That's a nice bike. And you will like the hobby. It's fun and before you know it you'll be putting aftermarket parts and all that good stuff on it! Good luck!!
I made it up out of PVC, if it works then great if not then I'll go with Copper. It's sealed internally with the Blue PVC glue and seal all on all the joints. Outer shell is sealed with JB Weld and Seal All. Then there are three coats of flat black Plastic Paint from Rustoleum, then three coats of Wagon Red, then two coats of clear. So far it's only been tested to be air tight. The trick will be to see how well it holds up to Gas/oil mixture.