Check Fuel Tank Gaskets - Some deteriorate

[Driver]

Just when it was getting up to speed hitting their stride I think Craig realized he couldn't be as big a operation as he wanted. I think he realized the Atom was never going to be the launching pad he dreamed of. He left a lot of people hanging. I expect the bike will be no different. Read his website, same story (even the same layout) different product, I think I even saw something about new facilities etc... Didn't they JUST do that for the Atom?  

[silver]

yeah he's got a HUUUGE company now.....what's it 4 people????? 

[Terry Kennedy]

[quote="Curator"]
TMI carrys them.How much can they be? $20 bucks,shipped? Unless you need it yesterday.
[/quote]

They're in stock at TMI. The price I was quoted had the standard email confidentiality note at the bottom, so I won't give the exact price, but I will say it is a lot less than $20, even for the pair.

[quote="Curator"]
Is the TMI replacement gasket NOS,as in new old Brammo stock?Or made from a better grade of material than brammo specified. Just wondering...in case anyone was going to order one from them. After all,they are the Atoms support,technically.[/quote]

I believe they are a new design.

BTW, I don't have any complaints about TMI's support for Brammo Atoms. There are some unavoidable issues, like not being given complete documentation on what cars have which pieces and so forth, as well as having realistic pricing (a number of us had gotten quotes or even orders from Brammo with pricing that turned out to be less than Brammo was paying).

Remember, Brammo sold the cars with no warranty (though they did try to correct defects that were brought to their attention).

Please consider where we'd be today if Brammo just "went away" without TMI picking up support and parts availability. After AtomFest 2007 I voiced my concerns to Simon and offered to purchase Brammo's inventory if the US Atom business were to fail, so parts would still be available. Fortunately, things were apparently already underway with TMI.

[quote="Driver"]
Just when it was getting up to speed hitting their stride I think Craig realized he couldn't be as big a operation as he wanted. I think he realized the Atom was never going to be the launching pad he dreamed of. He left a lot of people hanging. I expect the bike will be no different.[/quote]

Brammo suffered from the same illusion that many first-time startups do: "We're going to have to beat them off with sticks" (for the US-jargon-impaired, that means "We'll have far more customers than we know what to do with", not something obscene.)

I think Brammo saw the number of inquiries that they had before they started taking orders, and also the number of orders they got in the first few months, and assumed that that represented a baseline and it could only go up from there. They kept ramping up capacity to meet backlog, and finally discovered that new orders weren't coming in at the rate they expected. That was probably due to a number of things, which I'd rate as 1) no advertising; 2) constant price increases; 3) failure of effective communication with existing and potential owners.

When I picked up my Atom, Tom and Dan [Burchill] spent an hour or two going over the car with me, and when I came back 2 days later for the final checkout before heading back east, they each spent a couple hours on the car, and Tom spent the whole day driving me around, picking up an Autocom, helping me get some last-minute luggage, and so forth. I told everybody that they needed to charge for this or they'd lose their shirts, but they refused to take my money (I actually had my checkbook out and was thinking of a number around $1000).

Having said that, Brammo did raise prices on later cars to an amount I considered excessive. Perhaps part of that was their overhead. However, even with much less overhead, TMI still says that the base price for a US Atom is $65K (per their FAQ). As of today, that's £43,291. While I can't find a price on the Ariel UK site (thanks to an annoying use of Flash, it is no longer searchable), but Autocar says £30,000 for a 300. Wikipedia (not always accurate) says £20,000 to £29,000. This would seem to indicate that the US car is still far more expensive than the UK version.

[DarthChicken]

Pulled mine apart tonight.. same thing (nothing dropped in yet, but it was hanging down pretty badly, was nicely shredded, and the gasoline had swelled it).  Drivers side must be stock ecotec piece, because its DEFINITELY made of a different type of material, and when I took the fuel pump apart 2 months ago, it looked perfect.

Went down to Napa tonight, bought a roll of felpro rubber-fiber gasket material - for sealing oil, water, or gasoline (one of the recommendations is for fuel pump mounting... sounds about right).  Part number 3157.  Cost was about $5.  The gasket I made is actually round though, I used a roll of tape for the inside circle, and the cover for the outside, and then actually followed the lines. 

Silver, you get a "F" for neatness and effort.  Sorry man. 

My car is #57.  Its going to happen to everybody, if you're not thinking about doing it, you need to.

[silver]

An F....that's a little harsh....it works and its a pretty darn clean circle so what's your beef?

[maverick1]

Guys I went around today buying tools and drill bits etc.
I highly recommend checking the fuel filler gasket and changing it out before you have a complete gasket meltdown and blockage like I did. If you catch that one in time then you won't have to touch the fuel pump gasket.
I am trying to drill out the rivets on the rear bulkhead so I can access the fuel pump, so I bought a stubby drill for this purpose and I think I can access all the rivets if I cut the drill bit in half to shorten it, because I do not want to have to take out the seats.
Plus you'll save yourself the purchase of a new fuel filter which go for around $50.00
I just wish Brammo would have spent another $3.00 and used proper gasket material.
Similarly, I feel Brammo should have redesigned the exhaust system when they discovered the failure of the original. Make one with no flex pipes.
cheers

[silver]

I'm just glad that when these things arrise that people take it and run with it............

