Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Oil tank hanger almost done

I saw a long chopper a couple years ago with the oil tank hung out in front of the engine.  I've also seen the "air ramp" style oil tanks on some Arlen Ness-styled Evo builds, but didn't want something like that on it.  Here's what I *didn't* want:


Here's what I *did* want (or, at least, something similar to it):



So here's *my* take on it!  I placed mine higher up because the oil system is gravity fed--I wanted to ensure the tank was high enough that oil flow would not be a problem.

I started with 1.5" wide, 3/16" mild steel flat stock.  I cut a piece that will be welded to the frame, and then two arms to connect it to the oil tank.  I drilled .75" holes into the end of each arm for the rubber isolators and then shaped the ends to clean them up.  After that I mocked it up and tacked them into place.






After ensuring they were pretty straight, I then welded them together.  I'm a beginner welder, using a 90A flux core welder, but for my purposes, it'll work.  After these welds were made, I then flipped the piece over and laid a bead on the back side.  The front face was smoothed over with a flap wheel so that it would sit flush when mounted to the frame.




Then I clamped the assembly to the frame, checking for square.




Once I was satisfied with that, I tacked it into place and hung the tank to check that it looked good.  This is my second go--the first wasn't welded on straight, which, while not noticeable by itself, looked HORRIBLE once the tank was mounted.



It looked good to me, so I laid a few beads on to secure it in place.



So now I need to weld another mounting bung onto the rear of the tank, near the bottom, for a third arm that I'll weld onto the bracket.  This will ensure good support and keep the tank safely in place.  As it sits, it can swing fore-and-aft a decent amount because of the play the rubber mounts give it.  A third brace will keep it from swinging.  I also need to weld gussets under the bracket's arms.  Wish I had done that before welding it to the frame!

No comments:

Post a Comment