Indian petrol tanks

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rodb
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Indian petrol tanks

Post by rodb »

I am having difficulty sourcing a petrol tank for my 1960 G9 , I've heard there indian replicas around and on sale but quality issues would be my main concern.
Has anybody had any experiences with these, and can put me in touch with any web sites or people selling these
SPRIDDLER
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Re: Indian petrol tanks

Post by SPRIDDLER »

Quite a frequent question on here, Rod.
Open the 'Search' facility (see pic below)



Search.JPG


and just type Indian tanks in the box where it says 'Search for keywords'. Like this...........


Search 2.JPG


No need to enter anything else but just click on 'Search' at the bottom of that page. You'll get opinions and experiences and some suppliers mentioned/recommended.
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Which taken at the flood............'
rodb
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Re: Indian petrol tanks

Post by rodb »

Many thanks
Rodb
SPRIDDLER
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Re: Indian petrol tanks

Post by SPRIDDLER »

I've just realised that in my initial reply I didn't add the comments that I had intended to write........so,

I've never bought an Indian tank so can't help much but from Forum posts the quality seems to vary with choice of supplier. Purchasers' experience falls about 50/50 between 'Good' and 'Dreadful'. If it's an eBay advertiser a look at their 'Feedback' history may give a clue.
I vaguely recall that a chum bought one and either it didn't have the badge fixing threaded inserts or they were there but the inserts weren't blind so that petrol would have dribbled out when it reached their level. Unless my memory is muddled with another similar issue with an Indian tank the supplier sent a replacement correct one but didn't want the first one returned.
'There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which taken at the flood............'
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MartinAmes
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Re: Indian petrol tanks

Post by MartinAmes »

There is UK supplier of petrol tanks, Holtworks.
I have no experience of them myself.
They are hand made from 2mm aluminium.
Have a look at the website.
http://www.holtworks.co.uk/contents/en-uk/d54.html
moley
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Re: Indian petrol tanks

Post by moley »

i have used around 10 indian tanks foe various projects over the years , i would say the chrome is very good and also the paint
There is always something that is not just quite how you would like it , normally the fitting , with most
ajs you have 4 fixing points and normally you struggle with getting one lined up but with a bit of though and a little metal off the mountings
they do fit.

Sometimes the petrol tap mounting is slightly pissed although i have seen originals like this as well


I have never had one leak, they are built very well.

Never use indian petrol taps they are two thin where they go into the tank and they always snap off at that point when installing

Thanks
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spookefoote1956
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Re: Indian petrol tanks

Post by spookefoote1956 »

OK by me
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rodb
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Re: Indian petrol tanks

Post by rodb »

Thanks Moley

rodb
g5wqian
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Re: Indian petrol tanks

Post by g5wqian »

i have an indian made tank on my ariel NH at present , it cost me £190 inc postage a year ago , was just a grey primered finish .

threads for tank badges needed tapping out to suit my screws , i needed to tweak the holes in the badges so they would fit the screw hole centres but they fitted reasonably well .
fuel tap thread is 3/8" bsp on my ariel and it was same thread on the tank and i just ran my 3/8 tap in for peace of mind , tap fits and doesnt leak .

holes in frame lugs were ok on 3 or the 4 tank fixings , i just had to elongate one hole in the frame lug to get it to fit .

rubber shock mounts needed choosing to suit tank height front and rear so my handlebars didnt touch on full lock but easy to get a handfull of varying rubbers with an 8mm hole in which i used successfully .

had to tap threads out in tank bolt mounting holes in the underside of tank , dont think they were quite right and needed 5/16 whitworth i think it was to suit my bolts .

i painted tank myself with 2k air drying gloss aerosols , needed a few coats of primer filler but it flatted off and came out ok , just my mistake in perhaps not having the workshop hot enough for the paint to go hard enough as i did it last xmas time , although it buffed up nice except for my almost going through to the primer in a couple of places , i am happy enough using it until i put the original tank back on that i repaired and had painted in 2k and laquer properly .

tank cap leaks a dribble if i have tank full to brim , but leaving a bit of air space in top of tank and its better , i have not had a lot of luck with the gasket material used for my tank caps and the petrol from the pumps seems to make them shrivvel up and go all wavey , i have made new cap gasket using thick gasket material which is not rubber bonded and imporved it .

had to turn a bit out the inside rim of my tank cap off on the lathe to get it to fit over the tank filler but it didnt need much off and i was using an indian made tank cap too .

if i get any petrol on the paint on the tank it stains it , i put carnuba wax on and use holts colour restore polish which cleans it up ok but i think my problems are down to my initial paint job done last winter and i should have painted tank in 25deg or hotter temps and not 6degs !!! .

i did have to clean the inside of tank as it had grey primer inside but i used gunwash for that and got most of it out and what residue was left has not been any bother .

for around £200 and my homebrew paintjob i cant fault it , after all where would you find a newly made fuel tank in the uk for that money , and it doesnt leak .

a lot of the stuff we can get out hands on from india makes the difference between us being on the road or not , especially things like petrol tanks that are hand made and quite cheap .

if my ajs model 30 tank gets to a point it needs replacing i shall have no problem buying an indian made one and do a little tweaking and fiddling to get it to fit .

one last thing though , the indian tank cap on the ariel tank didnt have a breather hole down into the locking bolt and i had to drill it as per original type cap , then my engine stopped conking out after every 7 miles .

sometimes its the little things that make the most trouble !!!

cheers
ian
Chris Vaquero
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Location: Nsw AUSTRALIA

Re: Indian petrol tanks

Post by Chris Vaquero »

Hi There,
I had a company called US Vidhi in India custom make me a tank, paint it and have it delivered here in Sydney for $1400. Bodybuilders here in Sydney said 12 to 14 months and $10k for a primed only option, no brainer. BTW the bike was a 1925 350cc AJS. The original tank was more rust than metal and was completely trash. I still have it for a pattern, just in case. And yes, there were discrepancies in some bolt sizes, namely metric instead of imperial, and the tank was about 5mm too big so it was a tight squeeze but overall, very happy.
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