Fiberglass Manifolds

[Audiowize]

So, there seems to be two camps in the single carb manifold discussion:

Metal or PVC/ABS

Has anybody tried fiberglass? I have to admit, I got the idea from the old 917 Porsche race car, which has a really chunky fiberglass manifold sitting atop the engine.

If anybody is interested, I could probably be talked into fabricating one of these. The big advantage is the ease of fabrication. You could literally cut round/square tubing with a disposable saw and miter box, then set all the pieces with kitty hair or lay it up with epoxy and glass tape.

I guess where I'm drawing a blank is on the carb flange, but pre-made FRP sheets have a thickness tolerance of +/- 0.008" per inch, which should be acceptable if a gasket is used and maybe a little glass sheet sanding is done.

Any ideas?

I see appropriately sized tubing with a 265 degree Fahrenheit heat rating (abs melts at 221F), so the biggest question is what kind of heat the bonding materials can take.

[gregforesi]

Here you go.
I ran this setup on the bike for about 500 miles. Ran pretty good. I think the polyester resin is a bit rigid. If I was going to do this again I'd use epoxy resin. The build thread is Spin them Suckers Around.

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[wingrider]

Greg, I wondered whatever happened to that set up....did you end up selling them, or are they on the shelf? Was a very cool project!

[gregforesi]

They are still sitting on a shelf above the basket case 78 that I was going to steam punk and stick them on. Doesn't look like it's going to happen any time soon.

[earthquake]

what if you were to use Styrofoam and shape it in a manifold and cover it in fiberglass cloth and resin, once it has set up you can melt the foam with acetone or lacquer thinner. You would have to make it slightly undersized so it will fit the manifolds, grafting a flange for the carb will be no problem, you also lay it up in carbon fiber.

Casey

[digschopper]

Styrofoam is crumbly and shapes poorly. Use rigid foam from a craft store and shape it with a Ginsu, then sand , dont forget the taper to the ports. Once thats done, tape/wrap it, then wax it a few times. Glass over it, cure it. When its set up, pour acetone down the ports, the foam dissolves, pick out tape remnants. This is how ive made seat bases, fenders.

[robin1731]

Styrofoam is crumbly and shapes poorly. Use rigid foam from a craft store and shape it with a Ginsu, then sand , dont forget the taper to the ports. Once thats done, tape/wrap it, then wax it a few times. Glass over it, cure it. When its set up, pour acetone down the ports, the foam dissolves, pick out tape remnants. This is how ive made seat bases, fenders.

That might be a new record. Woke up an 8 year old thread.

[digschopper]

Lol, my bad... Didnt look. Maybe itll be of use later.