How about some details on the custom carbon fiber tank?
I know little about working fiberglass or cf.
Is there a resin/bonding agent that gasoline won't eventually eat through?
Or will it just be a cf tank cover?
Full part, not a cover.
I've heard most resins are entirely safe to use with gasoline, however I don't like doing things twice so I'll be coating the inside with POR-15.
The general watered down basics of it is you make a negative mold of the part you want to make, generally out of fiberglass, and polish the ever living **** out of it. The inner surface has to be absolutely perfect, as the carbon and resin will follow any imperfections and your part will look like crap. Then you lay the carbon fiber inside the negative mold, with the first layer being the one you have to make pretty as it will be the outside surface of your final part. Then seal it up real well in a vacuum bag with 2 hoses coming out of it, stick one hose in a jar of resin with some way to plug it when the resin is completely through the fabric, and put the other hose to a vacuum pump. Pull a vacuum on it and suck the resin through the fabric, plug the resin house and maintain the vacuum while it sets, pull it out and let it cure a good while, and done.
There's all sorts of little details, like ambient temperature, that will significantly impact your results, but that's the basics of it.
I'm actually adding a step though, because I'm not replicating an existing part. I'm going to pull a fiberglass negative from the tank, then fill it with expanding foam and let it cure for a good week. Then pop the fiberglass off and I'll have a positive mold out of foam. I'll then shave it down and modify the shape as I want it, seal the surface with something, and pull another fiberglass negative off that. Then that'll be the mold I use for the final carbon fiber piece.
Thanks!
Checked out all 6 pages. Looks good...
By the way, I have a CF tank. Hold 9 litres. Love it!
Man that is one sexy Busa! And that's coming from someone who generally hates the fully-faired ones. Real nice work there. How do you like the hybrid weave?
