Mk3 oil tank

Making progress on the refresh of my new-to-me Mk3 Roadster I thought I'd nearly finished in the oil tank area when I spotted that the loose feel to the oil tank wasn't caused by a worn bush but by the fact that the rear bracket is fractured through at the point it joins the tank. Drat! Is this a common problem? I guess my options are to repair or replace; is there a recognised standard repair and reinforcement for this area?

Cheers, Jon

Everyone will tell you to lose the lower mount and beef up the top mounts. Well that is one way. I suffered lots of breakages until I braced the rear tab to the filler tower, stopping the tab from flexing to and fro. See pic below, its not pretty and has since been re-done for neatness but it works. Alternatively our Belgian lightweight Commando owner came up with the idea of losing the tab and running a strap around the tower, bolting through the rubber mount, much like an exhaust clamp with the tab parts extended...
My mod has been reliable now for several years and it used to break every 800-1000 miles. I even broke a virgin tab on an old tank I fitted so I always had a good one on the shelf. That went in 600 miles even in an unstressed mounting position where everything falls in place. See what you think but the tab will go again if replaced even if you beef up the guage and width, then the stress falls on the tank to tab joint which could tear if the tab is too heavy duty. It should be brazed of course though I migged mine.

Ta.

Boxerfan said:

Making progress on the refresh of my new-to-me Mk3 Roadster I thought I'd nearly finished in the oil tank area when I spotted that the loose feel to the oil tank wasn't caused by a worn bush but by the fact that the rear bracket is fractured through at the point it joins the tank. Drat! Is this a common problem? I guess my options are to repair or replace; is there a recognised standard repair and reinforcement for this area?

Cheers, Jon

Click to expand...

Common problem indeed. My oil tank was 'secured' with zip ties when purchased last year.
It is now at CNW for new brackets. Not sure of the exact method but can take pics when it gets back to me in a week or so.
Here is the description of what they do:

http://coloradonortonworks.com/part-categories/modifications/#post-295

I highly recommend sending your oil tank to CNW for their MOD. It works well and they clean them up really nicely.

Cheers-Jerry

Thanks chaps, well they say a problem shared is a problem halved... I'm tempted by the CNW solution, but I fear the logistics would probably double the cost. I'm interested in the idea of a split clamp around the filler neck, that must be one of the strongest areas of the tank. Does anyone have any pictures of this, or any other fix?

I had, as Baldrick would say, a cunning plan, and I've purchased an oil tank off US eBay to dispatch to CNW for a bit less than the cost of shipping mine across the pond for Matt to fettle. Here's hoping that it all works out...