TAB II Alloy Tank #3

Then when that was done, carefully clean the surface again , trying not to hit the stripes with the de greaser.
Then a light coat of 2K clear coat. This is supposedly helpful in helping the decals not to peal up from the clear coat.
2 lighter coats of clear with 10-15 minutes between coats.
Then 4 coats of heavier clear. Keep in mind , this is from a rattle can so the coats wouldn’t be as thick as from a gun. I’ve been told its approx 3 coats of rattle can is equal to 1 coat from a professional type paint gun.

The tank turned out pretty good. I did get a couple of sags I’ll have to deal with(more wet sanding ) after the clear sets up for a while.
I was trying to save a bit of money plus get some more experience on the painting. My bill for the paint products was a bit shocking at $380 cdn. And roughly 8 hours of time. But that includes the time in between paint coats. The local painters in my area were quoting $1000-1500 to paint the tank professionally.
Hopefully the paint doesnt peel off!!!

Finished product

Here’s the original tank. It might SG signature or a worker in the shipping department!!!

Charlotte said:

Finished product

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That looks great!! Well done.

Brave indeed Charlotte - not something I’d attempt! Looks great!! Definitely need a tank protector fitted, if you have’nt already.

Wearing the ally tank unpainted (decals only) looks great on the silver 961 but can make the black bike look a little disjointed. Occasionally think about painting mine back to original black.

Great outcome

cliffa said:

That looks great!! Well done.

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Very nice . And to think you did this with spray cans !

Thanks for all the thumbs up! I appreciate it……..
UPDATE……
I have a leak!!! Argh!!
Im ticked that I never followed my gut. Which was saying to put some fluid in it and check for leaks. I did go on TABs website and they state they pressure test and fluid test a few times before they ship out the tanks.
This wouldn’t be a big deal if the tank was bare still. But sucks thats its pretty.
I’ve reached out to TAB to see what is next.
But this gives me a chance to dig into my low fuel light not working… because the fuel pump assembly is probable coming out of the tank again!!!
That will be another post!

Charlotte said:

Thanks for all the thumbs up! I appreciate it……..
UPDATE……
I have a leak!!! Argh!!
Im ticked that I never followed my gut. Which was saying to put some fluid in it and check for leaks. I did go on TABs website and they state they pressure test and fluid test a few times before they ship out the tanks.
This wouldn’t be a big deal if the tank was bare still. But sucks thats its pretty.
I’ve reached out to TAB to see what is next.
But this gives me a chance to dig into my low fuel light not working… because the fuel pump assembly is probable coming out of the tank again!!!
That will be another post!

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Where is it leaking from Charlotte?

Mine had a leak from the monza cap, which I fixed with a little guidance from TAB and an appropriate sealant.

I still to this day do not top off the tank when filling up, instead leaving a couple of inches depth unfilled. Monza caps in general are prone to leaking.

Stephen_Spencer said:

Where is it leaking from Charlotte?

Mine had a leak from the monza cap, which I fixed with a little guidance from TAB and an appropriate sealant.

I still to this day do not top off the tank when filling up, instead leaving a couple of inches depth unfilled. Monza caps in general are prone to leaking.

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I can only add that this sucks . You will have to get it fixed locally. Also We have to support TAB2 because it will be near impossible to get a replacement from anywhere else . I guess you could send it back to TAB2 (maybe you should ?). I have a Donington Aluminum tank and will keep it forever probably. I can’t even imagine how hard it will be to get parts from Norton now. Especially if you have a Donington machine.

Evan Wilcox in the USA is a top choice.

NorTriDuc said:

Evan Wilcox in the USA is a top choice.

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Evan does fantastic work, but is normally scheduled a year or more out. He moved out of California, so it might be less now, but he's in demand.

Charlotte said:

Thanks for all the thumbs up! I appreciate it……..
UPDATE……
I have a leak!!! Argh!!
Im ticked that I never followed my gut. Which was saying to put some fluid in it and check for leaks. I did go on TABs website and they state they pressure test and fluid test a few times before they ship out the tanks.
This wouldn’t be a big deal if the tank was bare still. But sucks thats its pretty.
I’ve reached out to TAB to see what is next.
But this gives me a chance to dig into my low fuel light not working… because the fuel pump assembly is probable coming out of the tank again!!!
That will be another post!

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Send it to GTA and get a liner put in, and be done with it.

TonyA said:

I can only add that this sucks . You will have to get it fixed locally. Also We have to support TAB2 because it will be near impossible to get a replacement from anywhere else . I guess you could send it back to TAB2 (maybe you should ?). I have a Donington Aluminum tank and will keep it forever probably. I can’t even imagine how hard it will be to get parts from Norton now. Especially if you have a Donington machine.

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I fixed the leak to my satisfaction Tony, just elect not to top it off as a general precaution. It’s not something I worry about.

My rides are never more than 200km, so fuel is not an issue - the Cafe Racer ain’t no touring machine!

The tank was one of the first from TAB2 with their newly trained welder, following the devastating loss of their original staff member. Would imagine he’s done quite a few since then so I’m surprised to hear of more recent leaking. They were super helpful with my situation and no doubt will assist Charlotte.

Stephen_Spencer said:

I fixed the leak to my satisfaction Tony, just elect not to top it off as a general precaution. It’s not something I worry about.

My rides are never more than 200km, so fuel is not an issue - the Cafe Racer ain’t no touring machine!

The tank was one of the first from TAB2 with their newly trained welder, following the devastating loss of their original staff member. Would imagine he’s done quite a few since then so I’m surprised to hear of more recent leaking. They were super helpful with my situation and no doubt will assist Charlotte.

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Can you provide pictures where yours was leaking at?

Charlotte said:

Thanks for all the thumbs up! I appreciate it……..
UPDATE……
I have a leak!!! Argh!!
Im ticked that I never followed my gut. Which was saying to put some fluid in it and check for leaks. I did go on TABs website and they state they pressure test and fluid test a few times before they ship out the tanks.
This wouldn’t be a big deal if the tank was bare still. But sucks thats its pretty.
I’ve reached out to TAB to see what is next.
But this gives me a chance to dig into my low fuel light not working… because the fuel pump assembly is probable coming out of the tank again!!!
That will be another post!

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Oh, that’s a real shame.

NorTriDuc said:

Can you provide pictures where yours was leaking at?

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Mine was leaking between the Cap Ring to tank weld.

Covered at length earlier in this post.

Hello everyone
The location of the leak seems to be from the inside structure of the tank(behind battery area).
Thankfully it seems to be far enough away from the exterior painted surface that I think it should be ok for some small Tig welding repair. Fingers crossed!
I have been in contact with Richard at Tab and he has been great to deal with. He gave me a couple of options to consider( local repair and Tab will cover the costs or ship back to Tab for their repair. They will pick up the shipping costs also).
I’m leaning toward the shipping back to Tab. The reasons being that they have the in-house resources to find the leak ( the dunk tank to submerge the tank and they have a dummy fuel pump to cover up the fuel pump assembly hole. Then, if there is any other problems in the future, Tab knows who has worked on the tank in its history.
Yes… a long way to send a tank for repair but under the circumstances , it might be the best.
The thing that I kick myself on is that the tank sat in my shop last summer, unpainted. I do remember thinking…” should I check for leaks before painting? Nah….. it’ll be ok”!
Yup … a classic coulda, shoulda, woulda moment!
Patience is a virtue!!
Sigh……