Rubber mounting late oil tank

[Sakura]

I have had an oil tank split along the front seam in the past. Although BSA made an attempt to rubber mount the tank it's a pretty basic arrangement. Before I reinvent the wheel, has anyone successfully mounted the tank using modern rubber mountings! I'm thinking something like car exhaust mountings. It would need to b fairly stiff because of the weight of tank and oil.

[Roger (Doomtrainbarx)]

I found these washing machine transport mountings - job done

[RogerSB]

Probably not what you're looking for, as it's BSAs design?

Left to right: Special bolt, saddle washer, distance piece, cup, rubber buffer, washer, nut.

[limeyrob]

I don't think there is anything wrong with the BSA design so long as its assembled right.  There's a rubber bush in the rear mounting, one in the front and a large rubber pad against the frame.  They go hard and people pull the bolts up too tight so its no longer isolated.  These tanks can do 60 years with no cracks. I think the trick is to do the front mount up just enough to hold the tank in place against the rubber block 42-8342

[JulianS]

In times past Eddie Dow would braze a channel over the seam to prevent the splitting.

It is very easy to overtighten the nut on the oil tank fixing bolt shown in Rogers photo.

[chaterlea25]

Hi All,
Some time ago I was sorting out an oil tank mounting on a friends A10
He sent off to "drags" for all the rubbers etc, really disappointing to receive random bits of rubber hose 
I found a proper set of rubber bits from another supplier
If the proper rubber is fitted over the steel tube then the nut can be fully tightened
The pair of steel "cups" at the rear of the tank are often hammered to death, I made a press tool to make a few
again the distance tube and correct rubber parts allow tightening of the bolt, remember to check that the spacing tube between the frame plates is  still there , very often missing and the frame plates squashed inwards
I piece of threaded bar and two nuts placed between the plates can be used to jack the plates apart and refit the spacer

John

[limeyrob]

Yes, I spent quite some time fettling the various spacers to get the nuts/bolts nipped up with just enough compression on the rubber.  Also experimenting with rubber thickness and density on that pad.  The original looks like foamed rubber but the replacements look too hard.

[Topdad]

I've used 22mm pipe insulation works well and can be cut to hide it

[limeyrob]

Good point, the original is closed cell rubber foam and the pipe insulation is closed cell too.  It matters because it doesn't hold water whereas open cell (like sponges) hold water and can cause a lot of corrosion.  I think the rubber insulation strip for windows and HVAC are closed cell.

[Sakura]

I've used 22mm pipe insulation works well and can be cut to hide it

 Yes, I've thought of that, usually grey but I think it can be got in black.

"Rules are made for the guidance of wise men and the blind obediance of fools"
One of my favourite quotes, not always appreciated by my dept heads!

[Rex]

Often quoted, but is it real? Always reminds me of 1980's codology used by someone  to justify not following the set rules or guidelines.

[Topdad]

Rex it was used by Kenneth Moore when he played Douglas Bader in "reach for the sky " however it was alsomcredited to Harry Day a ww1 ace who fought in ww2 and was a POW ,Either way I've always thought it means apply common sense something saddly missing from the world today.

[CheeserBeezer]

All nuts and bolts on the oil tank are intended to be tightened up fully to compress the rubber. The tension is taken up on the steel sleeves so that the rubber is encased around the sleeves, providing a soft(ish) surface for the tank to sit on. If you look at the bottom mount in particular, you'll see that the 'T-bolt', sleeve , nut and dished washer, when tightened up make a solid group upon which the rubber sleeve is trapped by the cup and plain washer. So, the solid group becomes part of the oil tank which sits on the rubber mount which is held firmly in the bracket by the cup. If they're not tightened up solid they rattle about, which obviously isn't right. Critically, the steel sleeves need to be the correct length, as does the rubber mount. If these are correct, they establish a gap between the tank and frame which is filled with the foam rubber pad. Problems arise when pattern parts are the wrong size (often the case) or parts are assembled in the wrong order. This is worth a look...
https://sites.google.com/site/priorymagnetos/oil-tank-and-tool-box

[RichardL]

This is worth a look...
https://sites.google.com/site/priorymagnetos/oil-tank-and-tool-box

Just saw this. Great reference. But, of course, considering the source.

Richard L.

[limeyrob]

Wish I'd known about that when I fitted and piped up mine. I spent hours tracking down part numbers and cross referencing them to the fasteners list to make sure I'd got it right.  And I still had a big leak on start up