Darth, I'd be happy to accept a prettier version of my perfectly good gasket...........you know my address..........I'll be waiting..........and if you send it I'll gladly install it.

[DarthChicken]

I'm just messing with you Silver. 

C-

[silver]

I like to keep a quality of work my friends and I refer to as ish....meaning its good ish lol....ill take a C minus...thanks for the bump on my grade teacher

[maverick1]

[quote="DarthChicken"]
Pulled mine apart tonight.. same thing (nothing dropped in yet, but it was hanging down pretty badly, was nicely shredded, and the gasoline had swelled it).  Drivers side must be stock ecotec piece, because its DEFINITELY made of a different type of material, and when I took the fuel pump apart 2 months ago, it looked perfect.

Went down to Napa tonight, bought a roll of felpro rubber-fiber gasket material - for sealing oil, water, or gasoline (one of the recommendations is for fuel pump mounting... sounds about right).  Part number 3157.  Cost was about $5.  The gasket I made is actually round though, I used a roll of tape for the inside circle, and the cover for the outside, and then actually followed the lines. 

Silver, you get a "F" for neatness and effort.  Sorry man. 

My car is #57.  Its going to happen to everybody, if you're not thinking about doing it, you need to.
[/quote]
Darth, was the felpro gasket material the same thickness as the origional?
Going to pick up some tomorrow.
cheers

[silver]

I know you weren't asking me but for what its worth mine was much thinner...maybe 1 mm thick versus at least 5 mm thick stock

[DarthChicken]

Ditto. The stuff I got looks a lot like what Silver has.  Its a paper/rubber-like combination.

[bolus]

Okeydokey, what is this fricken crap??  As I am loosening the last screw I see that there is a metal ring on the inside of the tank and some sort of cork-looking  gasket on the outside.  If I remove this last screw the metal piece will fall into the tank...


Anyway, it is not worn at all

*reaches a fist to the sky*  BRAMMOOOOO!!!
[img width=543 height=600]http://bolus.shackspace.com/atom/1.jpg[/img]
[img width=800 height=450]http://bolus.shackspace.com/atom/2.jpg[/img]

[bolus]

Ok, word of warning,  If you have the same setup as me  the metal piece on the inside of my tank was the only part with threads for the screws.  So if that part fell off then it would most certainly require removing the tank to fix because there is no way to hold it in place to put in the first screw.  And the gasket material is not attached to it wants to try and fall into the tank.  I think I got it back in place and everything is bolted back on. 


I guess it is worth trying to put a mirror into the tank to see if there is that metal piece.  If not, then the gasket needs replacing,  if so, then leave it the hell alone. 

crap.  I was >< close,  probably one turn of that screw, from having to pull the tank.....  grrrr

[Terry Kennedy]

Ok, word of warning,  If you have the same setup as me  the metal piece on the inside of my tank was the only part with threads for the screws.  So if that part fell off then it would most certainly require removing the tank to fix because there is no way to hold it in place to put in the first screw.   And the gasket material is not attached to it wants to try and fall into the tank.  I think I got it back in place and everything is bolted back on.

I have an idea. I don't know if it will work or not, but if this happens to anyone...

Use one of those flexible grabby pickup tools (the kind with plunger-operated jaws, not the magnetic one):



Fish around in the tank until you get the backing collar and use the tool to lift it up near the opening.

Then, bend a coat hanger into an upside-down "T", with the head of the "T" just a little bit wider than the opening in the tank. Wiggle it around inside the tank so that it is on the underside of the backing collar and pull on the stem of the "T" to hold the backing collar against the inside top of the tank. Now slide the filler neck down the stem of the "T" until the filler neck is against the outside of the tank and the backing collar against the inside. Turn the shaft of the "T" until the holes line up and loosely install at least 2 screws. Then pull the "T" out (you won't care if it bends at this point) and install the other screws.

Another idea would be to just install one screw in the top of the tank (without the filler neck) to hold the backing collar in place. Then insert another screw through the filler neck, tank, and backing collar. Now remove the first screw and swivel the filler neck into position.

I guess it is worth trying to put a mirror into the tank to see if there is that metal piece.  If not, then the gasket needs replacing,  if so, then leave it the hell alone.

I'm not sure that the presence / absence of a backing collar implies anything about a gasket. Gaskets could be between the filler neck and tank body, the tank body and the backing collar, or both.

Brammo probably had a number of suppliers for the tanks and associated fittings. Even if it was a single supplier, that supplier may have changed styles during production. As an example, the Revolution Brake "Mr. Parker" parking brake comes in 2 major styles with 3 different thread patterns, without changing the part number.