CB450 K7 Fiberglass Tank Build
- Thread starter CCRider
- Start date
Flugtechnik
My bike is not transportation, it is a respite
Yes, I can't imagine how much time you have spent on this. Amazing work. Judging from your previous posts, I should have known you had already planned the crossover tube / petcock locations. I'll just shut up now and watch the magic. If only I had the time to do this kind of thing.
Flugtechnik
My bike is not transportation, it is a respite
I may have to see if my bike can make it up to Charlotte in the spring to check out the end product of this build.
CCRider
Coast to Coast
After the inside lay-up cured on the bottom half, I installed the front mounting fittings that I had cut off of the original tank. I placed the mount brackets onto the rubber frame mounts and slid the tank over them positioning the tank excatly where I wanted it to end up. A couple drops of super glue along the edges of the brackets held them in place so that I could remove the tank and not disturb their position. I drilled a couple of #40 holes through the fittings and tank frame tunnel to index their position for the final installation. The brackets were pried off with a putty knife and the fiber glass and bracket surfaces were roughed up with 80 grit paper and cleaned with acetone.
The brackets were glued to the tank with epoxy thickened with microballoons. To hold the brackets in place while the glue set, I used clecos (little spring clamps that go through drill holes, commonly used in aircraft sheetmetal work) and a spreader clamp made out of some sticks and rubber bands.
After all of that cured, everything was sanded down smooth and about three layers of glass were layed up on the bracket flanges. The #40 index holes were filled with epoxy and covered with a couple layers of glass about 1" square on the inside of the tank.
Next, I did the prep and clean-up for joining the two halves back together. I ran a drill bit through the equilizer tube fittings drilling through the inside fiberglass layers and cleaned up around the petcock bung. The interior was sanded with 80 grit, cleaned with acetone and a seal coat of epoxy resin was painted on.
WARNING: Rocketcitycafe recommends strongly against using epoxy as a sealer (See his post on page one). I didn't know any better at the time, so I just hope my prep with the 80 grit and acetone gives me a good enough mechanical bond for the epoxy sealer. I guess time will tell.
The next photo shows the recess created after the outer layers are cut through and the foam double stick tape is removed from the inside lay-up. I made my index marks too close together so I had to leave a little bit of the outer layer around them for now.
The two halves ready to become one again:
To hold the tank together while I layed up the repair strips, I made about a half dozen of these little clamps.
One block goes on the inside, one goes on the outside and the handle of a spring clamp pulls the string and clamps the tank edges between the two:
With the tank halves held together with the clamps and a little aluminum tape, I did the fiberglass equivalent of spot welding and applied two layers of 2" square glass cloth pieces to several areas around the tank.
When these pieces cured, the remaining areas of the outer layers around the index marks were ground down and the recess was - you guessed it - sanded down with 80 grit and cleaned with acetone.
The areas of the recess between the 2" square "spot welds" were filled with two layers of cloth 2" wide and then the whole length of the recess was filled with two more layers of 2" wide cloth.
Well, that pretty much does it for the structure of the tank. All that's left now is finishing up.
CC
The brackets were glued to the tank with epoxy thickened with microballoons. To hold the brackets in place while the glue set, I used clecos (little spring clamps that go through drill holes, commonly used in aircraft sheetmetal work) and a spreader clamp made out of some sticks and rubber bands.
After all of that cured, everything was sanded down smooth and about three layers of glass were layed up on the bracket flanges. The #40 index holes were filled with epoxy and covered with a couple layers of glass about 1" square on the inside of the tank.
Next, I did the prep and clean-up for joining the two halves back together. I ran a drill bit through the equilizer tube fittings drilling through the inside fiberglass layers and cleaned up around the petcock bung. The interior was sanded with 80 grit, cleaned with acetone and a seal coat of epoxy resin was painted on.
WARNING: Rocketcitycafe recommends strongly against using epoxy as a sealer (See his post on page one). I didn't know any better at the time, so I just hope my prep with the 80 grit and acetone gives me a good enough mechanical bond for the epoxy sealer. I guess time will tell.
The next photo shows the recess created after the outer layers are cut through and the foam double stick tape is removed from the inside lay-up. I made my index marks too close together so I had to leave a little bit of the outer layer around them for now.
The two halves ready to become one again:
To hold the tank together while I layed up the repair strips, I made about a half dozen of these little clamps.
One block goes on the inside, one goes on the outside and the handle of a spring clamp pulls the string and clamps the tank edges between the two:
With the tank halves held together with the clamps and a little aluminum tape, I did the fiberglass equivalent of spot welding and applied two layers of 2" square glass cloth pieces to several areas around the tank.
When these pieces cured, the remaining areas of the outer layers around the index marks were ground down and the recess was - you guessed it - sanded down with 80 grit and cleaned with acetone.
The areas of the recess between the 2" square "spot welds" were filled with two layers of cloth 2" wide and then the whole length of the recess was filled with two more layers of 2" wide cloth.
Well, that pretty much does it for the structure of the tank. All that's left now is finishing up.
CC
HerrDeacon
Over 1,000 Posts
Amazing!
