Indian Tank

Have some experience of different Indian tanks.
My advice is to buy an unpainted tank as most of the problems were poor fitting and just about acceptable paint. However this puts the price about the same as fixing yours.
Richard

I bought an Indian-made Roadster tank on eBay. It was one of the cheaper ones. And unpainted, described as raw but actually primer.

• The shape is very good but there are some deficiencies in the way it had been assembled so, close-up, it's quite obviously not original.
• Came with a filler cap but the flange drilling was out so cap didn't quite sit right (poor seal).
• Pressure test showed some leakage at the rear seam.
• Mounting stud holes are M8.
• Thicker gauge steel so heavier.

All problems were fixable and I'm happy enough with it at the price. Maybe if you buy thru one of the British companies they're better but they also cost about 3x as much.

However my preference would always be to repair an original if at all possible (I had sold my Roadster tank 25 years ago so not an option for me).

We have just test purchased an Interstate tank from India, it is around 3'' too short and not the correct shape. 

I just paid 200 for a roadster tank and panels, they agreed to my request for black Norton logo on tank without pinstripes, and none on side panels either but with Commando 750 SS decal. The tank wasn't advertised with a filler cap but had one fitted on arrival. They all seem to mention the tanks are sealed but recommend the customer adds their own seal too (lack of confidence in welding) I'm just going take a chance and flush the tank out and see what happens, I think adding sealant on top of existing sealant isn't ideal in case there's a reaction. The tank fits OK but I've now realised Interstate seats are miles off fitting with a 3-4" gap between the nose of the seat and tank so I've ordered a roadster seat. I'm having to adjust the side panel mountings to get them to fit but the original oil tank panel didn't fit properly either, the main snagging point being the drain plug, which even having trimmed the heads depth interferes with the fit of the cover, so it could be the oil tank which could be aftermarket too for all I know. Such is the way with old things with good original parts getting harder to find. I don't expect many things to fit, especially when cheap to buy, it's all part of ownership of such items. 

I've had one that was fitted to a 650 SS, it leaked, had it repaired, it leaked in a different area shortly after. During the next repair it exploded. The repair person was very experienced at tank repairs and had cleaned it prior to repair and was purging it with a non O2 gas. The Indians use multi layers of cheap sealer. Petrol had got between the layers in the area of the repair causing the tank to explode. Thankfully worker was not injured. I would not buy another although some have and had good results but it's more like gambling..............you pay and take your chances!

There are a lot of DIYers on here, we'll paint our own and, maybe, friends bikes but that's it.

I've heard good things about these guys in Warrington https://www.rage-designs.co.uk/ but no direct experience.

Looking at your avatar I guess you want a straight black and any decent auto body shop should be able to do that for you. RAL 9005 Jet Black is good. Norton decals are off-the-shelf. Pin stripe is more difficult - something of a dying art. If you have a good eye and steady hand then 3M do a double gold stripe on a roll _ I think this is how the factory did it.

If you have a lot of patience, confidence and good basic skills, an aerosol paint job is cheap, effective and very satisfying.

I took my Mk3 tank and side panels back to bare metal, repaired accident damage then primer and 4 cans of Simoniz acrylic Black Gloss to finish. Tank underside in Simoniz Satin Black after prep.
Black top coats done early on a warm still morning outside on a stool, with recommended waiting times between coats. Cured for 48hrs in a spare room with a heater on and window open.

Final wet sanding then cut & polished smooth to eliminate any orange peel or spray patterns. Decals and pinstripe applied then final wax polish.
No clear coat and I prefer standard decals rather than brush pin striping etc. More serviceable to touch up road chips etc in use and still looks OK. 

Cost including new AN decals, paint plus items I already had was under £50.
A quality £600 paint job looks fair in my view and reflects the material cost, amount of time taken for prep and the work above.
I wouldn't do it for a living but still have my Atlas and spare Interstate tank to do...
 

Neil's tank looks totally professional.  But there are two pack aerosols.  Wear a vapour control mask, do it out of doors on a fine still day.  You pull a tag to mix the components and shake as usual.  There's enough time to do at least a couple of coats before it sets in the can.  I did the side silver panels on my 16H tank.
There are well known health hazards from the solvents.  But these tend to be cumulative so they might not be advisable for frequent use.  It seems to be totally resistant to anything apart from caustic soda!

I'd be tempted to paint using conventional rattle cans and spray 2 pack lacquer to make it fuel proof, rather than use 2 pack by itself.  Has any else used this stuff?  I prefer to do things myself even if it's not as professional as a Stafford show bike.  I have an oil tank to do some time.

You can buy Indian made tanks on Amazon. They do cost a bit more but you have the advantage of being able to return them if they leak or don't fit. (ie, not fit for purpose).