Food Containers & Motorbikes

[2door]

I've seen some very innovative use of cans that food came in used here by our members. Fuel tanks, head and tail light housings, etc. I was snacking yesterday and opened a can of Underwood's Deviled Ham. Great stuff for a quick sandwich but I love it as a dip with potato chips.

When the can was empty I started to toss it in the trash then realized that it looked to be about the same diameter as the air cleaner on an HT carburetor. I washed the can and took it out to the garage and started to work. I don't know what the can is made of but it is mildly magnetec which makes me think it might be a stainless alloy. Whatever, it polished up like chrome and didn't take much work to adapt it and gave me a much better looking air cleaner.

I've also used rattle can paint tops for this but the little steel can looks better than the plastic ones. Maybe someone else can use the idea.

Tom

 

[bigbutterbean]

I have a soup can for an air filter cover. looks like chrome too.

 

[2door]

Yeah, BBB. I'm not sure what they plate the cans with but a little work on a bench buffer and some compound and some of them polish up nicely. Strange thing is they don't seem to tarnish or rust even with no clearcoat.

Tom

 

[bigbutterbean]

I didnt even polish mine. i think they are made with stainless steel.

 

[Ibedayank]

No cans currently in wide use are composed primarily or wholly of tin;[citation needed] that term rather reflects the nearly exclusive use in cans, until the second half of the 20th century, of tinplate steel, which combined the physical strength and relatively low price of steel with the corrosion resistance of tin.

Use of aluminium in cans began in 1957.[2] Aluminium is less costly than tin-plated steel but offers the same resistance to corrosion in addition to greater malleability, resulting in ease of manufacture; this gave rise to the two-piece can, where all but the top of the can is simply stamped out of a single piece of aluminium, rather than laboriously constructed from two pieces of steel. Often the top is tin-plated steel and the rest of the can aluminium.

A can usually has a printed paper or plastic label glued to the outside of the curved surface, indicating its contents. Some labels contain additional information, such as recipes, on the reverse side. A label can also be printed directly onto the metal.

In modern times, the majority of food cans in the UK[3] have been lined with a plastic coating containing bisphenol A (BPA). The leaching of BPA into the can's contents is currently (as of early 2010) being investigated as a potential health hazard.

 

[2door]

Whatever Underwood uses I can say that after today it stands up to bad weather/rain with no tarnish. In fact it looks better than anything else on the bike. me included. The Denver Area Riders rode into some bodatious weather today on our run. But, my Potted Meat can still looks good.

Tom

 

[killercanuck]

That looks way cool Tom. Matches the polished float bowl(and everything else) nicely

 

[wheelbender6]

I have seen a Tuna Can air cleaner housing. It looked great.

 

[andrewflores17]

i saw that today and could have sworn it was some fancy pricery air cover on your engine wow cant belive its a can realy realy cool

 

[donphantasmo]

Man, great work....

 

[GAS+RIDEZ]

2door seems Iam like you because every time I see someting Iam trying to think what can do with it for my MB, and have been in all kinds of shops trying to see what can do with all I look.