My First Attempt

L

lostinidaho

New Member
Just finished my bike this past weekend. I have ridden it a bit but I found a pinhole leak in the corner of the tank. So I have to rework the tank. I have been viewing the forum since Jan, but this is my first post. I appreciate this forum with all the helpful comments to search and read. I think I will repaint the tank and put white letters saying "Mususabi" (Japanese for Flying Squirrel). I thought about calling it the "The Naked Mole Rat" to keep my daughter from borrowing it too much.:D
 

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lostinidaho said:
Just finished my bike this past weekend. I have ridden it a bit but I found a pinhole leak in the corner of the tank. So I have to rework the tank. I have been viewing the forum since Jan, but this is my first post. I appreciate this forum with all the helpful comments to search and read. I think I will repaint the tank and put white letters saying "Mususabi" (Japanese for Flying Squirrel). I thought about calling it the "The Naked Mole Rat" to keep my daughter from borrowing it too much.:D
Click to expand...

That looks nice.

Tell us about the air filter mod and the tank.
 
The frame is a Schwinn Delmar. I got it cheap at the local thrift store. I liked the look of the in-frame tank so I cut the two smaller curved bars at the seat post. I then welded in the horizontal bar.

The tank is fabed from galvanized sheet metal soldered at the joints. It was fairly easy to make.

The carb's throtle cable wouldn't fit under the tank. So I used copper pipe and fitting to extend the carb out and back. I wonder if this would effect carb performance. It seems to run well. But I have nothing to compare to The red air cleaner is stock.
 

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Nice job man! Gotta respect yer DIY tank skillz (^)

The longer intake will effect performance somewhat... but if the bike seems to "run well" then that's good 'nuff I figure, I'm assuming there's a support for the carb itself? Speaking of which - the tank, are you runnin' just the two mounts under it?
 
I am working on a support for my carb. The bike is definitely a work in progress.
The tank is held by just the two straps on the bottom. I thought about putting one on top. But I was trying to keep the top of the tank unobstructed. It seems to be secure. I could add a strap on the top at a later time.
Thanks for the complement on my tank making skills. Learned to bend tin while working on my metal working merit badge, been having fun ever since.
 
Great bike. As for the tank which not surprisingly everyone seems to have questions about (lol) when you say galvanized sheet metal do you mean of the type and guage used in the HVAC industry?
 
Bike looks great,that intake set up opens lots of options,also how did you re-inforce the seat stays by the seat tube
 
The tank is 20 ga. galv sheet metal from the hardware store. Make sure the joints are tight and the the solder will flow and hold. Sharp corners are the haredest to solder.

I didn’t reinforce the seat tube. I thought the additional lower tube would be enough. Looking at a bunch of older frames, it seems they were put together the same way.
 
Great looking bike and great job on the tank. I was wondering myself if soldering would work for a tank, I can solder thin sheet metal way better then I can weld it.

Glavanized metal is the best way to go for a gas tank so you don't have to coat it inside? What did you use for a fill tube and cap? What did you use for mounts on the tank and are they also soldered on?

Guessing the real board track racers gas tanks were soldered sheet brass.
 
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The mounts are conduit clamps. I used aluminum threaded insert rivets and solderd them in using alumiun solder. The cap is a washing maching hose cap (brass) and the filler tube is a brass hose fitting from the garden center.
 
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