Cork Fuel Taps

[davemac]

Hi Guys,
Just joined the Forum and I've got an A10, engine no. DA10 2058 frame no. EA 1391 I believe it's a 1958 Golden Flash although it's got an aluminium head and RR front end. Anyway  I was interested reading your comments on cork fuel taps. The old girl was in storage for 15 plus years, for various reasons, and about 9 months ago I decided it was time to get it out. I made sure I turned it over every month or so and apart from replacing a lot of the gaskets cause they'd gone hard the only real problem I had was the fuel taps - no fuel in the tank - cork dried out big time. Bought a couple of new ones, ( dear as poison), fitted them in - problem solved. Unfortunately a serious bill came in and I had to pospone rego. for a few months. Now I did leave fuel in the tank thinking it would keep the cork moist. I know what you're goin' to say but I'm still a novice so that's my explaination. Anyway to cut a long story short the cork was buggered again and I wasn't going to buy any more so I went to a wheel bearing company and went through their stock of "O" rings. I found a size that seemed right but three was slightly loose with four too tight. I decided on three per tap and bought 12 to fit both sets for bugger all cash. When I fitted them up it still leaked so three wasn' enough. After some serious patience and manipulating I got four of them on the plungers and into the shafts. Although they were very tight to operate, I needed a pair of plyers initially, I can now pull them out by hand. So far they have worked brilliantly and they cost me next to nothing.   

[bsa-bill]

Sounds like a worthwhile mod provided the o-ring rubber is fuel proof.
Cork is OK (11 years in my bike so far and no leaks) provided you soak them in fuel for a few days before fitting (or some use water )
I bought two plungers complete with corks fitted that I keep in a jar of fuel on a shelf in the shed as a quick fix should the need arise, as with most standby things they have not been needed, strange though the fuel in the jar has never gone bad.

All the best - Bill

[davemac]

Hey Bill,

The guy I got the 'O' rings off assured me that they were oil and fuel resistant so I guess only time will tell, aye.

Davemac

[MG]

Hi Dave!

Welcome to the forum!
There are O-rings available that are made from fluororubber. These have a greyish colour, unlike the normal rubber O-rings that are deep black. This fluororubber really is resistant to fuel and mineral oil. If you ever come to take a japanese engine apart, you will very probably find those O-rings. That's why they stay oil-tight through many many years.

Cheers, Markus

[RichardL]

Chose a random petrol tap cork topic for this post. Don’t have time right now to see if it’s redundant.

Couldn’t lose a weekend of riding waiting for petrol tap corks to arrive from a supplier at a shipping cost much more than the corks. Decided to try to make my own from a genuine cork wine stopper. Pictures tell the story. Dry as a bone.

Richard L.

[RichardL]

Yes, I remembered to replace the screw in the tap.

[muskrat]

G'day Richard.
Well done mate.
What a shame having to drink a bottle of wine every time a fuel tap leaks, I need 4 
Cheers

[Rex]

I bought ten new corks for a fiver off good old Ebay. It took longer to type this than to punch out the spindle, replace the cork and press back together again.

[RichardL]

Didn’t have a week to wait for delivery from eBay.

Richard L.

[jhg1958]

I have found that corks that have dried out can be rejuvenated with steam, i.e holding over kettle. It worked with my Triumph.  Then I kept the spare in a jam jar with a bit of petrol.
John

[Rex]

You can dunk them in a cup of boiling water for ten seconds too, but in my experience the improvement isn't permanent. I agree with storing the spare in a jar of spirit of some sort, white spirit, paraffin or malt whiskey all work.