| Author | Message | ||
     M1combat |
Can anyone recommend at least a temperature and maybe even a method that one could use to permanently deform our surlyn body work? What I am interested in doing is making two incisions right about where the "Buell" lettering is on my air box cover (the leading edge) and then using heat to stretch the airbox cover just after that so that I end up with two hood scoops like you would see on an old Mustang Mach-1. I'll then use a file to make it reasonably pretty and would probably add some sort of fairly open screen so I don't get large rocks. I'll then delete the upper portion of the airbox (after I get a Drummer and race ECM and can delete the valve actuator). I'll retain the portion of the upper airbox that has the velocity nipple (I like that term  ) and attach it to the top of the filter. Later on I would probably also modify my frame in the same manner that they have done with the FX bikes so I can put about another 2/3 of a gallon in it. | ||
| BadS1 |
Dyna would be the guy to ask. | ||
| Glitch |
I don't know the temps. But, I do know that what you'll end up doing is just warping it to death. You're probably better off making a plaster mold of it. Add to that some clay to get the scoops you want. Make another plaster mold of that. Then do a fiberglass lay up on that, and there you have it. | ||
| 420at145mph |
  ya mean like these? both hillbilly stuff edited by 420at145mph on July 21, 2004 | ||
| R1DynaSquid |
You would have to heat it up to around 430 degrees. But im not so sure you would be able to get the proper shape you desire without destroying the airbox. These plastics have memory & will resist most attempts to deform them once they come out of the press. You can heat it up, but risk burning the material if you use a torch & I dont think any heatguns will come close to those temps, plus it will get brittle afterwards. Now there are different grades of surlyn & it also depends on what material its blended with. Straight 100% surlyn is very gooey & rubbery when molten & has almost no strength. But once properly blended with resins such as Linear low density or Polypropylene then it gets its strength. Now if you really wanted a kick@ss set of bodywork Buell should investigate Ultra high molecular weight polyethylene. Its the same material truck bed liners & frame sliders are made of. Have done some work with this material lately & its a pain to extrude but the finished product is tuff. Holy crap did I ever get an idea for frame sliders. And they would be cheap to make if someone had access to a big enough thermoforming press. | ||
| M1combat |
Hmmm... I am looking for something more like the top one but I think I'm mostly just saying that because it's cooler looking . Four hundred and thirty huh? That's pretty warm. How difficult is it to bond fiberglass to surlyn? | ||
| Rockbiter1 |
I believe he ment to completely mold a new airbox cover from fiberglas. Carbon fiber would be cool. too...yea... | ||
| Tatsu |
They already have one that's carbon fiber. Look at the American Sport Bike web site. | ||
| BadS1 |
Only problem with the carbon fiber it doesn't like the sun so long term it will fade and look like crap in time.I've seen one of the airbox covers on a bike last year during the 20th and it was starting to fade. | ||
| M1combat |
Understood what he meant, but I like the surlyn. Is there a clean way to bond/attach fiberglass to surlyn? | ||
| Henrik |
You could go opposite of "pretty" and make the scoops of whatever material you'd want, and then pop rivet them to the airbox. Henrik | ||
| M1combat |
I certainly could  . I was thinking about it last night and came up with quite a few ideas to make the bike look like I want. The paint should be very durable and easily repairable. As far as the intakes are concerned I'm sure I'll come up with something. Thanks for all of your help. | ||
| Lpowel02 |
M1 - something like this may be easier to replicate  ...also from hillbilly. Of course, if you want the look of the scoops, this won't help you. But if your primary goal is to get air in faster, it will. | ||
| M1combat |
I looked at that. I'm sure it would work, but I like hood scoops . Quite frankly the bike is fast enough for me as it is, I just figure if I can do something to make it a little quicker, sound better AND look better, I may as well. I'll figure it out . | ||
| Coyote_xb12s |
American Sportbike has an airbox cover made out of carbon with scoops on it as well. |
