Wideline fuel tank

Previously John Shorter wrote:

It would probably be cheaper to buy a finished Indian tank, from Royal Enfield King. I have no complaints, about the tank I bought, except for a slight mismatch to the original colour. Tanks are made to order, and to your specification. Mine cost 360 pounds, delivered to Spain, complete with fuel cap, and tap. Unfortunately, I suspect the U.K. would charge customs duty, the Spanish did not.

Is your tank a 1955 wide-line full chrome with a paint panel, and have you a good photo.

Previously ian_cordes wrote:

Thomas. What do you mean by 'fixing it'? What is wrong with the tank? If you are talking about dent removal, then some can be beaten out by skilled hands through the filler cap. If that is not practical, then they would cut a panel, or panels, out of the base of the tank, knock the dents out, and weld the panels back in. You most certainly would not cut the tank in half! It would distort, and apart from anything else, when you have it re-chromed after repair, it does not matter how well the welding is done, and ground flat, polished, linished etc, it will still show through the chrome.

This will not be a cheap job, budget £700+ for the repair, re-chroming, painting, lining etc.

As John said, an Indian tank is a possibility, and if you are concerned about colour match, you could have it supplied chromed but un-painted, and get that done locally.

This is the tank with the cut-outs where it goes over the headstock, and has round plastic badges, I presume?

i was thinking rust removal mostly, but it does have a bad weld repair that shows (front left bottom) that i am not happy with long term maybe a repair panel can fix that, will sort some photos out and post. the tank would need at least re-chroming and painting.

Previously ian_cordes wrote:

Rust removal can be quite easily carried out with a good soaking in phosphoric acid for a few days, unless it has eaten right through the metal. The acid treatment would still be necessary, but obviously welding, or soldering, would be required to cure any holes.

thanks learning all the time from you chaps will post photos soon.

Previously Din wrote:

Dear Thomas,

You may want to look at the classifieds on this site.

A member is selling what you are after:

http://www.nortonownersclub.org/classifieds/for-sale/dominator-wideline-petrol-tank

yes it look great not chrome but still great. piggy bank empty at present lol

Previously ian_cordes wrote:

I bought a tank looking like that, which it turned out was full of filler and painted over, hence not chromed, and in no time at all it started to leak like a basket. I ended up getting my original one repaired at very great expense, and still have the rough old one, now stripped bare.

I am not saying the advertised one is the same, but there is no substitute for stripping back to bare metal and seeing what you have.

Also one needs to see a picture of the front of that tank, to see if it is the correct one. If not, it will not fit.

good advice thanks ian