Dash Doesn't Fit

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Ripley/Fla
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Dash Doesn't Fit

#1

Post by Ripley/Fla »

I have a frame that was restored with the 'fits-all' piece that runs from the tank mount back to the seat mount. I have a stock two light dash, repro 3.5 tanks and (I think) a Old-OEM dash. The tanks line up good with the lower mounting and the upper two. What's wrong is the dash mating to the tanks. Rubber trim slicing tight front and back and a good 5/16" gap in the middle. Moving the tanks up and down in the back has no effect. Yanking the speedo has no effect.The curve of the dash does not match the curve of the tanks from in front of the fuel shut-off to the ignition switch. Any one seen this? I will not cut up stock parts to fix it, but it makes me look like a hack!
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Re: Dash Doesn't Fit

#2

Post by Panacea »

That is a very common problem with aftermarket tanks, I have a simmilar problem with my five gallon fat bobs, the front right side has a big gap, one would think the aftermarket would match the OEM profile, maybe english doesn't translate into taiwaneese very well....Mike
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Re: Dash Doesn't Fit

#3

Post by VintageTwin »

one would think the aftermarket would match the OEM profile, maybe english doesn't translate into taiwaneese very well....
Think not. :) The Taiwan-nians can build anything you want, exactly like you want and make it right. It's the American manufacturers that cheap-out and don't want to pay the price to have it made right.
The American goons in charge of final design, figure that they can't sell correctly made 3.5's for $650.00 (a set, retail) and sell enough to make a profit over initial investment vs. the fact that most people that even knew what real tanks looked like are now dead, and the people who are still alive wouldn't know the difference anyway.
The '55-57 rigid frame I'm building is indistinguishable from an OEM 1957, only because I'm using '51-53 OEM fuel tanks. If I ran those (ugly as butt-hair) AM 3.5 gallon tanks, something about the motorcycle would look wrong.
I wouldn't even build an OHV if I had to use those AM 3.5 tanks I have.
Those short-sighted cheapskates ruined an entire potential market.
Think not? Hold a repop horseshoe oil tank next to an OEM. See much difference? Hardly. They've been making them for 35 years. No problems looking at them. They don't scream "fraud".
Repop 8-rib cam covers? Look real enough to me.
Repop fenders? Looking pretty good.
Repop frames, cylinders, Knuckle and Pan cylinder heads? Wassamadder them? Nothing! Looking good.
Repop rims, spokes, handlebars...............looking pretty damn good :!:
It's those X!@#@#@!! 3.5 tanks that don't cut it. Here, get an eye-full. Can you tell the difference? You don't have to look too hard.
ImageImage
Not surprised a dash won't fit. Those lops no doubt made the tanks to fit a Shovel dash, or no dash. I don't think the dash fit was ever a consideration.
Taiwan can make exact copies of the 3.5 gallon tanks. You want emblem indents or tank shift lugs with those tanks? You'll have to pay for it. How much? 250K, 400K, 600K, a million, a jillion, ......who knows?

Note: For those of you that don't see the difference, that understandable. If you don't handle these parts everyday, you wouldn't notice that the rear section of the tank's totally eclipse the rear Pan cover, because you have to look close, but the tank is actually w-i-d-e-r at the back of the tank than the OEM's on the left. The front of the repops is greatly more bulbous than the OE's, because the tanks were created in part, by ading "metal skin" over existing OEM tanks as a stamp mold... Boo :!:
Some people may need to look at the tanks comparisons for over an hour to see the difference. That's what the creators were counting on.
Half of the problem is with the people that made the tanks wrong to begin with, and the other half of the problem is the people that bought them and lived with them without complaining non-stop about them.
Post a pic of how the dash fits on those amalgamate p.o.s so we can see what you're talking about.
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An example of how the "organization" is divided up. Contemplate:
Lifeline® is the largest company making (Asian) aftermarket "Harley-Davidson type" parts on the west coast. I've been receiving their dealer catalog for many years. Lifeline® makes chromed parts for about 1969-up. They will not make and sell Harley parts for anything 1959 OHV and earlier. They might make an early (chromed) half-moon footboard, but that's about it. They'll never make early OHV Harley parts. http://www.lifelineint.com/
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
You'll need to find a set of OEM tanks Mike.....those repop 3.5's lack the contour curve to match dash covers. I've tried figuring out ways to correct the repop Knuckle and the Panhead tanks. You can't. Even if you were a wizard with a torch, you couldn't fix these tanks. Nothing about them is redeemable.
Ripley/Fla
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Re: Dash Doesn't Fit

#4

Post by Ripley/Fla »

Here is a photo. 5/16" at the highest gap. My tanks are exactly like your repro ones at the seat end.
Ripley/Fla
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Re: Dash Doesn't Fit

#5

Post by Ripley/Fla »

Here is the photo.
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Re: Dash Doesn't Fit

#6

Post by hogboy52 »

.
I have an OEM unchromed dash and A/M tanks and the fit is exactly correct on both sides with the largest gap around .030 at the the very rear. They are not as wide as the ones pictured which look more like 5 gal. ones. However, I'm not a restorationist and these are panhead tanks with the modern fuel fittings.
On second thought I realise these are not new repops and looking underneath they say "ZEL (?) 86".
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Re: Dash Doesn't Fit

#7

Post by Kuda »

Michael Tanner wrote: Any one seen this? I will not cut up stock parts to fix it, but it makes me look like a hack!
Here's what I did to make my cheesy repop (original style) 3.5's fit. I bought a cheesy two light repop dash and slowly carved away the front curve (where it lifts off the tank) until it was pretty close to fitting. Then I slightly relieved the tank mount holes on the frame to give it some wiggle room. With a little jockeying around, it's pretty close to perfect...

-Kuda (takes a lot a patience tho'...)
'49 panchop
Ripley/Fla
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Re: Dash Doesn't Fit

#8

Post by Ripley/Fla »

Kuda, Thanks for the tip. I had Ebayed another OEM dash and it arrived today. I don't have to worry about buying a cheesy repro dash because I already own one! (The first one was suppose to be OEM, unfortunately. It seems like you have to buy two of everything on Ebay.) Anyway the OEM dash is the real deal, subtlety different, definitely smaller. Since everything but the speedo plate and lower tank bracket is repro, I'll trim away and make the best of it.
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Re: Dash Doesn't Fit

#9

Post by mbskeam »

I also did the same as Kuda, then I got some rubber split molding (U channel) to go around the base...

mbskeam
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