Hello Ron, Just a quick follow on, I have just cut a flap out of the top of a C oil tank, To give it a good clean, It's not very thick !! I hope my welding is up to scratch, Cheers Bill.
Tank mounting misalignment
- Thread starter Oldhaven
- Start date
Sorry got too clever and messed up ! you have to click on the small photo to get the second photo,What i thought was a shelf, Seen through the filler cap, Is a strength or vibration strip 3/4 " wide there are two of them, The rear one seen in photo. I cut a flap 4"x 2" 3 1/2" from the rear, What I found inside was soft, So it might have flushed without cutting the top open !! Should have done what my brother Ron told me and left it alone !! Still I found it interesting, Hope Ron yours is sorted now, Cheers Bill.
Wow Bill, That is some serious sludge! It seems the trap at the rear did its job. I think it was a good idea to go after it, since swilling it out would have loosened up some of it but not removed it. I can imagine big clots of that going through the pump and clogging the filter. I had a different problem. The tank had been cleaned thoroughly years ago and then coated with a liner. It then sat for a couple of decades and the lining was coming off in chips and flakes. I feared oil contamination and clogging of oilfeed passages in my newly rebuilt engine. After my UFM straightening adventure, I tried getting rid of the flaking material with acetone, paint remover, and other nasty substances, but even a two week soak did not get it all. I probably should have gone the "cut a window" route, but I sent it off to be professionally cleaned out and should get it back early next week. That is the last remaining step before assembly of the front end and start up.
BTW all, as you will see in Flogger's Corner this month, I am still looking for a good unbent UFM with headstock, B or C, Comet or twin. I followed several leads sent to me by forum members, but no luck yet.
Ron
Hello Ron, I have never used this "oil tank" So that is not my Sludge !! But I moved it about a bit with a screw driver which has made it look worse, Shame you have had to send yours away, The paint work looked like you have just painted it, Still it had to be done ! They drive you mad these old bikes !! Good Luck, Bill.
I'll be careful here, since the seller may be a forum member or friend, and appears to have 100% seller satisfaction rating over many transactions , but my own recent experience with my UFM indicates that a buyer should look carefully at the steering stops and at the top view of the tank. It appears that the two parts of the UFM will only be available in Australia, and that is a big country for a personal inspection, but any interested buyer should ask for a picture like those below. The top one is pretty nice, and the bottom one is mine before I tried to unbend it. I had some limited success. These are both of the earliest tubular "outie" fork type, and the one for sale looks like a type 2, which is a rectangular "outie" fork type and may be stronger. These numbered bits are hard to find, as I well know, so the value should depend on the availability, need, and the ability to remedy faults.
Ron
The Type 1 bearing housings are very susceptible to front end impact, but also easily twisted even without being involved in a ‘head on’ situation. I’m sure this was quickly flagged up by dealers, leading to the stronger type 2 design. A few years ago I had a type 1 that was badly out of line so took it to Bob Dunn who had a jig at that time. After spending lots of hours without success, bob called me to say he was prepared to try something that had a chance of writing the part off, if I willing to take the chance. Luckily it worked but cost me plenty of money, but worth it to save the headstock.
Racing men seemed to like the Type 1 for its lightness, they didn’t worry that the downside of this advantage was flimsiness.
Vince Farrell
Can you tell us what Bob did Vince ?, I had not heard of this fault, Cheers Bill.
I don’t have a full list of ‘ingredients ‘ used by Bob in the recipe, but think the four main ones were a massive dose of targeted leverage, an accurate jig, three cups of carefully applied heat and two appropriate prayers to the god of metal forging.
Vince Farrell