I'm about to order the copper for my fuel and water tanks and was hoping someone could confirm what thickness they should be. I was thinking 20 ga but copper is expensive so if they can be thinner all the better, although I doubt that is the case. Also, are there any baffles in the tanks? I hope not as it just complicates assembly.

Thanks

Jeff

Hi Jeff
The original tanks I was able to measure was 20G 0.032 but I choose to make mine from 16 G 0.050 $$$
because I installed internal baffles and made the seams with a double fold, then when finished filled them with water and hydro to 3 psi
The fuel tank has two baffle plates and one inch holes in the corners and bottom center.
Water tank was not all the way across the frame as the air tanks are on the end under the seat so it only got one baffle.
Rolly

Thank you Rolly for getting the weight of the copper for Jeff. The weather is terrible here on this winter day, so I didn't feel like rushing right out to my shop to get the correct thickness of the copper. I purchase our needed tank copper from Alaska Brass and Copper in Seattle. They sell copper sheeting by weight rather than by gauge or thickness. "So many ounces per square foot". With our Stanley Models R, 85, 606, and 826, none of the tanks have cross tank baffles in them. Instead, about every four inches all around their inside perimeters, they have vertical stiffeners soldered to their inner walls. These start out at as about 3" wide copper strips and they are bent vertically into a "flying V" The inward facing legs of the V have about 1" faces. The bottom of V is about 90 degrees. The outside wings of the V are about 1/2" each and these wings are soldered to the walls. The V diverts the splashing force of the liquid. It would be really good if you could get a hands touch on an original tank before building Stanley tanks of your own. The front, bottom and rear of the tank are of one continuous seamless piece of copper. The ends are double folded and soldered just like Rolly has described. The top is one flat piece cut to fit and is only soldered in place. The tanks are fun to build as they go together quickly. For getting a good tight and fast soldering job, I have been using lead free solder like that is used in home plumbing. I can get a better soldering job with a large hot iron rather than using a torch. The soldering iron leads the solder and its heats pulls the melting solder into the seams. The "well" stand offs on the bottom of the tanks get more strength to them by using copper rivets on them to the tanks before soldering them to the tanks. Something to think about in a Stanley, anything that is soldered together, has to have a mechanical connection before soldering. The also goes to the exhausts stack. The reason why is because of fire/heat. If it gets hot enough to melt the solder, the mechanical connection is the only thing left holding it together. One year I followed Mike Simpson's model R across a desert area and up a mountain grade. I couldn't see him until I finally passed him, but I knew that I was gaining on him. I could tell for several miles that I was following him because parts of his exhaust stack were falling off and I was seeing them along side the road. He was running a too rich of Kerosene for his burner and he had created a forever burning stack fire. The car didn't burn up but the stack got shortened up by about four pieces shorter. Allen Glickman who was riding in the Mother in Law's third seat said that the floor boards under his feet became unbearably hot.

Thanks for all the useful info guys. I must admit I have reservations about just soft soldering tanks together - they will certainly be the only place where I don't use silver solder or brazing. I measured the copper sheet I have some pieces of and it is actually .040" so I think I will use this thickness for the rest and put some strengthening pieces in like you suggest. I'll keep you posted.

Jeff

I think consult Mark's manual,,and,,
Audels Sheet metal guide
From memory,,,a copper seam solderd overlap of 4-6 times the thickness will have a joint stronger than the copper
That is,,,copper ,040 overlap,6x =,240",,,so a quarter inch overlap will be
equal strength to the copper sheet,,,Not sure of different grade of copper,,
I think this is for roofing copper which seems to be ,040"
Yes to save money and add strength,,Stanley did make some steel galvanized tanks
And over the years the galvinaze wore thin and there was a hole,,
Cant recall the model/year,,
95/5 solder should work pretty well,,the others will be a problem later when you take it apart for repairs I think,,
And be sure to remember there are tricks to this trade as well,,Have fun,,,Ben

Dear Jeff
It’s not the solder that holes the tank together; it should be the joint construction. How it folded and locked. The soldering just keeps it tight from leaking.
I pre tined all the edges to be solder before bending and all hubs and plates for fill and fuel out were silvered. Also reinforced corners of end plated were silvered.
I think the federal standard is to hydro at 5 psi not sure but the New York yacht standard for fuel tanks is 5 psi. when I was building tanks for boats.
I think my tanks would have held at 5 psi but they would have been all out of shape. At 3 I was keeping my fingers crossed they would go back flat.
Good luck however you go. I know they’ll be a nice job.
Rolly