HerrDeacon
Over 1,000 Posts
CC do you get much smell with the epoxy resin? I've only used polyester and the smell goes right though the house. This is preventing me from working with it, especially in the winter when I can't open the garage door. Kills me not being able to work with it more.
CCRider
Coast to Coast
HerrDeacon said:
HerrDeacon,
There is very little smell with epoxy resin. My brother does a lot of epoxy composite work with radio control aircraft, and he does most of his lay up work in his kitchen. The smell is not an issue.
I do not like working with polyester resin at all. To me the extra expense of epoxy is well worth it (and I'm about as cheap as they come, ask my wife).
The only issue I've had with epoxy, is using it with fiberglass mat. The binder that holds the fibers together in the mat dissolves with polyester resin so the mat becomes very pliable. Epoxy doesn't dissolve the binder, so the mat stays fairly stiff while you're trying to work it. At least that's been my experience.
Give epoxy a try and you'll never go back to polyester.
Aircraft Spruce and Specialty Co. is a great source for epoxy and all sorts of composite materials.
I really like the West Systems epoxy, but if you want to go a little bit cheaper, Aircraft Spruce sells a product called Alpha Poxy. They call it a non-structural epoxy, but it's plenty strong for about anything you'd want to build for a bike. I used it on a canoe I built several years ago and I liked it. It's about $75 for a 1-1/4 gallon kit.
Hope that helps,
CC
HerrDeacon
Over 1,000 Posts
Thanks for the epoxy details CC. I'll look into it. I'm pretty cheap too, so I'll have to see what the cost is around here. Hopefully I can find something as I miss not being able to glass in the house.
rockcitycafe
I make things.
CCRider said:
I still use both
I think epoxy vs/ polyester or vinyl ester has it's pros and cons, one of the best things about vinyl or polyester is that it remains chemically open for secondary bonding, where epoxy needs to really be done in one go, if you need a chemically bonded part. Epoxy usually stands higher temperatures than polyester, and is stronger, but to actually get the strength to weight ratio out of it, you need to vacuum bag it to get a good epoxy to glass ratio... that and when time is an issue, polyester laminates so much better and faster than epoxy because it is so much stickier. so.... ups and downs with both, but if you're working in the kitchen, i guess epoxy is a good way to go
CCRider
Coast to Coast
Well it's finally time to trim the mounting tab at the rear of the tank. I've been dealing with the sharp edges too long.
After a few minutes with a cutting wheel and 1" drum sander on the die grinder:
The next part is all too familiar to anyone who's built anything with fiberglass on a male mold: bondo - sand, bondo - sand, bondo - sand, etc., etc., etc.
Here's a photo of the first primer coat:
Some more sanding:
After another coat of primer, the first wet sanding:
After what was left in a can of red primer, another wet sanding in yesterdays nice fall colors:
Another coat of red primer:
The tank as of about noon yesterday:
It still needs a little work to get out the fine scratches and pinholes before painting, but the shaping is done. It's not perfect but it's close enough for me.
Thanks for looking, I hope this has been helpful to you guys considering taking on the "big arse project" of building your own tank.
CC
After a few minutes with a cutting wheel and 1" drum sander on the die grinder:
The next part is all too familiar to anyone who's built anything with fiberglass on a male mold: bondo - sand, bondo - sand, bondo - sand, etc., etc., etc.
Here's a photo of the first primer coat:
Some more sanding:
After another coat of primer, the first wet sanding:
After what was left in a can of red primer, another wet sanding in yesterdays nice fall colors:
Another coat of red primer:
The tank as of about noon yesterday:
It still needs a little work to get out the fine scratches and pinholes before painting, but the shaping is done. It's not perfect but it's close enough for me.
Thanks for looking, I hope this has been helpful to you guys considering taking on the "big arse project" of building your own tank.
CC
CCRider
Coast to Coast
rockcitycafe said:I still use both
I think epoxy vs/ polyester or vinyl ester has it's pros and cons, one of the best things about vinyl or polyester is that it remains chemically open for secondary bonding, where epoxy needs to really be done in one go, if you need a chemically bonded part. Epoxy usually stands higher temperatures than polyester, and is stronger, but to actually get the strength to weight ratio out of it, you need to vacuum bag it to get a good epoxy to glass ratio... that and when time is an issue, polyester laminates so much better and faster than epoxy because it is so much stickier. so.... ups and downs with both, but if you're working in the kitchen, i guess epoxy is a good way to go
All good points, I guess it's never a good idea to completely rule out one material/process.
CC
2StrokeCafe
New Member
Absolutely fantastic post! Beautiful work, super well documented, great pics, top notch all the way. Thank you so much taking the time to share your project with the rest of us.
Take care.
Bryan
Take care.
Bryan
infrapista
Active Member
SUPERBE, MAGNIFIQUE, FABULEUX ...
From Belgium +++))
From Belgium +++
))
Flugtechnik
My bike is not transportation, it is a respite
CCRider said:
I'm in Greenville, SC during the week. That's where my bike is.
Awsome job. I can't wait to see the finished product all painted up.
