Off season activities in the man castle will see me modifying a stock GSXR fuel tank for increased capacity for our endurance team next year. Does anyone know what gauge of metal to use? My micrometer does'nt have enough throat room to get an accurate measurement. At the moment I'm guessing between 20 and 24 gauge carbon steel (0.036" and 0.024" respectively). Obviously formability and weldabilty will be my primary concerns. Donor tank (and bike) is an '06 GSXR 600. Any assistance will be much appreciated. Will post pics during and upon completion. Thanks, RC
Do yourself a favor and use the thicker ga. it makes it ez'r to weld up when your done, tack the band pcs every 1/2" and turn the TIG down to about 50amps, and use a pulser if you got it....use .035 wire to weld it. The new pcs shoud go Inside the tank...like a band, you can do it all in about like 6 or 7 pcs. I can post up a few pics if you want of how they get done here....takes about 10-12 hrs if you have few interuptions and do a nice job.
Thanks for the informative reply Britt. If you have pics they would be much appreciated. I was planning on using my TIG unit and also back purging the tank with argon (after I got all the parts fit up) and then welding it out - but your 'band' idea may work better as a backing strip for the weld. So as far as the gauge metal... you reckon that 18ga or 16ga would be a better option? I have access to a full range of metal work tooling (break forming and rolling equipment etc..) so forming the parts isn't an issue for me - I just dont want to add a bunch of weight if I don't need to. Thanks again man.RC
You only need to back gas stainless steel... I would use 18 given the choice between 16/18. 16 gets heavy quick. I concur with Britt's pulser suggestion. If your not pulsing, 50amps will get hot quick. I've welded some expansion chambers pulsed at 25 amps so, if ya can... Take the time and practice a while on some scraps
RC sent you some pix, I can't resize...post them if you want... Yeah @ 50 amps you better be haul'nass when you running the weld...lol...perhaps 40 would be better... Most new tanks are about .026 thick...takes some patience.
I know this is an old thread but just checking to see if you had any details about the fuel tank. What gauge the stock tank is and what you used. Any luck with the endurance tank construction? I'm looking for a little guidance on a '11 gsxr750.
Just picking this thread up and will post pics when/if I make some progress. I cut up a trashed stock tank off a 2013 gsxr600. Thickness is 0.036" with the paint measured at serveral places. maybe 4-6 mils for the paint? so the steel may be between 20-22g. Wow.
I use .040/.045 for the filler panels for expanding capacity on steel tanks. There are a few pix on my FB page.
Thanks for the suggestions. Found those pics on FB! My plan isn't to build an endurance tank, but a lightweight repositioned tank. Unfortunately my plans were dealt a serious blow when I discovered the steel in the OEM was so thin and the flange that I plan to reuse off the trashed oem tank weighed so much... I'm going forward just out of curiosity's sake to see if I can build it.
