Our current project to build a late Ruby AVK van for a customer is being held up by the lack of a petrol tank. Unfortunately, anyone who has one needs it for their own schemes.
We've decided that the only solution is to get one made and I'm now looking for some competitive tenders. Does anyone have any recommendations for firms that can do this work?
The AVK tank is an oddity. It's the same width as a standard Ruby unit, but is a lot shallower, with a greater front-to-back length and a nearside filler pipe. Does anyone out there actually have one that they don't need?
Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 532 Threads: 46
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5 Location: Oakley, Hants, UK
Car type: 1929 AD Tourer, 1930 Rosengart LR2, Rosengart LR4 Van 1938 APE Tourer (Opal)
Where they fabricated from tin plate with soldered joints, or steel and welded? A fairly simple looking tank, but a lot more hours in fabricating one than one would expect I'm sure....
16-08-2018, 12:29 PM (This post was last modified: 16-08-2018, 12:30 PM by Mike Costigan.)
That's the sort of thing most decent radiator specialists will be able to produce. Three years ago Mansfield Radiators made me a new petrol tank for my 1914 Saxon; admittedly they used the fittings from the old tank, but it cost just £120 for something rather different in design, but probably of similar complexity (a fairly simple shape with two internal baffles).
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6 Location: The far North East of England
Car type: 1934 Austin 7 AVH Van (in bits & incomplete!), 1936 Morris 8 Series I Tourer
16-08-2018, 12:37 PM (This post was last modified: 16-08-2018, 12:39 PM by Jeff Taylor.)
I'm not sure about Austin, but Morris Motors fabricated their petrol tanks in the 1930's from Terne Plate - a thin steel sheet coated on both sides with an alloy of lead and tin in the ratio 10% to 20% tin and the remainder lead - this coating allowed the tank fabrication to be easily soldered together and provide a rust proof interior once complete. As far as I'm aware Terne Plate is still available from specialist steel stockholders.
(16-08-2018, 12:37 PM)Jeff Taylor Wrote: I'm not sure about Austin, but Morris Motors fabricated their petrol tanks in the 1930's from Terne Plate - a thin steel sheet coated on both sides with an alloy of lead and tin in the ratio 10% to 20% tin and the remainder lead - this coating allowed the tank fabrication to be easily soldered together and provide a rust proof interior once complete. As far as I'm aware Terne Plate is still available from specialist steel stockholders.
Yupp, thats it Jeff, so the joints were just sweated together to form a perfect seal, and as you say to help prevent corrosion, to a degree.... Its not cheap sheet anymore, due to the cost of base materials, but quite nice to work with...
