New toys

 First an update on the tank. It was another miserable welding job, I hate working on metal that thin. Loads of pinprick holes that needed rewelding. But I finally got it done and pressure tested. This is just before welding it up, showing the flexi pipe in it's proper home;

I think it looks perfect, and it's clear of the roll bar brace. After this picture was taken I welded it up, painted it and put it away ready for the other end.

Oh yeah, the other end. So this arrived;

£40 for an vented lockable gas cap and this cover that goes on top. I don't know whether this particular cap is IVA friendly, if not I'll just go with the standard gas cap. Not as pretty, but safe.

Now the problem was what to fit it to. I got this first because I wanted to see how wide the cap was. Turns out it's wider than all of the Ebay bookmarked pipes so none of them are any use! However it's a perfect fit for my 2 inch tube. So the plan is to weld a flat plate to the end of the tube, then drill and cut a suitably slotted hole in the tope for the cap. Once that's done it's another bit of welding to fix a mounting skirt to the tube for the bodywork. So definitely the locost version.

The only thing I do need to consider is keeping it fuel tight (again!) and also having it perfectly flat on the face. Thankfully I have access to both sides so I'll be able to tap and bend it where required. It needs to be flat to seal to the gas cap rubber, otherwise it's going to be an instant fail. I think in theory I can put the cap on the tube then fill it with water to see if it's tight.

Last thing is the switch gear. I finally found somewhere that sold bog standard toggle switches, or at least I thought they did. Turns out they were momentary flasher switches rather than on/off! A quick disassembly and remodel of the switch mechanism got me a pair of on/off toggle switches. Then it was back to the 3D printer for a mount;

The first one on the left was just way too small in every dimension, not sure what happened there. The second centre one was better, it had the front edge trim on and it looked ok on it's own. The switches fitted, but when it came to screwing on the collars it didn't work. So another couple of millimetres in every direction got me to the one on the right. Now that's just waiting for me to add a legend and the perspex. 

For perspex I managed to get small sheets from Hobbycraft, even in a buy two get one free offer so I have some spare material. It looks ok but I've not yet tried cutting it yet, that will be the main test. If it cuts and/or grinds down then I have enough to make face plates for all dash gauges, tell tales and switches. If it doesn't then I've wasted £6, hardly a dealbreaker!