Fuel gauge on tank

Looking to be able to put two 90 degree barbed fittings on the outside of my tank with clear fuel tubing to act as a fuel gauge of sorts. How would you go about getting the barbed fittings attatched to the tank? TIG welding is out, I was almost thinking of some sort of epoxy, what are your guys' thoughts?

Thanks

Dustin

 

is MIG welding out? Stick welding? hell, braising would do the trick.

If not, drill an (slightly) undersized hole, and force it in (maybe with a hammer) and use a little PETROLEUM RESISTANT epoxy to secure/seal it up.

The undersized hole will ensure a good tight seal to the tank.

^my $0.02

 

I'd rather not have to weld on the tank. I was thinking there was some sort of epoxy that was fuel resistant etc. made to do this.

 

Be very careful with fuel "resistant" sealant. Most "resistant" sealant will only tolerate exposure to gasoline for hours, maybe a day or two if fully cured.

I had a hell of a time trying to seal a fuel leak when the bike was in storage last year. I tried about 5 or 6 different sealants that all claimed to be resistant and none of them held more than a day.

If you get the right epoxy it should work, but I would feel a lot safe having it braised or welded. If you go the epoxy route, I would test it on an old coffee can(with some gas in it for a week) before you drill a hole in your tank.

You might also be able to attach it to the fuel line leaving the petcock. You would need to bring it up above the filler neck to make sure no gas comes out.

 

Would JB Weld work?

 

can u not get a barbed fitting thats threaded one end like on a
compressor style air hose ? then a simple case of a tap & die
a thread to screw the fitting in and a lil loctite threadlocker to
seal it that should work fine
oh and chemiweld a nut of a suitable thread to the
inside of the tank for extra bite

 

There is not enough metal on the side of the tank to tap a threaded hole. You would have to weld some sort of fitting to the tank. Cool idea but it sounds like it could be a little dangerous. Having clear tubing outside the tank could easily come off and spill fuel on a hot engine.

 

why not get a sender off a later model and mount it? the only problem then is finding the right gauge... these thing run a standard gauge backwards Empty = Full

 

If your petcock is working, you should not need a gauge. Why ruin the tank/look of it for this?

 

if I understand this post correctly it sounds like you want a sight tube on the side of your tank, you would have to braze or TIG some fittings on because lets face it, it will get bumped and epoxy is just going to break. you could try and find some small bulkhead fittings with a gasket on both sides of the fittings (inside and out) but I wouldn't want to be the guy trying to get the tools and inner fittings inside the tank. why do you want a sight tube on your tank?

 

I strongly recommend AGAINST this whole idea from a safety standpoint.

This is NOT a safe idea.

 

I've considered the idea of a fuel gauge yet not quite like that though. I more less considered the "Low fuel light" sender found on some sport bikes or sport touring bikes. These type of senders don't have the typical arm and float but rather a floating ball inside a tube that is no bigger than a petcock fuel tube. When the ball reaches the bottom of the tube it would make a connection and then complete the circuit and turn the "low fuel light" on. I know its very possible to do it and I personally would not weld anything but instead drill a hole and put it in and then drop its nut inside the tank and thread it on the tube and tighten it to the tank that way along with a custom gasket I would make to have it be sealed.

as for your idea OP, the only sealant fuel resistant weld I have found that holds up the best is made by JB weld and is called "water weld" you apply it and then let it cure 24hrs. I've used it on diesel tanks a few times and they seal perfectly and hard as steel and I haven't had one fail on me yet.

 

Ruin the look of a tank? Your opinion, I want the look of the "sight tube" as said by another poster.

I don't want a "fuel gauge" to have a fuel gauge, I want the "old school" look on the bobber I'm building

As far as not being safe, please elaborate. The bike currently has fittings and tubing (called a petcock and fuel line) sitting over the engine that bad things could happen to. This would be no different as I'm looking at using all fuel safe items to do this with.

I have found some "push connect" bungs that are made for fuel tanks but not sure if I want to go that route. They're used to run a second fuel pump in nitrous applications on motorcycles, anybody used one?

 

some propane tanks have a stripe on them, so you can see the liquid level,
thinking it works by temperature ?

 

I would not mount a tube on the exterior of the tank like FITZ says. If you were to wreck it could be a time bomb waiting to go off. Its bad enough to get road rash but be burned on top of it not so good. The phrase "Crash & Burn" comes to mind.

I know its a look you want but is there something else that could work. Like maybe a liquid level eye (Screw in plug with a heavy glass in it)

 

Who said a glass tube? I said clear fuel tubing, I don't know where glass came into the equation.

 

Sorry I assumed it would be glass you reffered to sight tube. Any case something that could fail on impact is never a good idea. I know thats not what you want to hear but my 2 cents you can leave it if you wish.

 

No I understand what your getting at, but I could get hit walking across the street too ya know? I understand concern, but it's not like I'm the first guy to come up with this "wacky" idea either as it's been done over and over and would like to duplicate. Just seeing what different ways there are to get the fittings in the side of the tank with no problems of leaking, that's all. I didn't mean to start up a big debate of if it's safe or looks good to whoever.

It's just like me preaching how crappy an idea the diaphram petcock is on these bikes due to another part being able to fail and the wrong guy owning this bike doesn't care enough to check and it leaks on his bike and he burns to the ground etc. etc...