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Fabrication

Lets Get Tanked – Building An Oil Tank Kit

Published In The December Issue Of Cycle Source

Article By: Daniel Donley At Pandemonium Custom Choppers www.pandemoniumc2.com

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This month I am going to show you how to build a D.I.Y Oil Tank Kit for American V-Twin commonly found on the internet. This kit is pretty nice it comes with a billet aluminum cap and your oil line fittings.

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The oil tank for an American V-Twin is pretty straightforward it has a feed line, return line and a vent line and a place to fill the tank. So to get this project started let’s find us a center line on the round tube using a common combination square.

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This line will give us a base line for the fill, vent and return.

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After getting the baseline and putting your marks for the fill, vent and return lines check to make sure that you will actually be able to screw in your vent and return line fittings. Be sure that they do not hit each other. I like to put the vent and return on the top of the tank opposite of the fill. The feed directly below the fill because that gives your oil time to cool. I always use drill a pilot hole so

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my other drill bit doesn’t wander. Then I move on to the OCC drill bit for the smaller feed, vent and return lines. I then use a hole saw for drilling out the fill bung. Make sure you de-burr all of your holes with a rat tail file.

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You don’t want metal shavings in your engine.

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It’s getting about time to get this thing put together but before we get to that I recommend using Acetone to clean the parts up prior to welding anything.

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Tack weld all of your fittings in place prior to any welding.

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Next we get the end caps tacked on and completely weld them. I weld the ends completely first, this helps keep the round oil tank from distorting. Then finish welding up all the oil tank fittings.

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With the oil tank welded up I always pressure test them to make sure there are no leaks. I pressure test anywhere between 3 & 4 lbs.

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All finished up and welded completely and pressure tested. This is a pretty straightforward project that took about 1 hr. This is something that anyone with the basic welding skills and some spare time can handle. That way you could build yourself a one off custom oil tank. If you have any questions about this month’s tech feel free to give me a call at the shop. 419-576- 6812 info@pandemoniumc2.com Daniel Pandemonium Custom Choppers pandemoniucustomchoppers.com

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