GTO oil tank

[farmerdl]

Don't know if anyone is still looking for one, but there is a GTO oil tank on

ebay.http://www.ebay.com/itm/1960s-Bridgestone-GTO-350-Oil-Tank-/321107302054?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4ac37c96a6&vxp=mtr#ht_25wt_917

DL

[moonpup]

Not anymore! 

[william anderson]

moon pup   ,  glad to see you found  a oil tank , know you have been searching for a long time , william anderson

[moonpup]

moon pup   ,  glad to see you found  a oil tank , know you have been searching for a long time , william anderson

Thanks William...  I snagged this one as kind of a stop gap measure, as it looks to be better than the one I currently have. However, I will still be on the hunt for a NOS tank or maybe Richard & Ray can eventually source a manufacturer with costs that make a reproduction doable.

The need is definitely there, as the oil tank is the achilles heel for any GTO restoration. I just don't have much faith in 43 yr. old plastic!

[coxy]

hey mike
what about making one out of fiberglass or carbon fiber ?   
 

[moonpup]

hey mike
what about making one out of fiberglass or carbon fiber ?   
 

coxy.... the purist demon in me wouldn't allow that! 

[OldSwartout]

Make a fiberglass mold of a good one, then use that to blow mold polyethylene ones...  Anyone experienced in blow molding poly?

[redimport]

Mornin All,

Attached here a link to a pictorial of the blow molding process - http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=blow+moulding+process&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=RThyUd2nLMuh7AaT9oHQDA&sqi=2&ved=0CDEQsAQ&biw=1089&bih=712

You basically need two tools made. The first is the "preform", unless lucky to find a manufacturer that had one with the right material volume to blow the actual oil tank.

You then need a aluminium mould of the oil tank profile. The GTO oil tank tool is not as simple as it looks. There are a few parting lines / stems to allow for, which in some areas requires slides in the tooling, so the tank can be removed for the tool.

One option is to weld one up in aluminium or metal. The chopper boys do this kind of work all the time. It could then be painted the colour of the bike, gold, red, white ?…

later … ray

[moonpup]

Well folks, after anxiously awaiting the arrival of my recent eBay purchase, the tank was delivered yesterday afternoon.

I say "anxiously", as I wasn't sure what condition this thing was going to be in. The seller had started listing things a few weeks ago and I immediately sent him a message asking if he had the tank and what kind of condition it was in. (brittle/cracks/melted spots etc.) Never got a reply. He then pulls the 2 remaining listings he had up and a couple days later puts the entire bike up for auction. That auction was cancelled about a day before the auction was scheduled to end and I assumed he got an offer he couldn't refuse. I thought to myself.... Adios Mr. tank!

Fast forward a couple days later and I see he's starting to list parts again and up pops the tank! Once again, I immediately fire off a message asking about the condition and after waiting about 20-30 minutes for a reply (and getting none  ) I decided to risk it and I hit the "buy it now" while I still had an opportunity to do so.

End result..... I’m a happy camper.  Other than yellowing from age the tank is in great condition with no cracks/melts or other blemishes. I’m going to try some solutions I found on the net for getting the discoloration out and if successful, I’ll post the results later.

[moonpup]

The GTO oil tank tool is not as simple as it looks.

Ray, now that I've gotten an up close look at the tank, I couldn't agree with you more. The biggest surprise to me was when I realized just how thick the plastic was on these things.

In fact, the plastic was so thick at the base of the filler neck where it meets the main body of the tank, they had to drill out the excess material. I found this out in the cleaning process.

After shaking all the water out of the tank, I heard something still rattling around inside. Since the tank is translucent, I turned it all around to see what it might be, but saw nothing.  

I finally turned it upside down and took a look up the filler neck and saw these.....

[william anderson]

moon pup , bridgestones early filtering system , or bridgestone  mechanic job security system , 

[redimport]

Hi moonpup

Good catch - drilling out after molding is a way to cut down on tooling / processing costs. Oh, but don't get excited it's still not cheap to take on this project.

later .. ray