Hoping that someone can advise on pre war post 1931 Norton petrol tank sizes. I have two tanks and one of them is a couple of inches shorter than the other. The mounting points on the short tank align well with the mounting points on my (assumed)1935 M50 frame but the front of the tank seems to be a bit too far from the headstock - certainly noticeably further back than the front of the longer tank on my ‘46 M18. Any info much appreciated.
All I can suggest is go to…
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Thanks David. Some useful…
Thanks David. Some useful info. I’ve spent hours looking through the Vintage Norton site including brochures but nothing conclusive found yet. I have also now done what I should have done months ago and have started the process of getting the age and model no. of my frame verified by the NOC records service. I’m pretty sure that it is a ‘45 M50 frame but possibly not?
If the tanks were indeed smaller then I guess that the frames were also different even if the only change was to the positions of the tank fixing brackets?
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Thanks to NOC dating service…
Thanks to NOC dating service and the original brochures available via the Vintage Norton site I may have solved this mystery. It appears that my frame is a year younger than I thought (1936 not 1935) and as far as I can see it looks like the tank size and frame mountings changed for 1936. The tank that I have must be for frames from 1931 to 1935. The main clue (I’m sure) is the change in petrol tap positions as shown in the photos at the following links:
1935 petrol tap positions at rear of tank: https://photos.app.goo.gl/iE7tkGEdciFtBR298
1936 petrol taps moved further forward: https://photos.app.goo.gl/SSg8vTdHji5AgoWh6
The tank mounting positions on my ‘36 M50 appear to be the same as on my ‘46 M18 and are as shown in the photos at the following link.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/LwqhAWRcqjHCK4MF6
Would be really great if someone with a ‘31 to ‘35 frame could confirm the change by providing the same measurements for the earlier frame.
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All I can suggest is go to Vintagenorton web site where you can download illustrated brochures for each year through the 1930's. I think SV and OHV tanks were smaller before 1935 or thereabouts. The panel tank seems to have been different for OHV and SV in the early 30's, with the OHV having a recess for the valve gear and the SV having a flat bottom. But later they just used the OHV version for all. I think the brochures list tank sizes for each bike.
My 1937 16H panel tank reaches much further forwards than the one you show.