Topic: what can I use to fix this tank!?

[Industrial Cafe]

the bottom of the tank I got from Carpy had 3 divots where I thought I was supposed to drill to attach the petcock.
well, the one divot was in a bad spot as you can see. and the other was a little off too.
then I needed to cut out the remaining fiberglass to find the actual screw hole .

here's what I ended up with, it leaks at that hole at the bottom
I know I need a new O-ring seal.
maybe I could use some copper gasket RTV?
"Seal All" doesn't work.

I was thinking to tap threads into the big hole and put in a universal spigot with a Y adapter or something.

help.

[Industrial Cafe]

I was thinking about filling the hole with solder and sanding it down

[sloppydawg123]

Can you not just weld it? If not they say JB weld will withstand gas once it's cured, so if everything is good and clean, should be able to do that to fix the holes.

[Industrial Cafe]

it's a fiberglass tank with an aluminum block inside it. i don't think i should weld it.
JB Weld is always an option

maybe a spigot like this? and an electric fuel switch with a Y into the two fuel inlets...?

[paulages]

just so i understand this correctly: you were sold a tank with the fuel tap holes undrilled and no instructions how to do so?

[Kevin400F]

What did Carpy suggest when you contacted him about it?

[Industrial Cafe]

just so i understand this correctly: you were sold a tank with the fuel tap holes undrilled and no instructions how to do so?

heh.... yeah, I know, right.

[1974CB750rider]

I would have sent this back to Carpy from the beginning.

[Industrial Cafe]

What did Carpy suggest when you contacted him about it?

it's been a while and I can't remember exactly.
(this was back when you could talk to him)

but I think he said "there's a block of aluminum under the fiberglass on the right side to mount the fuel tap, mate"  
or something like that

no instructions on how to do this either-


I had to make it out of a piece of flat aluminum...
it's 8 way position adjustable, forward and back, up and down.
I'd like to say I did it in case I want to give the tank a more aggressive stance on the frame.
but really it was just so it would fit.

[Industrial Cafe]

I would have sent this back to Carpy from the beginning.

I wanted to ride.

[Alan F.]

Ouch Dude, and um, Ouch.

Hey if you have enough room to tap it out to 3/8" NPT you could use something like this:
 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/CHROME-GAS-FUEL-TANK-PETCOCK-3-8-NPT-55-74-FOR-HARLEY_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem3355835397QQitemZ220478002071QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

Best of luck, I'll keep a good thought for you.
-Alan

[paulages]

man, that's a bummer and a bad testament to the quality of what he's selling. i hope you didn't pay much for it. for future reference, Glass From the Past makes nice tanks, and Bret is also a member here.

[Industrial Cafe]

man, that's a bummer and a bad testament to the quality of what he's selling. i hope you didn't pay much for it. for future reference, Glass From the Past makes nice tanks, and Bret is also a member here.

heh, it was 600 shipped.

if my bits weren't so sharp they wouldn't have cut into the aluminum when I was drilling into the dimples... but who keeps dull bits around?    

  and what else, I just remembered, I had to tap the 2 holes, there were no threads.

[paulages]

man, that's a bummer and a bad testament to the quality of what he's selling. i hope you didn't pay much for it. for future reference, Glass From the Past makes nice tanks, and Bret is also a member here.

heh, it was 600 shipped.

if my bits weren't so sharp they wouldn't have cut into the aluminum when I was drilling into the dimples... but who keeps dull bits around?    

  and what else, I just remembered, I had to tap the 2 holes, there were no threads.

damn... at $600, i'd just cough up the extra couple for an alloy tank, or at least one that was ready to go. anyway, good luck.

[Industrial Cafe]

it was in my early days of motorcycles... before I knew anything about what was available, and all I knew was carpy, and eBay.

I have a plan
I'm going to tap the center hole and add an 1/8 inch elbow with a barb, an inline fuel valve mounted to the frame rail, and a splitter to feed the two inlets.
should be fun.

[Industrial Cafe]

ok,
    So here's what I came up with.
we all remember this-

I drilled the hole bigger, careful not to get shavings into the tank.


tapped it out with a 1/8npt tapered tap.


screwed some set screws into the old mounting screw holes.


and crammed the shiny new petcock off a diesel generator in there.

works like a charm.


now to clean those carbs back up.

[Alan F.]

very cool, but no reserve so be careful.
-Alan

[fishhead]

IC, Even though you have it under control, you may want to fiberglass the bottom of the aluminum peice back up. I dont know whats holding it in now, but there may be a chance of it falling out (Vibration,etc- theres nothing holding it "up"), I don't know about Carpys stuff, but most Vintage 'glass, has very little 'glass on the top of the 'glassed in petcock mounting plate and gas may easily leak around the mounting plate.

 For future reference,
 Use a smaller/tiny drill bit to find the holes first, then drill them out to the needed size.

[Industrial Cafe]

IC, Even though you have it under control, you may want to fiberglass the bottom of the aluminum peice back up. I dont know whats holding it in now, but there may be a chance of it falling out (Vibration,etc- theres nothing holding it "up"), I don't know about Carpys stuff, but most Vintage 'glass, has very little 'glass on the top of the 'glassed in petcock mounting plate and gas may easily leak around the mounting plate.

already done, had to fill it in with some fresh glass resin. (cause it was leaking)
 

For future reference,
 Use a smaller/tiny drill bit to find the holes first, then drill them out to the needed size.

yeah, already thought of that, (that was stupid of me) thanks though.

[750Caferider]

Very ingenious man!  Nice work!  Let us know how it holds up, am considering cafeing mine out soon!