With the powder in hand we needed to retrieve the tank for the weekend, make the seat pan and return the tank to the master.
We formed a plan and it worked. We assembled the bike enough to make the seat pan and borrowed the tank back from Mr. Murillo. The kit from MC Advantages was produced by Insta Pan by Stampedeparts.com.
One Standard Insta Pan Seat Pan Kit will cover approximately 450 square inches at 3/8-inch thick, which was roughly a 14 by 32-inch seat. That was just enough for what I had planned. Here’s their number: (515) 369-4357.
I set up a separate table for the job adjacent to my Assalt Weapan lift and I should have covered the whole damn thing with cardboard. They recommend cardboard for toughness. It needed to be taped down as if my life depended on it remaining in place.
Then they recommended covering the frame effected area with blue masking tape first, then duct tape. I carefully covered more than the area I proposed using, but that wasn’t enough. Some folks suggested a plastic wrap, but I’m glad I followed their directions.
While I masked and ducted my seat area and tank, Jeremiah worked on his bobber and asked me questions. “Goddamnit Jeremiah,” I shouted across the room. “We’re trying to build the World’s Fastest Panhead here. Leave me alone, goddamnit.”
He persisted, and I helped him on his project between dealing with this new process. This was the first time out, and I was nervous, but kept progressing. They supply a sheet of acetate and ask that we draw the shape of the seat on it with a felt pen and set it aside. In each case they ask that we oversize it to allow for trimming.
Now came the tough part. Believe me, after you scramble through this process the first time, it will be a breeze, because you’ll understand. Boy, will you get it. The directions called for laying out the cardboard on the work area and taping it down, then the fiberglass sheet they provide and 3/8-inch wood rails to act as guides.
Then they recommend another piece of cardboard for a mixing area. We shoulda made the bastard twice the size. I’ll know next time. Then we needed to squeeze out the black goo and create a crater on the cardboard. They also provided some powdery shit, called Carbon something. It looked like a giant bag of Cocaine and we fucked with it, but it was shipped to us to prevent the sticky aspect of the material from driving us insane.
First the black shit is like cold tar in an old alley. It’s tough as nails, plus they provide cheapy Home Depot paint stir sticks for removal. We needed steel trowels. It’s like trying to dig out frozen Peanut Butter with a plastic knife. It’s tough as nails and sticky as rubber cement. We donned the supplied plastic gloves and immediately Jeremiah had a blow-out and replaced his gloves with heavy duty cleaning versions. Then the treacherous goo tried to eat those gloves and tear them off Jeremiah’s hands.
The directions called for creating the crater, adding half the powder bag and working in the creamy stuff. We were heading toward a major mess, and the directions called for picking the shit up and folding it in your hands like salt water taffy. That wasn’t happening, but it would work with smaller amounts. Since our seat called for a regular seating area plus a pad on the tank, we used the whole enchilada, and fought it like citizens fighting the Monster Goo From The Center of The Earth. Sweat rolled, tools flew and the goo nearly got the best of us.
We had to keep in mind we were working with a hardener or catalyst and it might go off like surfboard resin in the sun. We worked in the hardener until no streaks were visible and our fingers were numb. We laid out the evil goo on the sheet of fiberglass between the rails and put the acetate to work as a guide as we rolled the chunk of PVC pipe over it until it covered the appropriate area.
We were able to move chunks of the black goo to alternate locations as needed, then we yanked the acetate off the surface and ruined a pair of scissors cutting the fiberglass. Incredible, we survived to this point. Next, we actually picked up the damp pancake of goo and flopped it on the bike. That was it for the night.
The next day the directions called for loosening the thick black pans then dropping them back into place for another day. We did, but it almost took a jack to pry them loose.
The following day we popped them loose and cut out forms with a coping saw, then set to grinding, filling the shop with black death dust. I tried to use a mask most of the time.Ultimately Insta Pan works like a charm, but leaves a 3/8-inch thick substance and I wonder what Duane Ballard will think. We shipped them out to him in Ipswich, New Hampshire for priority delivery.
