'78 KZ1000 makeover

Hmmm, not a perfect match, but I DID darken the paint a bit with the candy (which, btw, isn't very noticeable if at all). OK, that will do. But how will it look with a black tank? So I set the raggedy prototype carbon tank shell on there to see.




I think I can live with that :woohoo:

lookin good! i was thinking about your CF tank the other day. I know you were having trouble with getting the CF to stay in place before you could bag it for the top mold of the tank. If you split split the tank into 3 mold sections, top left, top right, and bottom. I dont think you would have any trouble getting the CF to stay in that scenario. Although you end up with a seam in the middle of the tank. but then you just paint a sweet racing stripe down the middle to hide it. like so.

That looks really good. No disrespect on the clear coat. Probably fine if it's not out in the sun all the time. Clear coats have UV inhibitors but they can't block because they're clear. Eventually the sun will get to the resin given enough time, the clear just slows the clock.

Alan

Well yeah, no coating is forever! I wonder what happens faster, rust eating a tank or UV embrittlement of resins? Either way, if my tank has some issue down the road, I'll just make another one

Doctorot, that is a sweet looking tank! Thanks for thinking of me, and the suggestion. I will eventually have to make another tank mold, and when I do I will consider a 3 piece top unit. Before I do that, I will run some infusion experiments with the current mold. The biggest issue I had was the sheer size of the pieces of cloth I was working with, and the amount of time it took to do a wet layup necessitated a slower cure resin. That was a large part of my issue, plus the cloth not staying put. In an infusion, all the cloth is placed dry, so I can either tape or use spray adhesive to keep the cloth in position before bagging and pulling a vacuum THEN introducing the resin. If that fails to work, then I'll try something like you suggested, so thanks

the porsche sounds pretty wicked :evil: !

that painted frame has been a long time coming :whistle: ,congrats on that.

leon

I know your not a fan of anything other than black frames Leon :whistle: At the moment, I'm simply happy there's paint on it. Thanks for the kind words, the Porsche sound wicked because the cam doesn't like to run under 5k rpm :pinch: As soon as the KZ is a permanent roller, I have a new (smaller) cam and smoother clutch to put in her.

I got my cases pressure washed last night to clean out all the threaded holes and started running a cleaning tap through everything.

porchev914 wrote: I know your not a fan of anything other than black frames Leon :whistle:

true :lol: .

but the first thing i ever painted was my jeep tonka toy in the early seventies,i used copper colored paint :laugh: .

so i am somewhat partial to copper :whistle: .

it is a metal color and that goes along way on frames .

leon

I am wondering if the engine would look better black in the copper frame.....Oh well, I have plenty of black on the bike already. The engine looks so pretty, it'd be tough to paint over it :laugh:

Other than that, just keep rollin' rollin' rollin'....

leon

I think I speak for everybody when I say we need to see a video of that Porche tearing down the street. :evil:

Glad to see you back at it. I just about thought this one might not ever come together. Keep up the good work.

Sorry for the late reply to this thread, but I just found it! :S

Curious to find out how your CF tank holds up. Did you line it with anything, or is it raw? I have one on my framer and I don't want to line it, or for it to delaminate, so I drain the fuel after every race.

Oh Leon, you're such a slave driver! Thanks for dropping in Josh, and yeah, I had my concerns as well. Not from a technical perspective, but a time and resource commitment. It always seemed there was something else more important. As for a video of the car ripping around...all in good time Priority 1 is to get the Kz into a permanently assembled roller. Priority 2 is to finish off the major bodywork items on the Porsche. Priority 3 is the cam and clutch replacement. After that, I'll make you guys a little video :evil:
Slayer61, thanks for stopping by. The task I have here is a non working prototype. It's an unbonded top and bottom piece. I had planned to just hang that one on my wall, but it would make for a great experiment to affix a cap, fill out with pump gas and let it sit to see what happens.... I might just do that, thanks for asking