My JD Dator/ oval clone

[liquidatorkid89]

here's a sketch of the measurements that i would need so i could build one outta a sheel of alum, would .100 be too think of material to use?

[S_Kyle]

I don't think 100 wall would be too thick. It all depends on what you have access to for a welder, at least with 100 wall you don't have to worry about crushing the tank if some thing happens. You should be able to get away with thinner material but for the real difference in weight I don't think it would have any real affect on the machine.

[liquidatorkid89]

that would be pretty cool, only thing would be finding a filler neck outta aluminum that i could build or find one that was aluminum ( which i have never seen) that i could use a bayonette style twist on cap liek jd used on the plastic tanks with the clear buble on top, also i am thinking i would like to make a mounting bracket on the RH rear top of the tunnel, or side of the tunnel that i can mount the petcock to so i can shut the lube tank supply on or off with the tank under the seat

just for future referances does someone have a dator seat foam that has the cut out for the extra fual tank that they could send the, if i wanted to have A1 or johns ulhpustry make a foam for my clone they would have a pattern?

[S_Kyle]

I belive that all the original seats had the cutout and then a filler piece was placed in the hole. I belive it was Bobby Enns that told me they only used the tank for the I 500 as the rest had more frequent fuel stops.

[liquidatorkid89]

ahh ok thats cool, ill have to ask my friend that has a dator if he could check out the seat for me and get some pics of it, and measurements, got some of the rear suspension cleaned up tonight

[kenwaters]

Shannon,

If your friend has a Dator, why not ask him if you could borrow the filler piece/eventually the whole seat and fab your tank up from those dimensions. That way, when you have the foam for the seat made, your seat foam pattern could be used to make other Dator seats. Maybe the Dator rear fuel tank/lube and seat foams could be Shannon's niche market in the vintage snowmobiling world????

0.06-0.08 thick aluminum is plenty thick enough for a lube tank, use 6061 T651 for material, if you build it as sketched. It looks like in your sketch you will weld all seams, and not bend any seams. If you decide to bend the tank and just weld end panels, use 2024 aluminum. You can buy aluminum bung fittings from Mcmaster-Carr for the outlet, and for the filler neck, there is a kit to fix Invader fuel tanks that is available that will bolt right on to your tank on the back panel and look trick. That kit is available from JC Automotive Repair right here in Rochester NY.

[lwb140]

shannon i have a tank if you need measurements id be interested in a tank for my rider clone
kyle id idnt realize that the I 500 was about the only race the rear tank was used on the dators my sled has one shwing !!!! wade

[liquidatorkid89]

I'm trying to debate it seems like it would be best if a tank could be fabricated using the alum sheet metal being bent with bender so you could get the angles needed and it would cut down on the time i would have to pay a fab shop to tig weld the tank together, if i could rollthe top piece that wraps up the back side of the tank, up to the point above where the filler neck is, then back down the other side that would be 1 Piece, then 2 side panels for the tank, and the bottom, and the next thing i would have to take into consideration would be making the filler neck.... i think if i had a tig welder and wasp good with it would make a couple tanks for you guys if you were interested in them, but instead of using them as a lube tank and having a single outlet they would would have two like the originals, hopefully after college ill be able to afford a tig welder that way i can do alot of tig welding on some custom parts and do it on the side , i am hoping to order the materials to build the alum oval skis this weekend....either way ill keep you guys updated with pics, and idea's for my build

[kenwaters]

the next thing i would have to take into consideration would be making the filler neck......Shannon's last post

for the filler neck, there is a kit to fix Invader fuel tanks that is available that will bolt right on to your tank on the back panel and look trick. That kit is available from JC Automotive Repair right here in Rochester NY......Ken Waters above post

Just trying to help, I think this is a good idea to pursue. If your only interest is in making a lube tank for your clone, any gas tank with the correctly shaped neck could have the filler neck and a mounting flange cut off of it with a (your choice of power tool) and just mount it to your tank with a homemade gasket, silicone and pop rivets.

With bending the seams, you will still need to have two weld seams on the length of the tank, as you would have to be an expert sheet metal fabricator to have the skill needed to bend the correct angles and have the correct specialized tooling to do the last two bends to achieve only one weld seam on the length of the tank. Some advice, just go with the four weld seams on the length of the tank. You can fab up welding jig tooling (out of wood)for a short production run such as this.

[ICCSF 108]

Why go through all this just to build a special tank for lube, when there are various sizes of oil injection tanks from different Mfg. out there at salvage yards that could be used & would be lighter than aluminum???

Ken

[liquidatorkid89]

not totally sure if i wanna go trough the hassle of building a lube tank for under the seat, i kinda like the looks of the ones that are mounted to the running board, i am thinking about Changing the height though so that way the liquidator decal can be seen on the rear side of the tunnel , i have a couple people coming over to look @ my 92 LT250R quad racer so hopefully i can sell that today and that will give me $600 towards the build so i can buy the stinger pipe kit, the materials to build the alum. skis, the oval bars, snow flap material, and other parts for the build

[liquidatorkid89]

sold the quad today, and started paint stripping the tunnel, was a fun day working on the sled, def. takes some time stripping the old paint off the chassis but the original paint came off the belly pan alot better compared to the paint the tunnel was repainted with....looking forward to next weekend to get more work done on it

[JDT]

Better take that snowflap off before the stripper eats it up and turns it to mush.

[liquidatorkid89]

i gotta find something to cut off the screw with the hex hunts from the tunnel, tried vice grips no luck what i need is an air cut off wheel to flip the tunnel over then cut the nuts off, i am gonna oreder some of the wahl snow flap material, and use the original as a patter then figure out a wat to stencil or figure out how to put the deer emblem on, even though the deere on the original flap material is raised and the wahl snow flap material isnt, i think if i made a stencil and painted it on it would flake off as the snow flap flexed

[JDT]

Just twist off the screws and replace them with new ones when the sled is done.
Or use a hack saw and cut between the flap and the tunnel.