. The sticker was applied with a very flexible adhesive diectly over the strap on the passenger side. Another interesting sticker was this GM label complete with part number for the tank on the side. So what would be the best thing to do with the fragments.

[Harmon C.]

Re: Tank sticker-now what?

With the VIN on the paper and the circled last three in pencil you made a great find. I don't see the dealer information but you got the VIN. The most imporant part.
Lyle

[Tom R.]

Re: Tank sticker-now what?

Also someone has the last three digits of the VIN circled in pencil in the field below the options.

The circled digits of the VIN was done at the factory by a worker to highlight the VIN.

[John H.]

Re: Tank sticker-now what?

Interesting GM Parts Division sticker on the end of the tank - tanks shipped directly from the supplier (normal parts flow) didn't have any stickers on them. If the plant ran out or the supplier couldn't ship for some reason or there was a transportation failure, the first place the plant would go in order to maintain production was to GMPD to see if they had any available - that's apparently what was going on when this car was built.

[Stephen L.]

Re: Tank sticker-now what?

not sure if this will work here, but in typical document archival restoration, you would put the doc in a container that has water and enclose it for some days to rehydrate the document, make it less brittle and hopefully not break it when trying to remove it - YOU DO NOT IMMERSE THE DOCUMENT IN THE WATER - the water does not touch the document - rather, it creates humidity to rehydrate (think of a cigar humidor) - let us know if you can jury rig something and how it works! - good luck, sl

[Patrick H.]

Re: Tank sticker-now what?

not sure if this will work here, but in typical document archival restoration, you would put the doc in a container that has water and enclose it for some days to rehydrate the document, make it less brittle and hopefully not break it when trying to remove it - YOU DO NOT IMMERSE THE DOCUMENT IN THE WATER - the water does not touch the document - rather, it creates humidity to rehydrate (think of a cigar humidor) - let us know if you can jury rig something and how it works! - good luck, sl

Use distilled water just like I do for cigars.

Also, I'd see if you can get the absolutely best possible scan of it once you try the "rehydration" method. Then contact your local library or archival society. I'd see what they say about cleaning it, then consider having it mounted on acid free paper. You can always rescan it again after it is cleaned but you'd hate to lose the document and not have scanned it.

Patrick

[Charles P.]

Re: Tank sticker-now what?

Yes, the paper is extremely dry. As you can see from the above pic the sticker was in several pieces. I went to the local office depot and purchased an 11x14 Float frame. Basically this is just 2 pieces of glass with a black border that secures the glass together. I pieced the document together in the glass sandwich and it came out looking pretty good and very legible. I read somewhere in archiving the first rule is to do no harm. Simply put this means not doing anything that is not 100% reversible. The neat part about this frame is when I turn it over which is clear front and back, you can even see the adhesive that was used to secure it over 35 years ago! Great stuff!