Willow...An Evolution
- Thread starter troybilt
- Start date
Re: Willow...An evolution..
thanks Joe
Doug really hope you can make it down. The baby Llama is about 10 weeks old now and growing every day. Jonothan and Alex will love him. Anyhow I'm stoked to have you dial in that front end. Of course you are welcome to stay the night/weekend/week too ;D
Took a couple better photos in the daylight. Nice and shiny:
thanks Joe
Doug really hope you can make it down. The baby Llama is about 10 weeks old now and growing every day. Jonothan and Alex will love him. Anyhow I'm stoked to have you dial in that front end. Of course you are welcome to stay the night/weekend/week too ;D
Took a couple better photos in the daylight. Nice and shiny:
JustinLonghorn
No Purple Hearts, No Blue Ribbons
Re: Willow...An evolution..
Nice shiny bits, sir.
Nice shiny bits, sir.
Re: Willow...An evolution..
Thanks fellas
Again appreciate props fellas glad you like the progress
I spent the evening at jim's shop. The tank was all but ready for a wax down then a coat of gel. Anyhow, I cut some tabs for the frame mounts and we hot glued then in place on the tank. We mocked it up at his shop and I took it all home and finished it up here. I used tape to hold the tank in place then tacked the tabs onto the frame. even though I had water on hand and kept the tabs wet they still melted a place in the foam. So that will have to be fixed before we can move on to doing the gel coat to make the mold. Once we form the mold the plan is to do a couple layers of fiberglass then sandwich in a layer of polyester for a bomb proof bladder. I was going to use kevlar but Jim advised against it because he only uses a layer of polyester as a shatter proof bladder on airplane tanks. He says that with extreme blunt force Kevlar can break. Has something to do with it being impregnated with resin. Anyhow polyester wont break or shatter. It only becomes becomes squishy and remains as an intact bladder. He explained that the resin may separate but it stays intact and you could fold it all up but it wont break.
Anyhow, once the foam gets fixed from where I melted it, we can start on the gel coat. I'll post our progress once we get to that point.
Might notice i welded in a gusset on the steer tube. Its flat because i wanted it to have plenty speed holes and once the tank is mounted you'll never know its not the shape of the front of the tank. The tank has a recess so it wraps around the gusset. Anyway, here is Jim holding the plug with the mount tabs hotglued on:
After welding the mount tabs on I place the motor back in the cradle to do one last mock up before start building the final tank
Something we wanted to happen was for there to be a space between the frame and tank so it kinda looks like it is floating there. We were very anal about getting the lines to match up so the space between the frame and the tank was even across the entire tank.
I love the bottom line on the tank. I think it has nice flow. There are some pretty nice lines on the sides as well but they aren't too noticeable in these shots. Anyhow, I think overall its a pretty good fit and we should be able to go with this shape
Thanks fellas
I've put about 15 hours on the cases over the past few days. Not much going on with the tank. I'm on Jims schedule so the tank is getting an hour here and an hour there. Just shaping and getting it right before we move on to the next step. not much to photograph. Add filler and sand it out...my94f2 said:
Bahaha...you could be right and the world would never know ;DKanticoy said:
Big hell yeah! ;DJRK5892 said:
Again appreciate props fellas glad you like the progress
I spent the evening at jim's shop. The tank was all but ready for a wax down then a coat of gel. Anyhow, I cut some tabs for the frame mounts and we hot glued then in place on the tank. We mocked it up at his shop and I took it all home and finished it up here. I used tape to hold the tank in place then tacked the tabs onto the frame. even though I had water on hand and kept the tabs wet they still melted a place in the foam. So that will have to be fixed before we can move on to doing the gel coat to make the mold. Once we form the mold the plan is to do a couple layers of fiberglass then sandwich in a layer of polyester for a bomb proof bladder. I was going to use kevlar but Jim advised against it because he only uses a layer of polyester as a shatter proof bladder on airplane tanks. He says that with extreme blunt force Kevlar can break. Has something to do with it being impregnated with resin. Anyhow polyester wont break or shatter. It only becomes becomes squishy and remains as an intact bladder. He explained that the resin may separate but it stays intact and you could fold it all up but it wont break.
Anyhow, once the foam gets fixed from where I melted it, we can start on the gel coat. I'll post our progress once we get to that point.
Might notice i welded in a gusset on the steer tube. Its flat because i wanted it to have plenty speed holes and once the tank is mounted you'll never know its not the shape of the front of the tank. The tank has a recess so it wraps around the gusset. Anyway, here is Jim holding the plug with the mount tabs hotglued on:
After welding the mount tabs on I place the motor back in the cradle to do one last mock up before start building the final tank
Something we wanted to happen was for there to be a space between the frame and tank so it kinda looks like it is floating there. We were very anal about getting the lines to match up so the space between the frame and the tank was even across the entire tank.
