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SV Carbon Tank project for Zoran

lizard said:
Bump *cough*
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All right, all right... I know. I suck. I live to entertain you and I'm sorely remiss in holding up my end of the deal...

Your timing is actually pretty good. I just got back from the Sears Poi...er, Infineon and the AFM practice day. Ran into Zoran and got a look at the racebike to verify the rear mount design. Good news is it looks nice and simple.
I suspect I will be back at this project starting tomorrow!
I'll post as before - as progress is made.

Thanks for caring.
Chris
 
tygaboy said:
All right, all right... I know. I suck. I live to entertain you and I'm sorely remiss in holding up my end of the deal...

Your timing is actually pretty good. I just got back from the Sears Poi...er, Infineon and the AFM practice day. Ran into Zoran and got a look at the racebike to verify the rear mount design. Good news is it looks nice and simple.
I suspect I will be back at this project starting tomorrow!
I'll post as before - as progress is made.

Thanks for caring.
Chris
Click to expand...


YAY!
 
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I <3 Twins said:
did I miss out on the adv. carbon fiber class?
I have been away from barf for a while.
Click to expand...

I haven't held any other sessions so you've not missed anything.

As to yesterday's progress:

I started what I was hoping would be final prep to get the plug ready to make the top mold. Ran into a couple "Hmmm, I'll need to fix that" flaws in the finish so I'll have to do some minor body work to do.

Then good news is that it should only be an hour or so and I'll be ready to start with the splitter plate fab. Remember, since I've changed the shape of the tank and need a top mold that wraps around the back of the tank to provide the top/bottom bonding surface, I need a different (and better quality) splitter. I hope to get to this later in the week so I can layup the top mold this weekend.
 
It's very good to see that you're back on the project.
We're a couple of SVRiders here in Denmark who've been following this thread for some time now, and we're very eager to see the completion of the carbon fuel tank.

Keep up the good work. :)
 
Zierra said:
It's very good to see that you're back on the project.
We're a couple of SVRiders here in Denmark who've been following this thread for some time now, and we're very eager to see the completion of the carbon fuel tank.

Keep up the good work. :)
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Gold.
 
Zierra said:
It's very good to see that you're back on the project.
We're a couple of SVRiders here in Denmark who've been following this thread for some time now, and we're very eager to see the completion of the carbon fuel tank.

Keep up the good work.
Click to expand...
I'm one of them :)

So far I have just made a couple of the smaller parts such as heel plates and the tail light cover.
Somtime this fall I hope to be skilled enough to give the fuel tank a go.
 
Where is everyone getting the CF?
I asked Tap if they could get me some and they said they had no idea when they would get any more in.
 
I <3 Twins said:
Where is everyone getting the CF?
I asked Tap if they could get me some and they said they had no idea when they would get any more in.
Click to expand...

Depending on what you're building, some options exist. Try:
http://www.fibreglast.com/
They have 'uncertified' carbon fiber. For the non structural stuff most of us are doing, this would be fine.
The other thing I'm going to try is 'black' fiberglass. (Why the quotes, I wonder? What's special about black fiberglass...?)
Anyway, it's the look of carbon at half the price - and it's available.

Something to think about. I will confess that I got lucky and picked up a bunch of certified carbon fiber a number of months ago so Zoran will benefit from receiving nothing but the best.

The plug is almost ready so we can start on the top mold this week. Pics soon...!
 
Back to it!

Ok, so where was I? Oh, yeah - making a tank...
So, here we go. When we last worked on the project, we were about to make the production top mold. FINALLY got back to this in anger today. I finished the minor clean up on the plug so it's time for a splitter plate and some lay up.
But I decided to try a couple different things this time around. As before, a couple coats of wax, a coat of PVA and were ready to start.
First, I taped off an offset midline (?) to protect the plug. Remember, I want the splitter to run right down the middle of the tank and since the splitter plate will have width, I have to offset to one side.

2669647-p8260001.jpg
 
A little help from Mr. Jigsaw and we have a splitter plate. Here, I'm still rough fitting it - I'll trim it to a more manageble shape in just a second.

2669666-p8260005.jpg
 
Instead of the bondo trick I used last time, I decided to try a new/different approach. I hot glued the splitter plate to the taped area (in a few spots only) and I'll use modeling clay to fill the gaps. I think it'll be less messy and should yield a better result in that I can work it until it's where I want it. With the bondo, you kind of only get one shot. Here's the splitter glued on.
You'll notice I wrapped the splitter around to allow for the lip that we need to have so we'll have something to which we can bond the bottom section of the tank. It'll be more obvious what I'm talking about once I make the production part and start fitting the bottom to the top.
2669674-p8260007.jpg
 
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I suppose I should explain the piece of wood that's attached to the tank.
I want to hold the plug more securely when making production molds so I attached a 2x4 to the underside with a few wood screws. It lets me position the tank most any way I want - I just use some C-clamps or a vise and I can get to whatever I need to without the plug moving around, etc. Here it is kinda just jammed into my work cart...

2669683-p8260006.jpg
 
...and here it is showing the full splitter plate and how it wraps around to help support the needed top-to-bottom pieces bonding flange.

2669686-p8260007.jpg
 
Here's a shot that attempts to show the result of using the modeling clay to fill the splitter plate gaps. I got the clay at a local art supply store and just crammed it into the gaps then used one of the popsicle/mixing sticks to trim it even with the wall of the splitter. It was faster and easier than the bondo approach. We'll have to see how well it works! It looks pretty good to me so I'm confident it'll be fine.
Once I clayed up the gaps, I waxed and PVA'd the splitter, clay and rest of the tank.

2669692-p8260008.jpg
 
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