Started my 1971 CB350 Project

The tank is actually 7" wide at the back and 10" wide at the front, hard to tell from the pic's.
Oh ya I used scissors to cut the aluminum, it's about 1/32" thick.

Juice_Bruce said:

Tried to find 16ga and 18ga aluminum, but up here I guess we go by metric so found .030 and .040.
Picked up 2 sheets of .030, 20" x 30" and 24" x 32", cost was $63.00.

Click to expand...

Aluminum is quoted in inches, not wire gauge. Some metal suppliers are cool about it and just give you what you want. Others are asses and ask, "What does 16ga mean to you?" For reference, 16ga is .065". Aluminum comes in .060". It looks like you got 18ga and 20ga. That's awfully thin for the tank. But when it's welded up, it might be strong enough...

--Chris

Yep that's exactly what happened..."whats 16ga?"
I think it is very likely 20ga.
I'll buy a heavier piece for the under side of the tank, get it to shape and then decide if I want to re-do the top, we'll see how the job progresses.
In the end it may be a lesson for what to do and what not to.
I may make a wood mock-up to work with, this will also include the tail section.

The long 1 1/4" pieces may get chopped off and the tail will be welded to the seat pan.
I may add a 1/2" frame to the side of the seat pan.
The "butt-rest" part of the tail will be made of the same aluminum as the seat pan, it will be removeable with 2 bolts so a pair of gloves or sweater can be carried in the tail.
The tail is 10" long at the base.
9" long at the top.
8" wide at the base.
5 1/2" wide at the top.

That's crazy that you can cut it with those scissors

One suggestions is to not make a buck out of wood. It turns out that the hot/buring wood will contaminate the aluminum weld. this makes for a spongy, porous weld. If you look closely at the seat I made, you'll see what I'm talking about.

For your boxy style, I'd try using aluminum angle and clecos to hold it all together. In fact, once the seams are welded, the inner aluminum angle can be welded where the clecos were located. This would make it much stronger.

For the seat pan, I would make it out a a single piece of .120" hard aluminum. I think this will get you where you need to be.

--Thanks, Chris

Thanks Chris,
The seat pan is 7" wide at the tank and 8" wide at the tail, it's 21" long and .125.
I looked up clecos and do have a clue how they work or how to use them!
Also you mentioned using aluminum angle, not sure if I follow, do you mean like a sub-frame, inner-trim sort of thingy, kind of like an angled, 1/4 or more, piece of aluminum that runs the length of a seam, in the inside?
If that's the case then I like it.
I won't have access to a welder until next week, so I'm going to polish my rims and other parts.
Thanks again,
Bruce