Bsa tank progress...

I had some time over the memorial weekend to trial fit the tank onto the bike.  There is still a little work to do on the shape, but I am fairly pleased so far.

The main issues is apparent in the 2nd picture.  The rear of the tank slopes down at a different angle than the original.  The bottom of the two tanks are virtually identical, so I need to stretch the top rear back.  The lower front of the tank needs to come back a bit too.  I don't think it should be too difficult....

new parts for the '40...

The '40 should drive like a new vehicle.  With all new kingpins, tie rods, shackles and shocks it's going to be a completely different truck.  I can't wait to take it out for a drive...

injected...

A friend dropped this off last night for me to hang on the wall.  It always amazes me to think that metal can corrode this badly in the presence of fuel....especially magnesium.

BSA Progress...

Finally found a camera that works.  So, here are some progress shots of the BSA gas tank.  I still need to do a bit more with the shape but overall, I think it's workable.  It's a bit crowned in the center and needs to be flattened right behind where the filler neck will go.

Making the tanking in halves requires a great deal of shrinking on the Pullmax.  All of this shrinking causes the material to work harden.  If I went any further, I would have had to anneal the halves or I would have run the risk of fracturing the aluminum.

While the Pullmax is a fantastic machine, it really in not meant for excessive shrinking.  Unlike the spring loaded die of a Yoder or Pentingell power hammer, the Pullmax is rigid.  Thus, it doesn't compensate for the thickness gains associate with the shrinking operation.  If you do not compensate manually, the Pullmax essentially pushes the metal causing it to flow.  I continually had to trim excess material off of the center on the halves as I was "shrinking".  This flow of metal becomes apparent when you run the part though the English wheel and it doesn't require you to change the height of the lower anvil to account for the supposed thickness differences.  Also, the extra work associated with the flow of material causes the metal to work harden quicker.

junk camera...

I was able to get a ton of work done on the BSA gas tank over the weekend.  I took a bunch of pictures documenting what I did and how I did it.  This morning, I was planning to download of the pictures and share them with everyone except....they weren't there.  For some reason, my phone didn't store the pictures.  I guess that's what you get for using a phone as your only camera...

Fiberglass is lame...

A customer dropped off a '68 BSA gas tank for me to duplicate in aluminum.  Apparently, BSA made the tanks out of fiberglass...who knew...right?  Well after 40 plus years of abuse and being subjected to today's fuels, it has developed a leak.

I had some 0.060" thick 3000 series sheet lying around so I did a little test piece before I start on the real tank.  I am fairly pleased with how it turned out and once again realized why I like working with aluminum so much more that steel.

Material should be in this weekend...so I'll get started soon.  First thing I have to do is make the buck...more to come.

With a bit of a polish on it...

Inside

Seems to be the right shape...

too busy...

Wow...I've been busy lately and haven't had much time to post.  Hang on...there are some cool project on the way.

Swap meeters...

We tried to pedal some of our stuff this weekend at the Canfield Swap Meet.  Unfortunately, I can home with more then I took.