'38 Special ------ Update July 2nd

[yoothgeye]

I love working with PVC, it paints really well too. I have a sled in my yard that I made one morning when I woke up to unexpected snow, all I had for runners was a spare piece of 3" PVC. I heated it over the stovetop and put a baseball bat in the end and bent up the ends. worked great, but beware, the fumes are very bad for you.

[Road Master]

Hi! Thanks for the "Fumes" Warning. I've been exposed to so much crap in my lifetime I'm beginning to think I am Bullet Proof. Spent many early years of construction out East tearing off asbestos siding and gutting the old furnace pipes that were wrapped in asbestos. Of course back in those days a lot of people knew it was unhealthy to be around, they just didn't advertise it. Robert

[Jake Sensi]

PVC tank! Great idea! That will be usEd on my nbw find! Thanks

[Xcruiser]

Great thing is- with the bars that low you can easily check your tire pressure as you cruise! JK LOL.Lookin good!

[chepe13]

That pvc idea is too cool! , might have to barrow that for a faux oil tank on my motobike to hold my tools and innertubes.

[Road Master]

Hi! I was out 9 days with an infection that spread from a sore tooth and swelled up the whole right side of my face, but I'm back now. I was just about to install my PVC faux Gas Tank when I left off. I don't have the luxury of a heating blanket so I did it the old way - with a torch. You just keep going back and forth till you can wiggle it like a worm and then she's ready. I used a 2x6 for my base support and then a 2x4 short enough not to interfere with the end caps. After it was heated I lowered it between the bars making sure the straight stock was resting full length on the 2x4 and then shimmed a little on the sides to hold the spacing until it set up.

This is an econo build and the only thing I had laying around to use for straps was some aluminum stock - white one side, brown the other - that's normally used to wrap bare wood, etc. I used a utility knife and straight edge to indent a line across it, fold & break off. 2 pieces 1" x 12" and some screws that were still stuck to my magnetic dish and we're done. Don't know yet if these straps will be permanent but the PVC doesn't weigh much and these AL strips will hold it fine.

I sanded everything as I went so it would be ready for paint - did the PVC entirely w/ 100 grit sandpaper and took all the snaggy edges off the strips. Finished the day trying to make the handlebars presentable. I kept them from a girls 1941 Columbia I parted out. They had pitted type rust - I tried chrome cleaner & didn't even dent it so I just assumed there wasn't going to be any chrome look. I figured I'd go for the brushed metal look - drill and wire wheel attachment. Before I started there was a palm sander w/ 100 grit laying beside me so on a whim I started on the bars with it. Guess what? Not all chrome is created equal - I ground on them until most of the pits disappeared and there was still chrome there. That's definitely the best chrome job I ever saw. Haven't decided what to do next but there's plenty to do. TBC! Robert

[tin machine]

that looks cool !! and i bet it was not easy , good work on a new idea

[Peatbog]

That is a pretty nifty idea. Well executed too.

[chepe13]

DANG Roadmaster!!!
I am not exaggerating when I say that, that is THE coolest idea I have ever seen in this site. I really regret selling that frame that I just had lying around.

[menzorro]

Really nice execution of a great idea.

[rusty513]

Awesome idea on the tank Robert. I may have to steel that idea if I ever get a frame like that.

[PeterBuilt]

A+++ job on your tank. Can not wait to see what you do next.

[yoothgeye]

You did a great job bending that PVC, I was a little concerned that the PVC wouldn't bend as good as it did and that you would have trouble getting the bend in the right spot, but it's dead on!

[Road Master]

Hi! Bending PVC is not difficult, it just takes a lot of patience and a little concentration - the patience is the length of time it takes to heat it up so when you shake one end of it back and forth it's as loose as a wet noodle and the concentration is to go back & forth but not so close you melt it down. A little browning doesn't hurt it at all. The wood support was to keep the PVC from bending side to side (with bike in upright position). It's always fun when you get an out of the box idea and it actually goes as you wanted it to - I just chuckled, too easy. Actually, where I got the idea was from looking at pics of board trackers and every one had a gas tank that was built to fit the space between the bars. In this case the bars are perfectly parallel so one size fit all. I just couldn't think of anything else that I could shape to fit the curve. In 45 years of working as an electrician I've probably bent pipe with a torch a hundred times. This was only 2" Schedule 40 in the nice warm sun. My best bend was 2 1/2" Schedule 80 in the middle of the winter on a cold concrete garage floor - I needed a 6" offset in 5' for a Service Conduit to clear a footer. I had to get that one real loose. Bending PVC is not as difficult as you may think plus if you have a wild imagination you can create all sorts of unique projects. Give it a shot and Have Fun! Robert

[whoinphx]

I agree, that tank looks like it was made for that frame.... Oh Yeah it Was.... Good Job....
I want to see those handlebars you were talking about....
Keep going....