Military Gas Can Restoration
I know that this might seem to be a little off subject but it's not. It might not be bike stuff but it's retro grouch stuff. I have been surfing the web way too much for the last couple of months and have been finding a lot of cool things. Most of the subjects are still outdoor subjects.
So the cool thing that I have been checking out is people taking the time to bring the life in older items and then using them. So I started to look around the house to see what I had. Over in the corner I had sitting an old military gas can (jerry can). I had picked the can up at a flea market for maybe $5 almost 20 years ago when the gas gauge in my truck stop working and I had run out of gas.
They can have seen better days and had about a cup of old gas in it. I cleaned the dust and spider webs off the can and poured some new gas in the can to clean it out. One of the things that I found out on other sites. When someone was looking to restore their can, that the inside of the can have a type of coating or liner inside of the can. A lot of those cans had a coating that was damaged. I don't know if the cost is worth the effort to repair... So if you are going to take a project like this check the inside of the can before making the purchase.
With a sanding pad and about 20 or 30 minutes, the can looks like this
Now it's ready for some primer. I used a white rattle can primer. I had a couple of runs but I sanded them out after drying for a few days.
Today I was able to shoot a couple of coats of OD.
I have a little more work to do and it will be finished. But I think things are looking good so far. I am not sure if I am going to paint MOGAS on the can. I have purchased a replacement gasket and that should keep it from leaking. I hope to use it to either keep gas on-hand here at the house when a storm is going to roll through or when I go camping up in the mountains and might need to carry a can of gas after a day or two driving on the fire roads.
So the cool thing that I have been checking out is people taking the time to bring the life in older items and then using them. So I started to look around the house to see what I had. Over in the corner I had sitting an old military gas can (jerry can). I had picked the can up at a flea market for maybe $5 almost 20 years ago when the gas gauge in my truck stop working and I had run out of gas.
They can have seen better days and had about a cup of old gas in it. I cleaned the dust and spider webs off the can and poured some new gas in the can to clean it out. One of the things that I found out on other sites. When someone was looking to restore their can, that the inside of the can have a type of coating or liner inside of the can. A lot of those cans had a coating that was damaged. I don't know if the cost is worth the effort to repair... So if you are going to take a project like this check the inside of the can before making the purchase.
With a sanding pad and about 20 or 30 minutes, the can looks like this
Now it's ready for some primer. I used a white rattle can primer. I had a couple of runs but I sanded them out after drying for a few days.
Today I was able to shoot a couple of coats of OD.
I have a little more work to do and it will be finished. But I think things are looking good so far. I am not sure if I am going to paint MOGAS on the can. I have purchased a replacement gasket and that should keep it from leaking. I hope to use it to either keep gas on-hand here at the house when a storm is going to roll through or when I go camping up in the mountains and might need to carry a can of gas after a day or two driving on the fire roads.
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