So here it is. I had a bit of trouble with the mold giving a perfect seal but got it worked out.
this is preliminary progress in my finished project in making a carbon gas tank for my motorcycle.
This particular shell is for a guy that has some custom visions of his own for his bike.
thanks for sharing
do you have any pictures of the mold?
tia
That’s bad ass:cool:
now thats perfect. congrats!
Carbon tank, or carbon tank cover?
I always enjoy a nice carbon tank. SO many people are scared to do it though!
Very cool stuff 
Looks good, Heres one I got from Italy for my 06 R1.
This is just a cover.
you should show pics of your mold 
hi i know this is and old thread but im very interested in how you did this? the tank looks wicked. few questions tho. i can see by the lines in the tank it is done in three pieces. how do you go about sticking them together? how many layers of carbon is this? is there any Kevlar or fiber glass in there? and what method did you use?
in new to all this at the moment, but this is the kind of stuff i would like to be able to do one day. . . . with the right guidance of course 
I can’t comment on the lay up, but the mold looks like it is in three parts. The lines you see in the part are due to resin seeping into the cracks between the mold pieces.
late is better than never I guess…
This project never got any farther than this. I got accepted into another school right after this and studied for 4 more yrs, essentially killing the project. I still have the mold but am working towards a new one and using prepregs instead of infusion. I HATE the dry fabric handling and trimming of infusion… but I am willing to trade the devil I know for one that I don’t in this case:D
Great job, enjoy looking at pictures of the process. Many customers will never know the lengths and struggles it takes to make what seems to be “simple” parts.
Here is why I chime in on fuel tank threads… getting ready to make a tank myself for a sport bike.
Please excuse the mess, I’ve had the flu and no chance to clean the shop.
RC, I have some questions: What do you plan to use as in-tank lines for breather and fuel? Also wondering if methacrylate adhesive will bond metal lines to a composite tank? I’m thinking of using aluminum tubing inside the tank. Also since going to the trouble of making a composite fuel tank, I’m considering inserting fuel safe foam inside the tank, post manufacturing.
My biggest question is what does the bottom of the fuel pump look like, and what does the rubber seal look like on these Honda tanks?
Fastrr, I wish I had a tried and tested solution to your answers.
I never finished this project since I left for school and is sat shelved, even as I type. Going to try another version though… I never made a bottom…
I can’t answer the bond strength question regarding metal and methacrylate. I know that some aft mkt carbon tank manuf just put an old-school nipple on one corner of the tank for breathing. I also considered getting a gas cap that had one built in. As for an overflow drain that I wouldn’t even bother adding…not necessary imo.
I’m not sure if Hondas have a standard fuel pump mount. I don’t have much experience with other hondas.
as far as a fuel safe inner, I have come across a couple possibilites, one is aerospace polysulfide sealer(not 100% on ethanol resistance), second is this AOC F764 polyester resin http://www.expresscomposites.com/resins.html There is a thread I posted regarding the data sheets I found for this and another resin quite recently. snoop around my post/thread history and it will be there.
I searched for hours online and came up with a fuel safe sealer for composite fuel tanks. It’s made by
Caswell. It’s a phenol epoxy ( novalac epoxy ) that is 100% fuel safe for ethanol/methanol fuels. It was REALLY hard to find it in small quantity like this. Normally the minimum a person can buy is a 5 gallon kit of novalac epoxy.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/400757203619?lpid=82
If this link above goes dead, google Caswell fuel tank sealer.
I’ve read reviews on caswell and it seemed that people had failures… Whether it’s becuause it’s not totally resistant or finicky to apply both kind of worry me. Here is a link to some of the crustiest bikers out there http://www.accessnorton.com/caswell-sealer-failures-please-report-t9107-15.html They know well of the hardships of a composite tank unfortunately. And another from a early model honda CB which don’t have composite tanks to my knowledge http://honda-cb750-s.456789.n3.nabble.com/Caswell-gas-tank-epoxy-failure-td4026803.html Just googling caswell tank failure scares me too much to even consider it. It might be worth trying a test piece like molding a cup and wet laying fiberglass and then lining the inside and placing the whole thing into a glass jar to see what happens with time…
I’m always hesitant to rely on a coating because if it fails there is a bigger and more difficult mess to clean up after…
Fortunately for me ethanol free fuel is within reach and it’s what I fill all my vehicles with anyways. My tank will be lined with something but it would very rarely if ever see any ethanol and if to only for short durations.
Sicomin make an epoxy resin designed for tuel tanks. May be worth having a peek at the details on their site?