English French German Italian Spanish

Repairing My Wideline Tank

Submitted by michael_crehan on Thu, 03/05/2018
Forums
Heavy Twins

1958 Norton Dominator tank has had a leak since my friend had it restored. Twice in my ownership it has been to "experts" for repair followed by a repaint. I was thinking it must be really rusty under the paint and have been looking for a replacement but they are unobtainable. Finally gave up and stripped all the paint off to find no significant rust just a small crack. Who knows what the previous expert fixes involved although there was a lot of sealer inside the tank, 2 days in ancacid bath got that out.

Attachments screenshot_20180503-204601-jpg

Submitted by ian_cordes on Thu, 03/05/2018

Permalink

There were a couple for sale at Shepton Mallet last week. Goodness knows what they would be like under their shiny new paint, however. I have had the same experience myself. Like you I stripped it, found a leaky area, and took it to a good tank repair man who kept brazing it and brazing it, each time holes appear adjacent. It looks like metal fatigue. It needs a bigger patch, but we gave up on it and repaired the original one, at great expense.

I have a sad looking tank spare now.....

Submitted by dominic_gomes on Fri, 04/05/2018

Permalink

Get the crack tig welded up and you should be good to go. Pin holes are a bugger but one could replace the bottom panels and tig new ones in.

Submitted by ian_cordes on Fri, 04/05/2018

Permalink

My pin holes are in the side, Dominic, near the back on one side only. A repair could no doubt be effected, but it would only be suitable for painting, and then with a fair bit of prep work.

Michael's sounds quite repairable, as you suggest.

I could be persuaded to part with mine, for not too much money.....Wink

Submitted by paul_reynolds on Thu, 31/05/2018

Permalink

Hi, I would Braze it. One could also cut out the area and Braze in a new piece of metal. DO NOT FORGET TO FILL THE TANK WITH SODA WATER AND FLASH IT OVER WITH A TORCH before welding. Lots of people stopped repairing tanks because they blew back due to not taking this precaution first. I have a tank here that looks better than that one.

Submitted by michael_crehan on Wed, 04/07/2018

Permalink

All done. Gas welded the split. Painted 3 times to get colour match. "Norton" painted rather than a decal as I prefer the appearance. 58 Dommie should be chrome with painted panels, badges and kneepads but this is how the last owner had it and I like it too as it echoes the look of my 61 Manx. Other than a few pits, minimal filler in this original tank. Might have to give the bike a good clean now so this won't look too new.

Attachments tank4-7-18-jpg

Submitted by john_shorter on Thu, 05/07/2018

Permalink

Royal Enfield King (ok so they are Indian) produce excellent wideline tanks. Price is negotiable, dependent on finish required. The tank I bought from them, last year, was almost indistinguishable from the original. Both tanks weigh the same, within a few grams, so, they are not using thin tinplate.

Mine cost 360 pounds (including delivery to Spain) complete with fuel cap, petrol tap, and knee pads. Apart from having to slightly re-position the front mounting rubbers, it was a perfect fit.

Submitted by Xanna_jeannett… on Thu, 05/07/2018

Permalink

Previously John Shorter wrote:

Royal Enfield King (ok so they are Indian) produce excellent wideline tanks. Price is negotiable, dependent on finish required. The tank I bought from them, last year, was almost indistinguishable from the original. Both tanks weigh the same, within a few grams, so, they are not using thin tinplate.

Mine cost 360 pounds (including delivery to Spain) complete with fuel cap, petrol tap, and knee pads. Apart from having to slightly re-position the front mounting rubbers, it was a perfect fit.

Hello yes well you want to see my new one it makes for a laughing job its all over the place so much for Indian tanks And if you cannot chrome them you can chrome wrap them you can see how the Chrome wrap a BMW in only one hour, it come in the workshop at one end in red and goes out in Chrome wrap so watch on you tube I am going to try it out on a wideline tank and see how it comes out, yours anna j

Submitted by michael_crehan on Sat, 07/07/2018

Permalink

Isn't it just? Hours and hours of work by my friend and professional restorer Richard Conlon at Tasman Coach Builders. He is as good as anyone anywhere and costs less than many.

Submitted by michael_crehan on Tue, 10/07/2018

Permalink

All back together and running beautifully. While the tank was being redone I gave everything a good check over and did quite a bit of rewiring - it had things like multiple pieces of different coloured wire joined with chocolate box connectors to make a single piece long enough to join components. Got rid of all of that nonsense, put in plugs and connectors so things like the rectifier / regulator can be taken off without having to cut and then resolder wires.

As always happens when the need has passed, casually asked a local supplier if he had a wideline dommie tank and hey presto he turned up a sound non-rusty one from out the back that has been in storage for years, price was good so I bought it as a spare. Much better starting point than an Indian tank if I ever need another.

