On with the Oil Tank

Looking back, I realise that pulling those dents out cold was never going to work. The last time I did something like that, I welded the pins in and pulled the dents out hot.

Ho hum. With cracks like this, there was no going back:

So now you are all going to find out what the oil tanks looks like inside...

I decided to do what I should have done all along. Using the trusty hacksaw, I cut down each side of the damaged area. Using a cut off wheel in the Dremel, I cut a short slot, long enough to allow a hacksaw blade to pass through, in the long edges of the damaged area. Then I used a hacksaw blade to remove the damaged area:

The tank is made of 18 SWG sheet. So, taking a piece of cardboard, I cut a template roughly the same size as the hole and attached a loop of masking tape to it. I folded the edge of the card to allow it to fold around the edge of the tank. I then suspended this in the hole and drew around the inside of the hole, onto the card. I now had a card model of the repair patch I would need.

The shape was then transferred to a piece of cold rolled 20 swg sheet, and cut out with the Wiss aviation snips. I folded the edge in the vice, and then used some scrap material to press the joddle into both edges, so that the pieces would sit flush with the original surface:

I've shown it here, held in place with magnets. At this point it is important to dress the edges of the tank, take out any wobbles or dents and make sure that patch sits flat. This is not good enough:

All adjusted; and the butt joints at the short sides have been given a 45 degree weld prep. The panel is tacked in place with the MIG:

Fully welded. a bit messy in places, but I blame the lighting. The lights in my shop are either behind me when I am welding (so I am welding in the dark, with the lights shielded by my body), or if I switch the overhead lights on the sensor in my helmet picks up the brightness and darkens the lens - welding in the dark again:

Dressed with the flap wheel:

There was another weld/dress step as I tested the tank. I filled the tank with water (after it had cooled) and found several holes; these were welded & dressed; I now have two very minor holes left, but the family are complaining about the noise the grinder is making so I had better stop.

Sharpie rings mark the holes!

A couple of days later in a marvellous week at home - I have not travelled anywhere and I have the luxury of a wonderful wife who brings me Martinis in the evening - I'm done with the oil tank. It has taken two more leak test/re-weld/grind cycles to get the tank water tight, but now the repair is invisible as the day the tank was made.

A temporary coat of black hammerite, until we are ready for Phase 2, and we are finished.

And stopping.

With the wheels in motion, we can start to look at the brakes. The front is still on the bike, but the back is off and apart:

There is nothing particularly horrendous to report at first sight. The linings are nice and thick, there is only a moderate amount of grease and gunge around and everything operates as it should.

Closer inspection reveals that the adjuster is missing - easily fixed, from Draganfly; a 1/2" BSC tap can be used to clean up the thread, and the sliding parts degreased. No problem.

But what is this? This little bodge is revealed when the cam is removed. The brake cam shaft measures 1/2" OD and is unworn. The hole in the brake back plate measures 5/8" ID and is unworn, so what is going on? I would have guessed that this little 'sleeve' was doing service to fill up a worn hole, but no. A session with the Ariel parts book and Drags 'List 15' leaves me none the wiser.

However, a chat with Mick at Drags reveals all. Having found me my missing adjuster, Mick goes to look at their stock of brake plates and finds that one of them has a bush pressed into this hole - part of the brake plate, hence no separate part number or identification in the parts book.

So now I have some 5/8" x 16 SWG seamless tube on the way from eBay.. 

Unworn cam shaft and brake plate hole.

Another mystery, a riveted cover over a hole in the brake plate. This hole is for a lug forged into the left hand Anstey link 'stirrup' which serves to prevent the brake plate turning.

The hole has a sheet aluminium plate and a paper gasket held in place by a few brass rivets, some of which are missing. It appears to be there to stop debris getting inside the brake drum.

Talking of the brake drum, here it is, treated to a coat of Finnegan's finest:

And here is the back plate and shoes. The backplate has a lot of dings and nicks, the worst of which have been dressed. We'll see how it fares on the abrasive mop before deciding what else to do with it.