Fastback tank-

MarcD said:

I’ve heard the Emgo tanks are pretty faithful and available from local distributors; if they make a Fastback tank, it might be worthwhile to spend the extra coin.

Marc

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They are very good tanks. Unfortunately there's no FB tank.
I'm fairly confident the market is there

I purchased an aluminum tank from Royal Choppers and it fits just fine without any modifications but it does weep some fuel and I need to address it before using the tank for any length of time. I wouldn't call it an exact copy as the badges won't fit exactly right and if you do order one from RC I'd give them the dimensions of the badges you are going to use and maybe they can make the recesses a bit larger.

baz said:

where is the leak?
on a seam? Fuel cap?

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Underneath the tank somewhere, really isn’t clear where it is coming from and I thought about a thin coat of JB Weld but that won’t hold up against gasoline. I have to take it to a welder for a permanent fix.

black cat said:

Underneath the tank somewhere, really isn’t clear where it is coming from and I thought about a thin coat of JB Weld but that won’t hold up against gasoline. I have to take it to a welder for a permanent fix.

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Well, at least there’s no paint job to get ruined by the welding. Hopefully the leak will show up with a few pounds of air pressure and soapy water.

Did Royal Choppers have anything to say?

Didn't Norton.Rider recently replace his glass FB tank with an India made copy?

Found his video log of this India FB tank:

black cat​

" Underneath the tank somewhere, really isn’t clear where it is coming from "

Some blue builder chalk , talc , or light spray of enamel to disolve in the petrol leak , could track it .

Normally a PIN HOLE , micro - on a weld . unless its steel & corroded .

Maybe a sheet of paper on engine under tank would help locate the spot . then theres leak tech ,
and pressure . but you could end up with a bigger tank .
i De Verdigree'd a Brass Radiator as it ' crumped ' at 11 or so Lb Ft going for 13 .
Was how they had bigger 6 hour race tanks ! So pressure is a debateableissue / outcome .

Matt Spencer said:

black cat​

" Underneath the tank somewhere, really isn’t clear where it is coming from "

Some blue builder chalk , talc , or light spray of enamel to disolve in the petrol leak , could track it .

Normally a PIN HOLE , micro - on a weld . unless its steel & corroded .

Maybe a sheet of paper on engine under tank would help locate the spot . then theres leak tech ,
and pressure . but you could end up with a bigger tank .
i De Verdigree'd a Brass Radiator as it ' crumped ' at 11 or so Lb Ft going for 13 .
Was how they had bigger 6 hour race tanks ! So pressure is a debateableissue / outcome .

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It’s leaking from that seam on the top right.


And it looks like something is coming out of another seam:

black cat said:

It’s leaking from that seam on the top right.

And it looks like something is coming out of another seam:

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What a shame
It is of course all doable by the right person as long as they can get it clean enough

Could Alumi-weld sticks & a blow torch be used for this kind of repair?

Tornado said:

Could Alumi-weld sticks & a blow torch be used for this kind of repair?

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The problem is getting the tank up to temp, on large work pieces the excellent cooling of alloy works against you and so you need a good torch using acetylene. So as you need someone with acetylene they will be a welder so better to use alloy welding.

Just came across these guys in the US...Glass From The Past. Making quite a few Norton specific tanks, tail sections, fairings and side covers. They have FastBack tanks the tails. Pricing not outrageous...might want to ask them if tanks are lined for modern fuel (would be surprising if not).

Tornado said:

Just came across these guys in the US...Glass From The Past. Making quite a few Norton specific tanks, tail sections, fairings and side covers. They have FastBack tanks the tails. Pricing not outrageous...might want to ask them if tanks are lined for modern fuel (would be surprising if not).

View attachment 104288

http://gftpstore.com/Norton-Fastback-Tank-NORFTD-NORFTD.htm

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I got one from them about a year ago. It took several months to make but was worth the wait. They said they use a modern resin that can tolerate ethanol and they coat the new tank with Caswell. I had a local auto body shop paint it to match the tail section.
JVigs

JVigs said:

I got one from them about a year ago. It took several months to make but was worth the wait. They said they use a modern resin that can tolerate ethanol and they coat the new tank with Caswell. I had a local auto body shop paint it to match the tail section.
JVigs

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So likely Epoxy resin rather than polyester. Good to hear you were happy. Should be a nice alternative to UK or East Asia sources in N.A.

Well, here are only a few pics of my tank that just arrived from Royal Choppers. As you can see it is primed, then in a raw, stripped state. Plenty of surface rust bleeding out on the primed pics. Plenty of body work to be done for sure after the primer was chiseled off. It was packed well and shipping was surprisingly fast despite having to have re-made the tank twice after purchasing. I have to say that correspondence was very fast and extremely polite the entire time. The first tank resembled more of a beach ball shape and not a fastback tank. When pics were sent to me for approval, the dimensions and proportions were pretty far off. It was not sleek or curvy. It was just a vague shape that sort of resembled a Norton tank. The front end of the tank was rounded off and didn’t have that point at the front. After exchanging several detailed pictures and measurements from my fiberglass tank he arrived at this. I will applaud the effort, but mind you, these are pictures taken by my painter who lives across the country from me. I have no first-hand knowledge other than what I’ve been given. He knows Nortons well enough. That said, he decided that this could be worked with. It will raise the price of his work considerably due to the amount of work needed to make it right. Prep is 90% of the finished product. Take away what you will with this. There are many good things to say about RC, and some areas that could be improved upon. I’ve yet to see a finished product, but knowing Brent’s work, and he’s done a lot for me over the years, it will be beautiful. Emgo could stand to reproduce this model.
Will keep this thread going with progress pics of the work-in-progress shots.