Hey everybody,
sorry for the long delay. I have had several major set-backs that have put me behind... however i do have a nice long picture-filled update.
The cold has really hijacked my composite work. The day after my last post, i spayed the gel-coat and it is supposed to set up to a gel in about 25-30 min after mixing. No dice. 32 hours later it was still a liquid. it looks nice here, but i had to cut my losses as scrape it all off.
so i had to re-do all the splitter plate set-up and re-release the parts. huge pain in the butt, not only frustrating but because of the MEK in the gel-coat sitting on the molds for so long uncured it damaged the surface finish on the plugs so i had to re-do even more work. that set me back almost a week.
I eventually did get the first side made, but due to an inoperable camera i did get any pictures of it. once that side set up i pulled off the splitter plate, and released the other side and the splitter section before laying up the other side
Once that side set up i marked and drilled bolt hols so i could put the sides back together, then i got the molds off the plug. The mold released perfectly.
and then disaster. I put all this work into making the b=plugs perfect and the surface finish flawless, and the molds had a bunch of spots where the fiberglass didn't adhere to the plug. major disappointment. so.. out comes the bondo and i started to spot-fill the flaws
then i had a brilliant idea. why not use some thick resin, brush it over the whole inside of the mold and then pop the molds back on the plugs? then i have a perfect smooth match to my flawless plugs. But... once again the cold got me. the resin doesn't set up as quickly when it is cold and even getting the parts inside where it was warm didn't allow the resin to set up fast enough not to get some pockets..
so... out came the bondo and the sand paper again. the molds are much better now with no inclusions in the fiberglass showing. this is after one round of filling and sanding then primer to show where is am low or missing air-bubble pin-holes. one more round of filling sanding, primer/sealer and then sanding again and the molds should be ready.
i have been so fed up with the setbacks with the molds that i have had to step away for a bit and work on other things.
the first thing on my list is my intake manifold. i am converting from the two crappy carbs to a single 40mm CV carb off a Harley. So i cut all my pipes and fittings before welding anything. i have sealing gaskets in between the manifold and the head. Do you think there is going to be a problem with heat expansion?
then i tacked them up on the bike before taking off to finish the welding
Welded the mounting flange in...
and viola! but the more i looked at it the more i didnt like how much it stuck out. especially as it didnt even have the filter on it yet..
so... i chopped it up and re-welded it.
i like this set-up much better it fit a little closer to the engine and the routing for the pipes is better in my opinion.
now i will make a custom intake tube and mount a cone filter facing forward. i still need to do some touch up grinding on the inside of the manifold to make it nice and smooth... but otherwise i am pretty happy with it.
I also started work on my exhaust. i got some PVC pipe insulation to mock up the routing of the header. i routed my rear pipe first and then cut another piece of insulation the same length to figure out how that was going to route.
and then... in the night someone cut up all my exhaust tubing! who would do such a thing?! oh yeah... me. with no tube bender available i am going to do a full sectioned exhaust.
and... i also got some goodies!
got my DanMoto exhaust. i think it will be too loud so i am going to build in an integrated baffle/expansion chamber in the section of tubing that will go under the engine. i am going to try and transition to a 2" OD pipe after the 2-1 and run 1.5" pipe inside it to hide the expansion/contraction and make it look smooth.
I also got some little stuff. i got a radial master and matching clutch mount taken off gsxr 1000, YZF throttle and cables, stainless steel brake lines, chazzos, grips, gas cap, petcock, rear master, new spokes for the rear wheel, rear wheel bearings, and some tank sealer.
well, that's it for now, but hopefully i will have another update soon.
thanks!
~Chris