'81 GS450L Cafe Project

[Adler]

Guess I'm just a little late to chime in! Did a battery box and seat pan out of fiberglass on my triumph. Foil tape for the base of the pan was worth the extra cost, much easier to work with than kitchen foil, especially on the vertical sections and what not. Something you could still do if you want: For anchor points, I glassed in t-nuts. Just gotta leave a bolt in when you do it to keep the threads clear. Might work well for your cocktail napkin sketch 2-piece idea. My seat build: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q14K_sny5YQ

That's hot...

[Mop Bucket]

Did it turn out? Lets see some pictures.

[gjohnson]

I am going to check it tonight when I get home. I took spyug's advice and just wrapped it in tape then glassed over the top. The poly resin was so smelly/messy, I am thinking for the bottom seat pan I am going to stop by the fiberglass store and pickup some epoxy resin.

I should be home around 5 and I'll take some pictures

[gjohnson]

Okay I didn't get any pictures while laying the fiberglass because it was messy and I wasn't about to grab my Canon DSLR with resin all over me lol.

Here's a picture of it taped up prior to glassing:


After glassing, I should have done at least twice as many layers. I am going to pickup some epoxy resin and try to add more to the inside. Also it will be cut down about 1/2 an inch.


Cutting the mold out of it... it was pretty stubborn. lol don't worry I cleaned the floor up before the wife to be got home...


Mold is out of it, just needs more layers bondo, sand, bondo, sand....


I couldn't resist throwing it on the bike real quick, imagine it cut down about 1/2 - 3/4 of an inch.

[Flaming Chainsaws]

Looking good! Way to start out the project! Any plans on changing the gas tank out?

[gjohnson]

absolutely, I would like one that is not quite so tear dropped shaped, with some knee dents.

[Hoosier Daddy]

NICE JOB... see that wasn't so bad. by the time you get the seat pad and cover on the hump won't look so big. How well did the duct tape release from the Glass?

[SVSooke]

Very nice.Like the 03 SV in pic 3 to.

[gjohnson]

The glass pulled away from the duct tape pretty easily, i just slid a screw driver around the edges, then pulled the seat part out. once that was out of the way i just carved a handle in the foam to grab a hold of and gave it a few pulls. Took maybe 15 minutes to get the mold out.

SvSooke - Thanks, that's my '03 SV1K, I love it and I need to do some fiberglass repair on the left fairing... maybe when the cafe is done.

[Mop Bucket]

Nice, thanks for the pics.

[gjohnson]

No problem you guys motivate me to keep working on it lol. I am hoping this weekend to prep the room to roll the bike into it and starting pulling off the stuff I don't need. then pull the entire thing apart and start cleaning.

[verde]

Cool, turned out nice Can't wait to see the finished product.

Some ideas for the next time. Waxed foil tape would definitely be easier to release the mold from the thing than the duct tape. I forget what kind of car wax to use/avoid, something about certain types reacting with the resin. The sides also look dead vertical, a slight draft angle, like on cast pieces, and you don't have to spend much time trying to dig the mold out of it... leaving a bunch of bits around for the misses to find.

ex: cast parts draft angle





Here's a higher res pic of the t-nuts picture that was in my video. Like you, I wanted to add some layers after the fact in key places. Especially at that bend in the back edge, at least 3 or 4 more layers after the t-nuts went in since a passenger shifting around can put a lot of torque on the seat there. Since its fully cured, be sure to rough sand it to give a good tooth for the additional layers to grab.

[gjohnson]

Thanks for the ideas, I need to post my latest pictures.

So this past weekend i ended up rolling the GS into my makeshift shop. Pushing a gs up a short hill by yourself is quite the task... going to be much better riding it out of the house lol.

Anyways, I started pulling stuff off of the bike I won;t be using (Blinkers, rear fender, etc) there should be a for sale thread up shortly. I am going to sit down tonight and go though the wiring diagram in my manual.

[Flaming Chainsaws]

Thanks for the ideas, I need to post my latest pictures.

So this past weekend i ended up rolling the GS into my makeshift shop. Pushing a gs up a short hill by yourself is quite the task... going to be much better riding it out of the house lol.

Anyways, I started pulling stuff off of the bike I won;t be using (Blinkers, rear fender, etc) there should be a for sale thread up shortly. I am going to sit down tonight and go though the wiring diagram in my manual.

You think that's bad? I pushed my bike about a few miles in the rain up and down hills. Damn thing died on me lol. My fault .

So, any updates? I would love to see what's going on .

[gjohnson]

Ugh, I was afraid someone would ask that lol. I have been super busy with work and lazy I need to work on it some more. This weekend I am going up to Tacoma, so I won't be able to get any work done on it... I should have an update in 2 weeks.