Does anyone know of a decent secondary tap I can fit in place of my current offering?
The original tap leaks out of the carburettor.
I’ve stripped the tap once and cleaned it out, I think it’s still using the cork seals.
I’ll have another go using viton seals.
If that doesn’t work I need a decent tap.
Thanks.
Richard.
A good plumbing merchant would stock a female to male ball valve that you could be installed under the original if you insist on keeping that and then your copper tail attached, or extended to the carburettor
I tried viton seals and by the time I squashed them up to seal I couldn't move the tap, cork seals are available from A 7 components just do not let them dry out.
On my RN I made some replacements from nitrite bonded cork from a local engineering supplier,I used something like 1/8 sheet and just used 3 or 4 from memory to get the length needed. I tried O rings put couldn’t get them to work.
31-01-2025, 10:28 PM (This post was last modified: 31-01-2025, 10:44 PM by Tony Griffiths.)
The tap you have looks to be the mid-1930s onward type, with the main plunger inside the firewall and the reserve outside. These taps can be reconditioned when their bores are badly worn, but it does mean reaming them out. Here's the complete solution. http://www.da7c.co.uk/technical_torque_a...l_tap.html
Did you know that the diameter of the corks can be adjusted to stop leaks? Look at the outer end of each plunger, and you will see a small slotted screw. Turning the screw compresses a plate against the end of the cork, so compressing it slightly.
Hi,
Cork seals are used in Seagull outboard engines. I found that taking the plunger out with the cork seal and placing it into boiling water will soften the cork and re expand it.
Anyone that has done homebrew wine making is familiar with the process.
As long as the cork is not broken up it can be re used with this process.
Prompted by Dickie65's suggestion of reconditioning cork by submerging it in boiling water, I looked up the properties of cork - to find that's it really is a most interesting and versatile material: https://arboretum.harvard.edu/stories/co...lications/
Prompted by Dickie65's suggestion of reconditioning cork by submerging it in boiling water, I looked up the properties of cork - to find that's it really is a most interesting and versatile material:
Yes, boiling water immersion was our SOP for re-sizing the shrunken and distorted Borg-Warner 35 auto trans pan gaskets that had been sitting in open bins in the parts dept for years. Also cork rocker cover gaskets. There were a few cork oaks planted around NZ in the 1800s, I remember being fascinated (probably inspired by Ferdinand the Bull) by the ones in Albert Park (the Auckland one) when I was a lad. Evidently there's a lot more because someone wrote a series of monographs about them about them, one logically titled "Cork oaks are Alive & Well in New Zealand"
Cork Oaks are alive and well in Cornwall as well.
Some in Mt Edgcombe Country Park and at least one on a private estate closer to home.
My reference to Seagull Outboards related to the fuel tap on the 1950s to 1970s models.
A lot of older motorcycles also had an Ewarts fuel tap with cork seal so it might be another avenue of research for replacement cork seals as well as Seagull Outboard spares.
Its a relatively easy fix once the tank is drained of fuel.
