A new tank - a bit of a gamble?

On a well know auction site, I noticed a firm in India selling reproduction tanks for a 3T - chromed or otherwise. When you consider the cost of a repair, rechroming and repaint, it is a very expensive project and you may not always get back the investment made. So, I decided to have a little gamble and buy one of the chromed tanks - I think the total including delivery from India was £245. Considering I paid more than double that for a tank restoration by a guy in Essex - and it wasn't very good at all - then this price was really worth the gamble. It has just arrived and I am more than pleased with the item. True it has rust on the inside (but easy to remedy) and I have not check the dimensions but for what it costs it is a good deal. I now have 3 tanks, one is restored, one is this new one and I have an original one as a pattern and checking.

Oh, and yes, it did get delivered in the tin case!!

Restarted after a while away!

I have quite a few other projects and I have been clearing the decks so I can really get on with the 3T rebuild(s). So off we go! I actually have enough for about 3 x 3T’s but will probably only build 2.

When I last looked at the bike it was ready to have the frames bolted together. This required a little persuasion using a compact jack and ratchet strap to gently ‘squeeze’ the fram so I could bet the main bolt through the bottom. The pictures show what I did and it was a very easy process.

All the major components are with on order or have arrived (exhausts, tyres etc etc) The wheels have been respoked and I’ll post a picture or 2 when I have collected them. One bike will be built with a sprung rear hub and the other with a solid hub.