Fuel leak

[richard]

does anyone have a method to fix the shut-off valve on the tank, other than the boiling water method for the cork seal.
replacement seal?
o-rings?
or replace the valve?

and what size is the thread in the bottom of the tank?
its about .015 inch under the standard NPT (usa) size plug.

[John@sos]

Hello Richard,

age old problem... but easily fixed. If my boiling the tap plunger trick does not work, then you simply need one of my fuel tap repair kits!
They are £4.50 plus £0.75p P&P.

Either mail me or phone me for more.

Sadly Seagull never went down the 'O' ring route, but then if they had the only way to fix it would be a new 'O' ring, no good to you miles from anywhere with only a kettle to help you!

Thread on the tap is a 1/8 inch BSP thread, commonly used on gas appliances, but standard to all fuel taps on motorbikes outboards and lawnmowers in the UK! Thanks to Charles for giving me the actual thread size! I have a tap marked 'gas' that I use to clear these threads in the tanks, so though it a gas thread...

Hope this helps, regards,
John
SOS

[kenthegeordie]

I have a lot of old motorcycles which originally had the Ewarts fuels taps. I suffered many problems with leaking fuel taps and eventually got fed up replacing corks. I replaced the fuel taps with BAP alloy taps which are superb. They are available from classic motorcycle parts suppliers and do not leak at all, even after many years of service. They are available in BSP so fit right in to the Seagull tanks. (They also polish up nicely!)

[Donald A]

I like the sound of "BAP taps" - any other suggestions, say, on how to make the main fuel filler cap more efficient?

[ALAN]

My one leaked when I first purchased it.

I solved the problem by shaving down an old cork and with a bit of drilling of the stopcock operation bit (I dunno what it is called) and a bit of soldering a bolt to a washer attained a perfect seal.

Regards.

Alan