Wideline Tanks

Hello Jon I do Gas Welding I am welding the bottom up on my 1954 88 tank so if you like me to do yours I will. What year is your bike? 1952 to sept 1955 has painted panels, Sept1955 to 1959 has screw on panel's and early tanks 1952 to May 1954 has a cutaways at the front of the tank to let the cables though - late one's do not have this. My Address is Howden Country Club, Main Road, Belby, Howden, East Yorkshire DN14 7UZ( Phone) 01430430831or mobile 0775708077 or annajeannette@btinternet.com Hope this helps - yours Anna J Dixon

Hi Jon,

I don't know how much you want to spend but there's a guy named Ross Thompson out of Canada who does tank restorations. He has a web site , just Google Ross Thompson. You can send him pictures of it stripped and he can give you a quote. He also has a local guy that does his chroming. I sent him a tank that needed chroming but it was too far gone as far as the damage and repairs so he took the dents out and sent it back. I must admit the tankwas a real mess. An interesting thing was that he had drilled holes at opposite ends of where the dents were. I think he heated the metal and pushed it out with a spoon like devise. Just guessing.A friend suggestedI put the tank under air pressure and heat the metal and the internal pressure might push the metal back out. Never tried it.

Lou

Try bantam john (John Phelan) he may have one done arrange a deal I did and the one i got was verry good

Hello Jon Do not try bantam john he is a ripoff He tryed selling me a 1954 domie 88 tank and when I had taken a close look at it turn out too be 1957 tank that hand been made too look like a 54 tankhe said he wanted 500 quid and said you not find aother one like this ?O'yes I think I've heard that before? Later tanks that were not chromed where made from thinner metal and the biggest giveway was not cut-ways at the front of the tank witch the 54 tank has so I know my norton wideline tanks as lots of wideline tank folts is corrosion at the back in the bottom corners There wideline tanks out be Guys Are hanging on to them ? if Want me too your tank for you I will I am sorting my one out soon I hope too be at Stafford show with the NOC ? Yours Anna J Dixon (Bs IE Eng)

No- say what you mean Anna! I have bought stuff from John over the years, including quite a good "new" rear mudguard for my 1959 Dommie. It needs a little fettling but it's pretty authentic as I have the old one (a colander!) to compare with. However, I wanted anew righthand driver's footrest and he was selling one at a ridiculous price saying that they cost over £70 normally! I bought a newone fromNorvil for a lot less. You have to choose carefully with his stuff.

Hope to see you at Stafford then?

Cheers, Lionel

hello lionel no you will not as I will not begoing to stafford show as I am not very well at the moment but I am now on the mend , If jon sill wants me to sort his tank out I will ,But for a 1958 mahine these was built with painted tank with sidepanels fitted hope this helps and I have 2liter of polychromaic gray paint that will thin down to 50to1 makes nearly 4liters that would do two bikes ? Heres my phone number phone any time 01430 430831 or email annajeannette@btinternet.com all lower case ??? yours Anna J Dixon Just a woman ????

Previously wrote:

hello lionel no you will not as I will not begoing to stafford show as I am not very well at the moment but I am now on the mend , If jon sill wants me to sort his tank out I will ,But for a 1958 mahine these was built with painted tank with sidepanels fitted hope this helps and I have 2liter of polychromaic gray paint that will thin down to 50to1 makes nearly 4liters that would do two bikes ? Heres my phone number phone any time 01430 430831 or email annajeannette@btinternet.com all lower case ??? yours Anna J Dixon Just a woman ????

Ah..shame! No chance of you getting better by then? I hope you recover soon. I'm ignoring my kidney stone problems and hoping they'll go away by next weekend! I'm quite 'au fait' with all the Dommies from 1955 to 1959. I had one of each, my friend has a 1957 and 1958 plus a Triton. As you say, the 1958 tank had the screw on side panels. In case you, or anyone else is interested, my mate Fred Williams does histank panels to suit the modern, larger diameter badges. Some years ago I pointed out to him that the old, smaller badges are not available so why doesn't "someone" make the panels to suit the new ones! He took it onboard and did it! He's a Norton man himself and was restoring a 1959 '99' a while back.

I'm not sure about keeping your phone number - my wife doesn't trust me with women's phone numbers! LOL!!! It was my old 1955 '88' that was grey. My '99' is black & silver - or will be again when I finish it. I first need a round tuit though! Mine was black, with silver tank and chrome mudguards ex-works, and when I bought it in 1965. At the time I corresponded extensively with John Hudson about technical minutae on the bike as I stripped it down (it had been run into the ground beforeI bought it from Pride & Clake for £59-10s!). He identified it from factory records (it was only 6 years old!) as a "99 Special" as it had most of the 1959 optional extras. Twin carbs, large inlet-valve head, chrome mudguards, HC pistons and fully enclosed rear chainguard. I had the benefit of having the two most famous Norton dealers to choose from for spares in Southampton - Alec Bennett and Lawton & Wilson! I sold the original 'QR' camshaft to Barry Lawton who fitted it into a Domiracer for the IoM TT. I replaced it with an 'SS camshaft. A mistake really as I would like a 'QR' cam now! I intend to go for Concours as I'd neglected the bike for 37 years and it was rotting away, so the only way was up! I probably won't go for twin carbs though. It's only a touring bike. The original Monobloc is finebut I will get it resleeved and fit a full overhail kit from Amal.

