Locating Roadster Tank

I am installing my 1972 steel roadster tank and am looking for some guidance on how the tank should sit on the frame.
The previous owner made up a number of rubber washers which fit on the studs between the bottom front of the tank and the bracket welded to the frame. But there doesn't seem to be enough clearance between the outside ends of the brackets and the inside edges of the tank.

Can anybody please tell me what the stacked height of the stock rubber washers shoud be? I see the parts book is vague on the number of washers: 4 or 6 per side. I am not working with stock thickness washers and have no idea what I need.

Another useful piece of information would be where the lower front edge of the tank should be relative to the bracket welded to the frame: should the edge of the tank sit above the bracket, level with the bracket , or below (around) the bracket?

Thanks,

Stephen Hill
Victoria, BC

Hi- I kind of played around with mine until I liked the way it looked. There were large (3/4 inch) holes in my brackets, so I made a sandwich of flat rubber washers and a section of rubber tubing around the bolt- kind of like a shock absorber mount- and just adjusted the height and fore/aft position until I liked it. Watch the clearance to the steering head and forks. That's about as technical as I get! Good luck- ejd

Stephen Hill said:

Can anybody please tell me what the stacked height of the stock rubber washers shoud be? I see the parts book is vague on the number of washers: 4 or 6 per side. I am not working with stock thickness washers and have no idea what I need.

Click to expand...

I fitted four standard (approx. 7/32" thick) rubber washers on each side of my Roadster's tank, three between the tank and bracket, and a fourth between the underside of the bracket and the wide steel "penny washer" and self-locking nut.

Stephen Hill said:

Another useful piece of information would be where the lower front edge of the tank should be relative to the bracket welded to the frame: should the edge of the tank sit above the bracket, level with the bracket , or below (around) the bracket?

Click to expand...

Agreed, there isn't very much clearance, but I can position my tank so that it does not touch the bracket on either side.

There's a chance the pads between the tank and the backbone have taken a crush or aren't stock. That would let the tank drop till it hits the brackets. The brackets aren't there to take much weight, just stabilize the tank.

I've had the same problem with half the Nortons I've owned !!! (8) That being the edge of the mounting bracket welded to the frame, sticks out so far ... it fouls into the gas tank. Well here is my fix; I always cut off about 1/4" of that outside edge of the bracket. Then round it off with a file, primer it, then paint it black. DONE !!! And then no more problems mounting Roadster or Interstate gas tanks, period. I'm anal about my side covers stickers being level, but I'll trim off a bracket that fouls into my gas tank any day. Norton not known for the best in "quality control" (i.e. frame plates stamped at the factory by drunkards with dislexia) Just my 2 cents ...