The Internet has delivered some useful answers to my leaky petrol tap situation. God bless the bike nerds, it seems that grit from the tank will abrade the cork, and grit I have aplenty [see photo in TBB 2.0]. The tap has a filter but on close inspection the clear hose I opted for, to keep an eye on things, shows a build up of sludge at the lowest point. So stuff is getting through, which makes it disingenuous to go back to the supplier with a face on. Another reason for failure, as any winemaker would know, is the cork drying out and shrinking.
In this vein, it is interesting to note that replacement seals may be made more flexible and engorged by soaking in hot water. Complete new plungers are available but the very fact that Hitchcocks stock the seals would indicate that this is designed as a serviceable piece, so I’m going to have a go at it. Getting the cork sleeve over the stop end piece, intact, is what I can’t currently fathom. The plunger doesn't unscrew so perhaps soaking the cork in water is the answer, I'm only going find out by having a go.
If I am incapable, I can always resort to the fully integrated, forty quid main/reserve slider, which is probably the most sensible long-term option. With a blanking bolt in the (current) reserve side that'll be one less future leak to think about. One forum contributor reported a small fire as a result of fuel dripping onto his Mag leads, so when another suggested cutting a strip from a wine cork and wrapping it round the plunger with Evostick, well, I ordered three pre-formed ones. One to fuck up, one to get right, hopefully, and a spare.
To make the order worth more than the postage I’ve included a couple of copper sealing washers, a length of clear fuel pipe, some tiny Jubilee clips and a small fuel filter. It’s about time I replaced the old one, which is about to implode.
After tinkering with these issues, perhaps I'll do what I should have done in the first place, and that's perfom a more fundamental internal tank refurb. It needs to come off; shingle goes in once fittings have been removed and holes bunged up, shake until numb, empty and wash with petrol, pour in 2no. tank treatments, swill and empty, leave to dry, and refit. The coating should capture any remaining loose particulate matter and protect it from rust, for a while.
Summer's coming, an afternoon's work on a sunny day, it's proper preventative maintenance and I'm talking myself into it. Shit, I could do with some of that myself.