When I bought it there were sidecar fittings, only a single carb with a botched fixing on the extra long studs. One of the pistons had started melting, the drive side bearing had turned in its housing, one spark plug thread had been helicoiled, one exhaust thread was partially stripped, the head/valves/guides were in a mess and coked to hell and the block had been rebored to +.030" - after less than 14,000 miles! "Neglect" would be an understatement! VERY clear what it's main problem had been. NO OIL CHANGES! As an expert, you know that it is THE most important maintenance job on any I/C engine, even today. You can get an engine to go for more than 250,000 miles without it smoking or burning oil just by regular oil and filter changes by the book. My 1986 Granada had done more miles than that when I gave it away to a friend of my wife's! You might know thay they have/had a bomb-proof, all-iron engine- standard pushrodOHV. I was doing 600 miles per week commuting down to Dorset so oil changes were every 10 weeks! (6000 miles by the book). It never smoked or used any oil.

Cheers, Lionel

Previously wrote:

Previously wrote:

hello lionel no you will not as I will not begoing to stafford show as I am not very well at the moment but I am now on the mend , If jon sill wants me to sort his tank out I will ,But for a 1958 mahine these was built with painted tank with sidepanels fitted hope this helps and I have 2liter of polychromaic gray paint that will thin down to 50to1 makes nearly 4liters that would do two bikes ? Heres my phone number phone any time 01430 430831 or email annajeannette@btinternet.com all lower case ??? yours Anna J Dixon Just a woman ????

Ah..shame! No chance of you getting better by then? I hope you recover soon. I'm ignoring my kidney stone problems and hoping they'll go away by next weekend! I'm quite 'au fait' with all the Dommies from 1955 to 1959. I had one of each, my friend has a 1957 and 1958 plus a Triton. As you say, the 1958 tank had the screw on side panels. In case you, or anyone else is interested, my mate Fred Williams does histank panels to suit the modern, larger diameter badges. Some years ago I pointed out to him that the old, smaller badges are not available so why doesn't "someone" make the panels to suit the new ones! He took it onboard and did it! He's a Norton man himself and was restoring a 1959 '99' a while back.

I'm not sure about keeping your phone number - my wife doesn't trust me with women's phone numbers! LOL!!! It was my old 1955 '88' that was grey. My '99' is black & silver - or will be again when I finish it. I first need a round tuit though! Mine was black, with silver tank and chrome mudguards ex-works, and when I bought it in 1965. At the time I corresponded extensively with John Hudson about technical minutae on the bike as I stripped it down (it had been run into the ground beforeI bought it from Pride & Clake for £59-10s!). He identified it from factory records (it was only 6 years old!) as a "99 Special" as it had most of the 1959 optional extras. Twin carbs, large inlet-valve head, chrome mudguards, HC pistons and fully enclosed rear chainguard. I had the benefit of having the two most famous Norton dealers to choose from for spares in Southampton - Alec Bennett and Lawton & Wilson! I sold the original 'QR' camshaft to Barry Lawton who fitted it into a Domiracer for the IoM TT. I replaced it with an 'SS camshaft. A mistake really as I would like a 'QR' cam now! I intend to go for Concours as I'd neglected the bike for 37 years and it was rotting away, so the only way was up! I probably won't go for twin carbs though. It's only a touring bike. The original Monobloc is finebut I will get it resleeved and fit a full overhail kit from Amal.

When I bought it there were sidecar fittings, only a single carb with a botched fixing on the extra long studs. One of the pistons had started melting, the drive side bearing had turned in its housing, one spark plug thread had been helicoiled, one exhaust thread was partially stripped, the head/valves/guides were in a mess and coked to hell and the block had been rebored to +.030" - after less than 14,000 miles! "Neglect" would be an understatement! VERY clear what it's main problem had been. NO OIL CHANGES! As an expert, you know that it is THE most important maintenance job on any I/C engine, even today. You can get an engine to go for more than 250,000 miles without it smoking or burning oil just by regular oil and filter changes by the book. My 1986 Granada had done more miles than that when I gave it away to a friend of my wife's! You might know thay they have/had a bomb-proof, all-iron engine- standard pushrodOHV. I was doing 600 miles per week commuting down to Dorset so oil changes were every 10 weeks! (6000 miles by the book). It never smoked or used any oil.

Cheers, Lionel

hello lionel I am on the mend but I am now running out of cash so back to work next week , So no Stafford Show for Me this year ?

Previously wrote:

I have two wideline tanks, one (Tank A) which has the embedded nuts for the chrome sidepanels and one (Tank B) which has only embedded nuts for the badge and should be chromed and painted. Tank A has a twisted underside so it rocks on the frame but has no major dents. Tank B sits well on the frame but has many dents so it will not be easy to chrome plate. Ideally, I am looking to make two good tanks as they were originally designed, i.e., sit evenly on the top tubes, one chromed and painted and the other fitted with chrome side panels. Can anyone advise any details of tank repairers/sheet metal finishers and painters that may be able to tackle this work?

Thanks

Jon Osborne

hello jon Its been a long time since you posted this on the norton web have you got sorted yet

your anna j dixon