Tank repair

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JimF
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Tank repair

Postby JimF » Sat Apr 13, 2013 7:25 pm

I wish I had taken better photos of the "before" on this tank, or that I could at least find the pictures I did take.

This is a Mach 1 tank I bought many years ago. It had an awful blue aftermarket paint on it, it had about three dents in obvious places that were deep and rounded indentations. There was also a crease just above the rear tank hook.

It sat on my shelf for years, and when my 'Diana' tank suffered from a stress fracture last season I put this Mach 1 tank on the bike to nurse the 250 through the end of the season.

When I put this M1 tank on the bike and filled it with gas for the first time fuel wept out of the right forward bottom part of the tank near the seam. I could see rust at the location but not a perforation.

I sanded away the rust where the droplets of gas were forming and sure enough there was a hole. I put a patch of fuel-resistant 2-part radiator goo on the tank to stem the leak and finished out the riding season.

WIth all the dents, the crease and the leak, and considering the value of a M1 tank I decided to go to a metal artisan as opposed to a body shop that would simply bondo up the tank and prime over the bondo.

I have seen Ross Thompson's repair of a dented BSA 441 Victor aluminum tank that was dented where the tank wears no paint. I had held that tank before the repair, I knew right where the dent was, how big it was, right where to look and after Ross repaired it I knew exactly where to look. Try as I did I could not find any evidence of the dent whatsoever. Not even a hint. I almost thought Ross must've switched tanks. It was like trying to figure out a magic trick.

http://www.execulink.com/~rosst/

So I sent my tank to Ross so he could work his magic on it and this is the result.

The Mach 1 tank is now perfect. All metal, no dents, no rust. Incredible work.


small_cut-out_external.jpg
small_cut_out_internal.jpg
small_M1_front_left side.jpg
small_M1_right side.jpg
small_M1_inside.jpg
small_swiss_cheese.jpg
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amartina75
Posts: 347
Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2012 1:13 am
Location: Cincinnati, OH. USA

Re: Tank repair

Postby amartina75 » Sat Apr 13, 2013 9:01 pm

Jim,
I had my MK3 tank done by Ross about a year ago. He did a very good job on the repairs. The tank is still not perfect because there was one spot that was warped very badly from a previous poor brazing job. Ross did the best he could with it. I thought his prices for the repair were very reasonable. My tank being chrome added allot of expence to the job.
these are the before pictures I took

DSCN0592.JPG

DSCN0594.JPG

DSCN0596.JPG

DSCN0595.JPG

DSCN0597.JPG
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1966 250 Scrambler
1970 450 Jupiter

amartina75
Posts: 347
Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2012 1:13 am
Location: Cincinnati, OH. USA

Re: Tank repair

Postby amartina75 » Sat Apr 13, 2013 9:08 pm

These are the pictures that Ross took after the chrome was stripped before he did the repairs

P1010001.JPG

P1010012.JPG

P1010013[1].JPG

P1010014.JPG

P1010015[1].JPG
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1966 250 Scrambler
1970 450 Jupiter

amartina75
Posts: 347
Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2012 1:13 am
Location: Cincinnati, OH. USA

Re: Tank repair

Postby amartina75 » Sat Apr 13, 2013 9:13 pm

these are the pictures Ross took after he did the repairs, before chrome.

P1010010 (2).JPG

P1010011 (2).JPG

P1010012 (2).JPG

P1010013.JPG

P1010015.JPG
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1966 250 Scrambler
1970 450 Jupiter

amartina75
Posts: 347
Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2012 1:13 am
Location: Cincinnati, OH. USA

Re: Tank repair

Postby amartina75 » Sat Apr 13, 2013 9:21 pm

these are the pictures I took after getting the tank back from Ross and Brown's Chrome Plating

DSCN0644.JPG

DSCN0645.JPG
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1966 250 Scrambler
1970 450 Jupiter

ecurbruce
Posts: 313
Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 12:43 am
Location: Hurricane mills TN

Re: Tank repair

Postby ecurbruce » Sun Apr 14, 2013 1:10 am

Jim, excellent looking repair! Mr. Thompson is a talented metal worker. It's not easy to make a repair without seeing or feeling the weld seams, And at least our old tanks have thick enough metal to make them workable, try doing that to a late model metal tank. They're just too thin.
Are the seams visible on the inside?
Amartina75, nice repair on your tank as well!

Bruce.


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