Petcock fabrication

Here are some pictures of a fuel tank valve that will be going on my bike soon.
Consists of a 1/4 inch ball valve, 1/4 inch nipple (for main hose), and a small double threaded tube. If you dont have these parts just laying around and go to Menards for them, it all comes to about 10 bucks. Everything after that is just time for the metal casting process :evil: . Here are all the parts lying out.

This is the stock petcock that has been giving me trouble the whole time i have owned the bike. No matter how much i clean the damn thing, it always leaks and contaminates my oil. I dont want to put in one of those in-line plastic valves because it seems tacky and rigged. I would like to just install a simple on off valve.

The bike all these parts are going on is my 81' KZ1000LTD pictured below. (yes shes a wee bit ratty at the moment :whistle:

And heres the mounting plate all covered in sheetrock mud and ready for casting. The sprew is coming out where a hole will be tapped in for the valve. The plate with the holes in it is where it will bolt to the tank.

More to come soon of the valve in action. I also plan to replace the on/off lever on the valve with a smaller one. This valve will eliminate the vacuum tube coming from the carbs. Basically just a line out much like a Pingel petcock.

that is a different approach, is the ball valve small enough to fit without hitting the carbs?
Here a pic of mine.

Mine should clear the carbs as well. I may be switching out the valve with a smaller one but that was the best i could get at the store. That looks pretty clean though.

Well the mating plate short poured last time while casting so I made another part out of foam. Painting the sheetrock mud on and added vents this time. Also, im going to drill the holes after its casted instead of drilling them into the foam. Made the plate a little bit bigger on this one too because foam shrinks after cooling off.

baldy110 wrote: that is a different approach, is the ball valve small enough to fit without hitting the carbs?
Here a pic of mine.

Haha, well low and behold after you asked if it would clear the carburetors i went and checked. The output nipple runs right into the manifold boot on cylinder 1 :pinch: . Not a problem though, Ill just put the valve on the side of the casted part rather than on the bottom. Should look good and the lever will turn in, under the tank, so you dont bump it while riding. Should work awesome when its all finished