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Greetings from Alba,
So, my new project, a late 1978 Sport, has been off the road since 1988, but, started third kick after cleaning carbs, etc etc, but!. It has been stored outside for at least 6 of the years it was off the road, and without a petrol cap!. So the inside of the tank was dry but just caked with rust. I tried Muriatic (hydrochloric) acid and it has helped a lot, but has also made apparent that the top and back of the tank resemble a colander!. Now then, the tank has no dents, and for some reason the bottom of it is very sound?, strange. I'll bet I'm not the only person on the forum to have faced this problem so any advice?. I've posted an ad on the wanted part of the forum for a replacement but as the tank is so straight I would like, if possible, to keep it.
Thanks,
Alan.

An update on this subject. Just been out to the garage and had a poke around with a screwdriver to scrape off some rust, and it's much much worse than I thought, the tank is in effect scrap, everywhere you try to scrape rust off just opens up another hole!. So, if you have a tank laying around looking for a good home?. Any 3 1/2 tank would be acceptable, assuming it fits, up to 79'. Any alternatives will be considered, alloy, glass fibre?
Alan.

Hi Alan,
I don't know if this is helpful. When I needed a new tank for my Triumph T160 (for the same reason!) I found they were practically unobtainable except for silly money. However, on eBay there are a number of Indian outfits selling reproduction tanks very cheaply. After much thought, I bought one and although not absolutely perfect, it was fine and very well finished. When I received the tank there was a note included saying that if I needed any other type of tank, just ask and they would consider making it. I didn't pursue that, so that's the limit of my knowledge! I can't remember the name of the outfit I bought mine from, I think the word "enfield" was part of the name, something like "Vintage Enfield" - but there are plenty of others, just search eBay with a common 1960s or 70s bike and you'll find them. Could be worth following up?

I said the tank wasn't perfect. It was well finished, but they hadn't bothered to protect threaded holes (for fuel taps and tank badges) so I had to clean those out with a tap - it doesn't sound much, but it ended up being a good hour's work to get it right. Similar problem with the flange for the fuel cap - so much paint on there, I couldn't even put the cap on! Finally, and more serious, one of the tank badge holes was out of line, so I ended up fixing the badge on with one screw and double-sided tape and putting a "dummy" screw in the other hole. This is all hassle, for which they gave me a £50 refund, making the cost of the tank under £200 including carriage, against £800+ for a tidy second hand tank. I found I could tolerate quite a lot of annoyance for that saving!

Joe.

I think you mean Vintage Auto World with business owner Rohan Puri. There are many stories around about this producer but from personal experience (and from direct friends):
* you can get anything you want regarding shape and finish
* it can take forever to have a custom tank made, depending on the complexity. I am in the process of having a custom tank made for my Ducati GT1000 but they are still busy after 18 months... cost is about 1200 USD because the form is pretty hard to make with the fuel pump etc. More simple alu tanks are about 400 USD
* a mate had a Ducati NCR replica tank made and this took considerably less time, few months and het had a crate delivered at his home just yesterday. He still is wating for his fibreglass example, that has been a problem for another friend too
* aluminium tanks are made of high grade avaition aluminium (14 gauge 5051) which is corrosion resistant and keeps his shape under pressure
* steel and fibre tanks are also possible
* quality and finish is very good, better then former tank builder WBO from Germany

If you do order they need an example, you can send the old rusty tank for shape & size. I am curious what the cost will be. You can reach them on "Vautoworld [at] yahoo [dot] com"
examples of his work are on flicker: https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_id= ... view_all=1

Mention you got his email adress from André from the Netherlands and he will give you a good price

Thanks for the replies guys, all good information and tips. I did manage to get another tank from The Netherlands which is in good condition so I'm rather lucky I think. Although the paint work is quite good I want to change the colour anyway so that and the side panels will be matching.
Thanks again.
Alan.