Another Custom Tail Thread...

2629 Views 28 Replies 13 Participants Last post by shift1313, May 27, 2007

Motorgasm73

Discussion Starter · Apr 27, 2007

So I went to the craft store tonight to buy styrofoam to start carving my custom tail section form.

I went to Michael's, That was my first mistake!

$11.99 for a single 3x18x36 ( I think not )
$8.99 for styrofoam adhesive ( nope again )
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So I came home trying to figure out what I was gonna do, being cheap isn't me, but I don't want to get discouraged, and scrap $60.00 worth of foam either.

So, mad at the consumer world, and the outrageous price of what I am sure I am the only person who would have wanted it today, I went and sat next to my torn down bike, looking like a complete moron. (This will segway into another story I just remembered, but I will post that in another thread).
So anyway, I am sitting in my garage thinking about a wire frame or something like a paper mache' type structure, and I Rub my forehead in disgust, like I always do (thus the lack of hair) and kick my head back to stretch my neck, and it all comes together!!

Over top of me in the rafters of the garage is an old 4 foot x 8 foot piece of styrofoam insulation!!! DING DING DING!!!!!

So back out into todays rain I go. 1 can of 3M spray adhesive, and my skill saw turned that 1 piece into a block that is now 12x24x48.

I sprayed a thin coat of flat black paint between the layers so that as I am sanding I can take measurements from center to the black line, so as to be symetrical.

I snapped a couple of pics, but I will wait to post, when I actually begin carving to show progress. Wish me luck!!!

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shift1313

· #10 · Apr 28, 2007

hey man. I went about this several ways when i tackled it. I started with foam, then i tried sheet metal(rough) filled with plaster to final sand. I finally ended up making sheet metal side panes, seat pan and mocking it up to my stock tail section, bondo and sand for my mold. here are a few pics.

painted mold after sanding all the bondo.

laying the mold on the bike so it fit the gas tank.

and the painted tail

it was the first real fiberglass project that i tried and i learned alot but the process seemed to work okay if you find you have trouble with the foam.

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shift1313

· #14 · Apr 29, 2007

its on the bike right now but i dont have a pic of it. I have a seat made, i modified the stock seat pan and foam, just havent covered it yet. this isnt the best pic but there are two bolts epoxied into the seat frame that go down through the tail section and get nutted from the underside.

I made a cover for it but i couldnt get the staples to go into the seat pan, still working on that.

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shift1313

· #15 · Apr 30, 2007

there it is on the bike

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shift1313

· #17 · Apr 30, 2007

my ignitor box is mounted right where my tag goes, im making an led tail frame for the tag.

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shift1313

· #19 · May 1, 2007

drunknun, it did, ive pulled the motor out at the moment. I had an oiling problem, probably from too many donuts. There is a vid online

http://www.26liter.us/videos/misc/StarionConquestFlatbody[Xvid].avi

ive got a bunch of parts waiting for it. Ive got a holset turbo off a dodge turbo diesel for somepoint in the future

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shift1313

· #24 · May 4, 2007

a hot knife is basically just a piece of wire that you run a current through. Your wire needs to be able to take it as most cant. and you cant have a steady curent it needs to pulse. Im sure there are plans out there on the internet but you will be better off with that electric turkey knife. Thats what most people use to rough out the shape but they only work well for large cuts. If you need to take less then 1/4" off your better off sanding it. When i was shaping my foam i used a hacksaw blade in my hands and traced out lines to follow, crude but it was cheap.

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shift1313

· #27 · May 24, 2007

that turned out great man! did the lexan bend easy enough for you?

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shift1313

· #29 · May 27, 2007

i use a heat gun, the kind used for shrink wrap on electrical wires. Heat varies with thickness. I think the heat guns go up to 900degress F. You have to heat it slowly and never hold the heat in one spot and always keep pressure on it in the direction you want to bend it. If you bent it too far it will start to show hairline cracks in the surface. If you heat it too much it will discolor.

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