Anybody built one of these?

Venice Motor Bikes is building the same bike right now... He has the tank sealing down... Don't expect him to share his method...I don't blame him...but it can be done...
 
culvercityclassic said:
Venice Motor Bikes is building the same bike right now... He has the tank sealing down... Don't expect him to share his method...I don't blame him...but it can be done...
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I already know how he does it, but I'm not going to give away his secret. All I can tell you is, it involves getting naked, cutting the head off a chicken, and a jar of honey.
 
MotorBicycleRacing said:
Member HBLOCAL aka John pioneered the Felt tank sealing process.

All the info is on the other forum.
Steel wool with liquefied JB Weld poured over it.

Search and yea will find.
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Thanks alot, I appreciate you helping me. I just went over there and had a look at a few of HBLOCAL's write up's about sealing his frames. He's definitely a pioneer trailblazer, working back in the caveman days. His advise is very valuable, and I have a lot of respect for a craftsman like him. Even more so, from his sharing of his knowledge freely.

After reading his informative instructions I have a lot more confidance about getting the job done.

Now days products like Caswell, and cheap bore scopes makes the job alot easier than when he started sealing frames.

I'm going to soke up all this new information for a while, and then we'll have a little discussion about what I'm thinking about doing.
 
biknut said:
It's an honor to have you watching silverbear. :)
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Thank you, sir. That was a kind and generous thing to say. Your bike is going to be wonderful. I was imagining having one like it, but it is well beyond my means so I will enjoy seeing yours come to motored life instead.
SB
 
Instead of trying to stuff steel wool, or tape the openings into the other parts of the frame, I bought a multi purpose adhesive called E6000. It's kind of like JB Weld except you don't have to mix it and it comes in a tube. I'm gonna attach a plastic hose to it and run in down to the seat post, and try to seal the gaps on either side of the seat post tube. It's supposed to be about the consistancy of tooth paste. I'll be using the bore scope to see what I'm doing. My plan is to hang the frame neck up, when I try it. If that works then after it dries, I'll turn the frame the other way and it should be a piece of cake to seal the front openings. I may repeat that process with Caswell, before using it to seal the whole tank.

Before even trying this, I'll do a test with the E6000 and see how good it is at bridging a big gap. In case it doesn't look like it will work, I do have steel wool to stuff in the gaps as a back up plan.
 
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BN, I have always wondered how a "bladder" sort of gas tank would work. Like a WWII American fighter or aircraft fuel tank. I looked in to it a while back and was kind of expensive but would be basically a bag.
 
Dan said:
BN, I have always wondered how a "bladder" sort of gas tank would work. Like a WWII American fighter or aircraft fuel tank. I looked in to it a while back and was kind of expensive but would be basically a bag.
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It does seem like there's a need for fuel tanks for motor bicycles. The stock ones are so flemsey, and cheesey, and don't fit a lot of bikes. I hope someday better ones will become more available.
 
The fuel bag makes me remember the aircraft tank sealants I used to pack and send out at work. There are liquid grades of 2 part that are extremely viscous. Once cured, you have a fuel immune rubber surface. If you know anyone to do with aircraift repair or care, you could see if they have any that's out of life for the job. First, before you go that far, look up the health and safety requirements, there are toxic elements in them that must be treated with respect.
 
biknut said:
Thanks alot, I appreciate you helping me. I just went over there and had a look at a few of HBLOCAL's write up's about sealing his frames. He's definitely a pioneer trailblazer, working back in the caveman days. His advise is very valuable, and I have a lot of respect for a craftsman like him. Even more so, from his sharing of his knowledge freely.

After reading his informative instructions I have a lot more confidance about getting the job done.

Now days products like Caswell, and cheap bore scopes makes the job alot easier than when he started sealing frames..
Click to expand...
Here are a flock of Felts at a ride at El Dorado Park that HBLOCAL and
BigBoy aka Raully made.

Felt%2520Raully%2520John%2520meet.jpg
 
Looks like my attempt at sealing the rear of the frame around the seat post was a little problematic. The E6000 wasn't quite as thick as I hoped. Some of it ran down the rear frame after a time. When I saw this happening I turned the frame over and made it run back the other way. Then some of it started coming back into the tank area, so I turned back over again. By then I was starting to get pretty thick, and it ended up drying somewhere in there lol. I can't tell at this point if the rear frame is completely sealed behind the seat post, but it probably is. The opening on either side of the seat post are a lot smaller now, and it looks pretty filled up behind there, but now I can't see back there as good as before.

I guess just to make sure I'll give it another application today.
 
I think i finally got the seat post area sealed. I wouldn't do it that way again, because it was too much trouble. The E6000 was too thin. I had to spend all day yesterday sloshing it it back and forth by the seat post till it dried.

Just to make it interesting the light in my shop crapped out right in the middle or it. I ran down to china depot, and bought a new high intensity fluorescent fixture with 4 bulbs. It was the most expensive one they had. After installing it, I found that it would only fire 2 of the bulbs. I took it down, and returned it for a nuther one just like it. It really was just like it because it only fired 2 bulbs too. I had to take it back too. After that I bought the cheapest fixture they had and it fired all 4 bulbs with no problem.

Anyway, my advise is if you use E6000 to seal the frame, stuff the seat post area with steel wool first and save a lot of time.

The front is a lot easier to get to. I'm just going to seal it with JB Weld and call it good.

Then the Caswell is next.
 
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