Britbike forum Forums British Motorcycle specific Brands Bsa bulletin board A65 fuel tank aluminium

having sorted the Morini, LMII and the Alfa it is now time to return to the BSA. Although the fueltank has been coated inside with different kinds of sealer's, it is now leaking again. time for a different and more permanent solution.

could anyone of you recommend a alu-tank-shop I might visit?. although a good polyester reproduction of a spitfire tank '68 will also do.
at the moment I've a '68 polyester spitfire tank.

I'm not to happy to order an Indian one.

regards Anne

Polyester resin is one of the worst resins for a fuel tank. Vinylester resin is right there with it. The original factory tanks were those. The best resin to use is epoxy. And then the interior lined with epoxy, such as Caswell tank sealer.

hi Gary, the tank has been treated with an epoxy-liner. worked for a couple of years but is leaking again. perhaps the sealing hasn't been sufficient, nbut now I would like to change to alu or a very good polyester replica. for the looks it must be a Spitfiretank.

There are a couple of companies in the uk that make aluminium spitfire tanks.

One is Tab classics, I cannot remember the name of the other, but they were mentioned on here a few months ago. No experience with either but would go this route myself before getting an Indian one.

Holtworks produce top quality tanks, I have one on my B31 and one on my Rickman
http://www.holtworks.co.uk/contents/en-uk/p437.html

http://thetankshop.com/

I don't know if they are still in business as their price list / website is a bit dated - but worth a call as the pricing looks good, even if out of date.

Thanks Andy, that’s who I was thinking of

https://tabclassics.com/products/fuel-tanks/bsa-fuel-tanks/

Tab classics

I've got a TAB classics tank. Very high quality, short wait to get the tank produced, and it's beautiful.

I could be completely wrong here (I’m batting 0 lately) but I “think” TAB lost a fabricator at the IOM last year……so their production has been slowed down a bit.

Someone please correct me if I got that wrong.

According to their facebook page, they did indeed lose someone last year, but they have hired a replacement.

They were so easy to deal with, and great folks. I had a special request for shipping, and they handled it without any complaint.

posted the same question on the dutch forum, al seems to point to TAB.
worth a visit.
thanks for all your advice
regards Anne

My TAB tank.

++1 for Holt Works. I got one of their "Brooklands" style large tanks on my 1966 Spitfire after the original fiberglass tank started leaking again. It is very good quality and fits as it should. I recommend them!
Fullminator

When I get round to the A50 Daytona, I was going to ask if they could do one like the original Daytona tank, they aren’t a million miles different from yours.

I have a tank ordered with TAB........the fellow that they tragically lost at last years IOM was going to fabricate it. The new guy is now and I'm absolutely okay with that. TAB was completely honest with me about what happened and was okay with me backing out of the deal.

I'll post photos of it when it gets here........but I don't expect any surprises.

TAB Classics tank came today. It's beautiful.....not perfect but I'm a happy customer.

YES!! Beautiful! Now it will be fun to see if you can force yourself to paint it! I couldn’t………

Yes, that's a beautiful tank. I like seat as well. Source for the seat? I got a fairly nice Wassall single seat for the last one I built, but it does not seem to be available anymore. Something to put on this one I'm now building:

Tom

I have other "all alloy" tanks......so maybe it won't be so hard to paint this one. I have another paint project in front of this one....sidecar rig's new Orange set up. So I have time to think about it.

I DO NOT regret this purchase.......I'm a tank junkie. IMO.....there's nothing better than alloy. No sealers/liners ( aka band-aids) required.

I "borrowed" this idea.....Alex S has one on a unit single and it's beautiful IMO. This tank is sitting on stock tank rubbers..(on a C15C frame)...just had to use the taller rubber on the rear but to my eye it fits perfectly.

Tom......that seat is a stock BSA unit single seat in like new condition......that at the time I spent a lot of money for it (ask Steve E).....BUT....it's another purchase I don't regret. I don't think I'll ever actually mount it to a bike I'll ride......it's just too nice and I have other options.


I thought Peter Quick at BSA Unit Singles still has single seats available?????

Most of my seat and accessories purchases come from across the pond........ R.K. Leighton. I have a couple of stock single seat pans w/new foam and covers if you strike out.

I remember seeing a BSA unit single for the first time......it had been stripped down so the owner could carry it in his car across the country. So it looked a lot like your project......no seat or tank. I clearly remember thinking " THAT'S what a motorcycle should look like"....I still feel the same way.

Gary E, I used vinyl ester to make a replacement tank in maybe 2006, maybe earlier. The polyester leaked. The person I asked said the vinyl ester was chemical resistant, whatever exactly it was, but it has had fuel in it ever since and does not leak at all?

I put an Indian alloy tank on my Firebird, it seeps through a polished section. It gets a little stain on it after a while. I have liner to go in it when I get motivated.

oh [***]

is that pretty or what.

who sold you that tank?

Mark, how on earth do you ride that with clip-ons/ace bars and forward footrests?
My back would be in about 3 pieces after about an hour.

+1, rear sets alone (with low UK bars) improve the comfort and handling of the bike no end.

has been posted earlier, but no problem with the riding position
it is for this bike I'm searching for an alu-tank

https://swf-ignitionsystems.nl/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/MNDY87551.mp4

I have always wondered why no one has tried polypropylene to make a BSA Spitfire tank.

If you mean a plastic tank like many modern bikes, they are roto -molded. You have to make a mold and find a shop that will make the three or four you might sell.

How about a graphite epoxy tank or epoxy glass tank. You would cut the bottom out of a bad glass tank and make a plaster Paris mold to lay in the cloth. I think the upper tank could made from laminated wood saw cut and shaped so it would fit into the original tank. A router could carve out the fill cap cap area and a thin wood star pattern chiseled out for the transfer stat.
If you have a bridge port mill you could really carve out a nice wood pattern. Using the pattern to lay up a ridged mold spray in the gel coat then lay in the cloth to lay in the cloth . The mold is reusable
The story goes at BSA workers were giving tooling to take home to build the tank in one evening. Many of which you will find a signature or initials scratched into the bottom.
I know I’m over simplifying it but can’t be that hard. Guys a making electric starters, belt drives and end feeds etc.

You would have to coat the inside with something to keep the ethanol from eating the epoxy. I am not sure you could use Caswell with fibreglass, hardens too quickly.

No, the deal is epoxy resin does not need lining, the polyester resin does. So making a tank out of epoxy resin or carbon fiber impregnated with epoxy resin would not need lining

As I understand it, only phenol novalac epoxy is resistant to ethanol. Other types will soften.
However, might be irrelevant as california does not allow fibre glass fuel tanks to be sold for road use. I do not know if Spitfire tanks are grandfathered in.

I purchased a steel tank from Baxter. Very nice. He may still stock them, it has been some time ago.