Fitting trials tank to my '55 G3ls

[The Vandal]

My tank fixture bodges haven't worked plus I've now found a weep from the seam at the front of the tunnel so I'm thinking about replacing my tank.

I've had a look around and I quite like this trials tank that is on ebay in a few guises - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/313951666062



My bike is not in trials trim currently but I may want to go that way. The price is also attractive, the trials tank is much cheaper than any 'standard' tank I have seen.

The lack of cutouts on the underside of the tank concerns me though.

Doing a google image search for 'matchless g3 trials tank' shows some bikes which seem to have a shorter barrel/lower head and some like below where it looks like the tank is up on spacers.



In most of the images where spacers are apparent it only seems to be at the front, I can't really tell what is going on at the rear mount. The base of the tank seems level in most of these images so I don't think there are spacers at the front and not the rear, plus this would mean the front mount was at an angle and I don't think this would work.

Fabricating such spacers is within my wheelhouse but changing up the rear mount significantly might not be.

Any ideas?

Should I just cough up the extra for one of the standard tanks?

Anyone used one of these Indian made tanks?

[The Vandal]

I'm enjoying this style of build with the trials tank but without the usual trials style single seat.





And I found this thread - viewtopic.php?t=12361 where the op talks about making 'stools' to lift the rear of the tank. I think that was a tank from club spares which don't seem to be listed any longer but I figure it'd be a similar job with that ebay tank I posted, just at both front and rear.

[clive]

The ebay tank is steel rather than aluminium. There seem to be a number of comp tank fittings over the years. Some with the tank held at the front on Bobbins to raise it up with angled legs at the back I think. My 58 G11CS had tube raisers at the front with legs at the back that mounted through a bolt and tube mounted through a hole in the top frame rail. Unfortunately whilst PO had the ally tank repaired they replaced the tubes (which should have rubbers and a compression bolt to hold it in place) with ally cotton reels welded to the tank. These were threaded to take a bolt. Would have been a reasonable arrangement except they were welded to the tank with the wrong centres. They then had it nicely painted without checking the fit. I managed to find a way of fitting it which is hardly noticeable but a bit chunky.

The issue for the tank you are looking at will be how deep it is so that it still clears the handlebars when up on bobbins to clear the top of the engine. The second issue will be do the centres for the tank bolts fit the centres on your frame?

Did you notice that the top around the filler cap appears to have a recess but it may be the photography?

[The Vandal]

Yeah, having looked further and on my desktop pc instead of using the phone I've seen the angled mounts of which you speak. I could probably come up with some way of making such a thing.

The ebay tank does seem to have an indentation, more obvious in this pic



The filler cap worries me, finding something to work with what's already there.

There's a standard style tank that come with filler cap, taps, knee pads etc included, might be safer to go for that.