Doug Coffey’s RetroMod Panhead Part 3
I needed an oil tank for this build that would be rather unique. It had to hold a full size battery from a late model electric start Dyna or Softail as my large high compression stroker motor would need all the starting power it could get. It had to completely hide the battery because I didn’t want any of it to protrude above the frame rails and it had to hold lots of oil. My preference was round oil tanks so I started looking for cylinder like containers to see what size might fit. After testing a variety of ice cream containers and my wife’s Tupperware I found a one gallon paint can to be perfect. (once I cut the bottom out to clear the electric starter) The first step in making the oil tank was to fabricate a battery box. I used some 14 gauge sheet metal and bent one up on my brake and then welded in the sides. The batteries I use are the late sealed type so they can be placed in any position. This one was going to lay in at an angle to miss the electric starter. With the battery box out of the way I used some more 14 gauge sheet metal and rolled up the tank on my 3 roll machine. I cut a rectangular piece out of the tank shell and welded the batter box inside the tank. Now you can see why I wanted such a big tank, that battery box displaces a lot of oil holding capacity. The under side of the tank had to be notched for electric starter clearance. With the oil tank shell part taken care of it was time to make some tank ends. […]
Doug Coffey’s RetroMod Panhead Part 3 Read More »