Tanking along
In your ‘Workshop’ section you mentioned the Montesa 200 fuel tank that is delaminating due to ethanol... awful stuff.
Anyway this may help you – last year I bought a Montesa Cota 348 MRR and as my hobby began to renovate the beastie. First up was the fuel tank which had been ‘ahem’ sealed by the previous owner... the bike had come in from the USA.
Heaven knows what the tank was sealed with, it was a brownish-looking catastrophe inside and there were signs of pimples in the paint surfaces.
I decided on two possible options. Go for an alloy tank and use a shelter, £125 for the shelter... not a bad price... but the alloy tank was going to have to be made... £400+ not so good...
I had to find a specialist who could make a whole new tank, my search began in earnest. As luck would have it a friend and I were paying a viewing visit to Spinning Wheel Classic Cars and Bikes where the owner Adrian was very accommodating and let us wander about, taking in all of the bikes in his showroom, especially a Sprite trials bike just like I used to own many years ago.
Eventually we ended up in his office to thank him – what a nice man. Then... Whammo! There it was, sitting on top of an arcade game machine, in brilliant red and looking perfect... a glass fibre Sprite fuel tank. 'Who made that?' I asked Adrian, 'can I touch it and have a good look at it?'
Well, what a finish to the tank, even the undersides were as good as the topside and all in ethanol-proof resin. Adrian showed me the invoice and there was the maker's name and contact details.
Once home I phoned the chap up and asked a few questions and mentioned my knowing Adrian at Spinning Wheel. Can you make me a complete new fuel and seat unit in ethanol-proof resin and include the Malcolm Rathmell signature? “Well I don’t have any moulds for Montesas but I could make one,” came the reply. At this point it dawned on me just how costly this was likely to be. Having seen how much he had charged Spinning Wheel for a Sprite tank, I crossed my fingers hoping for a similar reasonable cost.
The quoted price for making the mould from my original tank unit and then the new tank with reinforcements to the seat area was very reasonable indeed, much less than I was expecting – in fact I eventually paid more than he wanted because the quality was do damned good.
Once received some months later, there I was unpacking two tank units. I had difficulty in identifying the new tank as my old original tank looked like new... it was obvious though which was the new tank as it was covered in bubble wrap. It was just as I had expected, perfect in fit and finish with fine attention to detail.
I was a really happy chappy and the bike looked really good, resplendent with shiny tank, now ready to deal with ethanol fuel, but I opted to use Aspen fuel. Hope this is useful to CDB readers.
Tony Proctor
Been in touch with Roger Ennis who did the tank… see news. If I can persuade the bike’s owner to go for it…tim