Brass Fuel Tap Adaptors ?

patchy-man · Post by **patchy-man** » Sat Sep 25, 2010 8:05 pm

I'm not sure if such item's exsist, but here goes anyway. I have the original brass fuel taps on my 1960 AJS Model 8 350 Lightweight. One has an annoying fuel weep, and the other is stiff to operate. I have stripped and cleaned both, which seems to help for a short period of time. Is there such adaptors available which have the 1/8" gas male thread to screw into the tank, and a 1/4" gas female thread to accomodate the newer flat blade style petrol taps ?

itma · Post by **itma** » Sat Sep 25, 2010 8:27 pm

All the new taps you can buy are rubbish.
I have found a Pirtek catalogue to be a wonderful source of taps adaptors etc as long as you are not fussy about originality.

All the older original taps can be repaired, exactly what type do you have?

patchy-man · Post by **patchy-man** » Sat Sep 25, 2010 9:52 pm

The petrol taps on my bike are the original brass round lever type (PTP-200) 1/8" gas X 1/4" gas. I was also contemplating buying new original taps, but as I don`t see much wrong with the taps after stripping, I was looking for an alternative ?

itma · Post by **itma** » Sat Sep 25, 2010 10:06 pm

try lapping them in with brasso first, levercock taps should not leak

Groily · Post by **Groily** » Sat Sep 25, 2010 10:07 pm

You could have a look at some of the available adapter options here:
www.earls.co.uk/earls/adapters/bsptobsp.html
And other similar vendors.

If you're wanting to go from 1/4 on the tap to 1/8 in the tank, you'll have filter problems though probably, as the ones on the taps you get won't pass the 'ole in the adapter.

I have to confess to using ugly (but cheap) 1/4 BSP gas taps (as available from plumbers' merchants), with adapters as needed. They don't leak even after years of use - although they're probably made by children in far-away sweat shops breathing poisoned air all day. (But come to think, they're all working for the Commonwealth Games people now according to the News so that's OK then.)
For not leaking these ugly objects may be more efficient on workaday machinery than many pattern bits that look more correct but don't, er, work very well or long.
Downsides are that filters are a fiddle to make (unless an in-line one could serve), and the inelegant levers can only be got rid of in favour of brass or stainless by those who can fabricate basic bits and bobs.

Very bad things but they do work and I've seen them (often in disguised form) on quite a few glamorous machines whose owners you'd think knew better!