Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Banana, the final chapter




Got the rest of the work done re-birthing the banana.  Tunnel, tab mounts, bottom reinforcement, fuel filler, and the new "Special79" stamp tag.  Ready for mocking up on Herb's pan-shovel.

2 comments:

Midwest Metal said...

Woah, that's an impressive work! What metal fabricating techniques did you implement to make that? Would you mind sharing it to your readers?

special'79 said...

-cut out old tunnel with an angle grinder w/ thin cutoff disc on it.
-cut out old fuel inlet if you intend to move it. Patch old area with the same ga steel the tank is made of. Tig welding will work best.
-blend weld bead down with flap wheel, files.
-Hammer/dolly and use a panel beater bag to dome patch a bit until your happy with the results.
-use hole saw a bit smaller then the fuel neck you've decided to use, file to fit.
-tack weld new fuel neck at 12,3,6,and 9 o'clock.
-finish weld a little at a time, allow areas to cool between sections.
-bent up some 16 ga for the front tunnel patch/detail, tacked and tig welded.
-bent up a tunnel from 16 ga steel using a 1 1/2" pipe and some c-clamps.
-determined tunnel depth and cut front and rear profile. Check fit and repeat, 1'2 round file is your friend here.
-I cut some 1/2" angle iron and took one edge down to make some reinforcements for the tunnel. This also aides the welding process by giving you a more substantial thickness of metal to weld the tunnel edge to.
-fit tunnel, tack angle/tunnel to tank when you're happy with the fit.
-finish weld
-make some backbone mounts from sections of pipe or large thick walled tubing. You can bend flat stock too, whatever fits your tank tunnel and backbone the best.
-weld tabs on.
-pressure test and seal (por 15 tank sealing kit rules)
-mount that shit on your bike and go do a wheelie!