Shot down to the local testing station just on closing time for our equivalent of an MoT. Went straight through with no advisories. Now I just need some dry winter days so I can ride it.

Submitted by philip_hannam on Wed, 11/07/2018

Permalink

The tank, on my rebuild project, was too rough to get restored for less than £600 so I opted for an Indian replacement. There were only two sellers offering the style of tank I needed, both at around £230 plus postage.

I opted for the seller who also agreed to supply an appropriate tank filler cap plus fast delivery. I got caught out BIG TIME with this purchase. First, the fast delivery would have been quicker if a snail had dragged the tank from India to the UK. The 2 week delivery promise turning into 4. Next the delivery man turned up, with the tank, demanding £70 for taxes and duties. The protective packaging was a joke with one whole section of the tank having none at all. So you can guess where the biggest scratch in the paintwork was found.

Finally, although this tank generally ressembled what I needed and did actually fit the frame, there were several points where BIG QUESTIONS would be asked from anyone judging the appearance. Please checkout the attachment and play SPOT THE OBVIOUS MISTAKE.

Attachments indian-fuel-tank-jpg

Submitted by Xanna_jeannett… on Wed, 11/07/2018

Permalink

Previously philip_hannam wrote:

The tank, on my rebuild project, was too rough to get restored for less than £600 so I opted for an Indian replacement. There were only two sellers offering the style of tank I needed, both at around £230 plus postage.

I opted for the seller who also agreed to supply an appropriate tank filler cap plus fast delivery. I got caught out BIG TIME with this purchase. First, the fast delivery would have been quicker if a snail had dragged the tank from India to the UK. The 2 week delivery promise turning into 4. Next the delivery man turned up, with the tank, demanding £70 for taxes and duties. The protective packaging was a joke with one whole section of the tank having none at all. So you can guess where the biggest scratch in the paintwork was found.

Finally, although this tank generally ressembled what I needed and did actually fit the frame, there were several points where BIG QUESTIONS would be asked from anyone judging the appearance. Please checkout the attachment and play SPOT THE OBVIOUS MISTAKE.

hello they fitted the filler neck in the wrong way the hing should facing up front , you should see my indian made domine 54 tank you look and laugh at it the bottom edge is not level and its tiet around the front of the frame yours anna j

Submitted by ian_richtsteig on Thu, 12/07/2018

Permalink

Hi Phil,

On my tanks the filler hole and cap are on the right side of the tank and not the left as your tank shows

Submitted by john_shorter on Thu, 12/07/2018

Permalink

I wonder if the position, of the hinge, depends on whether, or not, "Fred", at the factory was having a bad day!

The hinges on my (genuine) ?54 Wideline tank, and the excellent Indian replacement, are both to the rear.

Submitted by michael_crehan on Thu, 12/07/2018

Permalink

I have yet to see an Indian tank (not just Norton, but any make) that I could live with on my bikes. I have seen some Indian products that I would use but never yet a tank. They are rarely the correct shape and even when they are they are not symmetrical, have badge mounts in different positions left and right, wavy seams and edges, oversized threaded holes for mounts and fuel taps / lines etc. They get chromed over visible linishing marks etc. It doesn't matter how good your painter is if the finish below is no good the end product won't be. The painting and finishing (including paint instead of decals) on my tank is about the £600 mark but you would have shipping here and back to pay on top of that. I do not believe you would ever get an off the shelf Indian product that would come close to this standard (the underside of my tank looks just like the top!)

In the background of the photo with my initial post you can see a brand new Model 18 tank under construction. Richard doesn't compete with the Indian's on price and they don't try to compete with him on accuracy and quality!

Submitted by john_shorter on Thu, 12/07/2018

Permalink

So, how many Indian tanks have you actually seen? Apart from a slight difference in colour, (If buying another, I would get it unpainted) mine is a99% match to the original. An all painted tank may look very smart, but, I would not fit one on a model that originally had a chromed one fitted. An individual choice, but, don?t decry all Indian tanks.

Submitted by michael_crehan on Sun, 15/07/2018

Permalink

At least a dozen I would say and not good one amongst them. Hand making good repro tanks correctly and accurately is hard work. I dont believe you can make one for £250 and stay in business, even in India.

Submitted by john_shorter on Mon, 16/07/2018

Permalink

Mine cost 360 complete, and ready to fit (apart from sticking on knee pads, which were included). Royal Enfield King can, and do, make excellent tanks. Oh, there was one terrible fault, I had to change the split pin on the filler cap!

Submitted by lionel_yexley on Tue, 07/08/2018

Permalink

I know this tank is fixed now, but don't forget you can repair a steel tank (Or anything else) with plumber's solder. My Dad repaired my 1955 '88' tank in 1963 and it still holds! Not used now as I long since sold off most of the bike and the tank is badly dented. So - 55 years and still holding!

 


Norton Owners Club Website by 2Toucans