I love the bottom line on the tank. I think it has nice flow. There are some pretty nice lines on the sides as well but they aren't too noticeable in these shots. Anyhow, I think overall its a pretty good fit and we should be able to go with this shape
JustinLonghorn
No Purple Hearts, No Blue Ribbons
Re: Willow...An evolution..
yep, keep it up sir.
yep, keep it up sir.
dakine_surf
"Stay Thirsty my Friends"
Re: Willow...An evolution..
ummm kinda speechless Troy, once again, killin it!
ummm kinda speechless Troy, once again, killin it!
Re: Willow...An evolution..
I really appreciate the homage fellas. It means a lot. Its tough to make it into the garage these days (life and such getting in the way) and your encouraging words help me try to find the time.
Im really happy you all dig it. I've not had a lot of time in the garage but when I do get in there I work my ass off trying to finish her to a pretty high standard.
Drilled the hubs and started sanding to ready for appliance epoxy
Sanded the wheels/spokes and now they're ready for paint. Once painted the holes will get brass screen treatment
Rear hub drilled, prepped and painted with appliance epoxy. I love this crap. Tough as nails and goes on like glass. Still need to jb weld in brass screens
Started shaving the fork lowers. One is about ready for paint the other needs a good bit more work.
The fender mounts had tabs but the holes were also drilled and tapped into the forks. I JB welded the first(closest in the photo). the second still needs the holes fixed. Like I said these are getting paint so it shouldn't matter much:
Screens added to the points cover. I'm planning on changing the screen to a bit heaver screen so the brass will be more obvious. I also decided the points cover still needs more finish work anyhow. A
Started sanding and prepping the motor as well. Hopefully it will get paint soon...
This is the screen I'm planning on trying. It has a pretty nice design. Plan is to paint it Antique brass. I've used the paint before and held up right beside real brass you couldn't tell the difference. This is part of an office supply paper holder.
The spine tubing still needs closed off. A bolt will get welded in and cut off. This is a nice little trick. the threads make a good handle to hold it in place while it gets tacked in
Jim and I made a little shelf on the tank for the mount tabs to ride on. We also built up the lines on the tank just in front of the tabs so the mounts will flow a little better with the tank:
Place the tankplug on one last time to check for fit. Next will be to start making the mold:
I really appreciate the homage fellas. It means a lot. Its tough to make it into the garage these days (life and such getting in the way) and your encouraging words help me try to find the time.
Im really happy you all dig it. I've not had a lot of time in the garage but when I do get in there I work my ass off trying to finish her to a pretty high standard.
Drilled the hubs and started sanding to ready for appliance epoxy
Sanded the wheels/spokes and now they're ready for paint. Once painted the holes will get brass screen treatment
Rear hub drilled, prepped and painted with appliance epoxy. I love this crap. Tough as nails and goes on like glass. Still need to jb weld in brass screens
Started shaving the fork lowers. One is about ready for paint the other needs a good bit more work.
The fender mounts had tabs but the holes were also drilled and tapped into the forks. I JB welded the first(closest in the photo). the second still needs the holes fixed. Like I said these are getting paint so it shouldn't matter much:
Screens added to the points cover. I'm planning on changing the screen to a bit heaver screen so the brass will be more obvious. I also decided the points cover still needs more finish work anyhow. A
Started sanding and prepping the motor as well. Hopefully it will get paint soon...
This is the screen I'm planning on trying. It has a pretty nice design. Plan is to paint it Antique brass. I've used the paint before and held up right beside real brass you couldn't tell the difference. This is part of an office supply paper holder.
The spine tubing still needs closed off. A bolt will get welded in and cut off. This is a nice little trick. the threads make a good handle to hold it in place while it gets tacked in
Jim and I made a little shelf on the tank for the mount tabs to ride on. We also built up the lines on the tank just in front of the tabs so the mounts will flow a little better with the tank:
Place the tankplug on one last time to check for fit. Next will be to start making the mold:
mothgils
Coast to Coast
Re: Willow...An evolution..
Damn Troy, you just continue to step it up. I make a tiny bit of progress on my bike and you make huge progress! Such great attention to detail. I hope I get to see this bike and meet you in person some day. Keep up the great work! You inspire me to get back out there and keep on chugging along on my bike!
Damn Troy, you just continue to step it up. I make a tiny bit of progress on my bike and you make huge progress! Such great attention to detail. I hope I get to see this bike and meet you in person some day. Keep up the great work! You inspire me to get back out there and keep on chugging along on my bike!
