kinger
VIP Member
For what its worth, my custom tunnel someday will be using 3 pcs of carbon, sides, and top with aluminum airplane rivets where you hammer them round and smooth on the both sides so the snow doesn't even have the rivet ends to grab onto. Your frame has coolant in it, its going to be warm, I would one pc skin it...but you also have an exhaust so it may all be fruitless endeavor anyway. I will have no exhaust other then the dump up by the drivers. I am working to have NO heat source in the tunnel except up by the drivers with the main cooler, and exhaust dump and hoping to keep the rear of the sled from icing up.
It would be nice to have UHMW as a very thin overlay. it does not like heat however. I know that PTFE (teflon) is often used in various methods to prevent ice buildup and it has very high range of temperature tolerance. There is a PTFE derived tape product called Mask or Gecko tape that is used in rigging on boats both as a wear surface and as a friction(less) surface. The marketing is something around being the only surface a gecko can't stick to. Using tape as a skin is a good idea, I will order some and try some experiments.
Nikolai
TY 4 Stroke God
Minimizing snow buildup will be tricky. I’m also trying to keep all the tunnel enclosure panels under 4 lbs including the shields around the flex joints.
So far I’m thinking aluminum panel above header with carbon fiber on the sides of the aluminum panel to the frame tubes. This would just be for the top portion below the fuel tank. The fuel tank will cover the frame tubes on the top so snow can’t build up in the 3/4” space between the bottom of the fuel tank and top of skin above header. The tunnel sides I’m leaning towards thin UHMW sheet. With the rear cooler being mounted below the steel X brace I was going to put another thin sheet of UHMW above that so I don’t get a huge pile of ice above the cooler. So there would be a 1/2” airgap between top of cooler and UHMW. I’m going to install a temp garage so I can monitor temps initially and make changes if needed.
Tube frame definitely complicates things.
As for the tape, I didn’t mean to use it as a skin, just to wrap around the tubes to prevent buildup on the tubes themselves. Although you can get the tape in a 12” wide roll, that would be incredibly light if it held up and stuck to the steel ok. This was a product I saw recommended by snow bike owners.
www.mcmaster.com
So far I’m thinking aluminum panel above header with carbon fiber on the sides of the aluminum panel to the frame tubes. This would just be for the top portion below the fuel tank. The fuel tank will cover the frame tubes on the top so snow can’t build up in the 3/4” space between the bottom of the fuel tank and top of skin above header. The tunnel sides I’m leaning towards thin UHMW sheet. With the rear cooler being mounted below the steel X brace I was going to put another thin sheet of UHMW above that so I don’t get a huge pile of ice above the cooler. So there would be a 1/2” airgap between top of cooler and UHMW. I’m going to install a temp garage so I can monitor temps initially and make changes if needed.
Tube frame definitely complicates things.
As for the tape, I didn’t mean to use it as a skin, just to wrap around the tubes to prevent buildup on the tubes themselves. Although you can get the tape in a 12” wide roll, that would be incredibly light if it held up and stuck to the steel ok. This was a product I saw recommended by snow bike owners.
McMaster-Carr
McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.
Good find, I will order some and play around. I also found that Mask product and emailed their support folks about ice buildup. All of the PTFE tapes are very expensive.
Nikolai
TY 4 Stroke God
.040 7075 aluminum sheet is 0.59 lbs sq ft
.125 UHMW sheet from what I could find is 0.625 lbs.
It would be easier to cut out .040 aluminum inserts and wrap them in that tape. They would need less fasteners to stay in place compared to UHMW.
One of those cheap kids roll up sleds would work well if you could secure the plastic flat. Those are super thin and durable.
.125 UHMW sheet from what I could find is 0.625 lbs.
It would be easier to cut out .040 aluminum inserts and wrap them in that tape. They would need less fasteners to stay in place compared to UHMW.
One of those cheap kids roll up sleds would work well if you could secure the plastic flat. Those are super thin and durable.
Nikolai
TY 4 Stroke God
Listing says the roll up sled is 0.8 lbs. Sled is 36”x18” so that’s 0.17 lbs sq ft. Super light. Just need that material in flat sheet form.
Called the local plastic/CF supplier and they have .060 4x10 UHMW sheets in transit. Put my name on the list to check it out when they get here.
Called the local plastic/CF supplier and they have .060 4x10 UHMW sheets in transit. Put my name on the list to check it out when they get here.
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Nikolai
TY 4 Stroke God
A guy local to me used 1/16 UHMW on his and said it worked really well.
kinger
VIP Member
Would it be crazy to just leave it open? I have often thought about this, it would maybe get snow all over but who cares right? I'm not trying to stay out of the snow. As long as the seat covers your butt and stays dry? Probably a dumb idea but I wanted to try it and still may not sure yet.
Nikolai
TY 4 Stroke God
I don’t think anything is crazy or dumb. I’m sure there’s tons of things I’ve done on this build that some would call dumb but hey, it’s mine and in the end I get to do it my way. Love all the input and ideas.
I do not think it’s dumb to leave it open. My only concern would be slipping a boot into the suspension during a sidehill or maneuver gone wrong.
When I get some time I’ll cut some cardboard templates of the coverage I’m imagining.
I do not think it’s dumb to leave it open. My only concern would be slipping a boot into the suspension during a sidehill or maneuver gone wrong.
When I get some time I’ll cut some cardboard templates of the coverage I’m imagining.
If you leave it open you are going to have to protect yourself from ice buildup. 
Nikolai
TY 4 Stroke God
Couple cardboard ideas for now…
This is about the minimum material I think I could get away with to not get completely covered in snow. Was thinking the .040 7075 Alu might be better here as it’s so much stiffer than UHMW and would need significantly fewer attachment points. Could powder coat them to keep snow from sticking.
This is about the minimum material I think I could get away with to not get completely covered in snow. Was thinking the .040 7075 Alu might be better here as it’s so much stiffer than UHMW and would need significantly fewer attachment points. Could powder coat them to keep snow from sticking.
Looks good. I just saw that you can get adhesive backed UMHW in very thin sheet form from Mcmaster, probably too close to the heat for you but might be interesting in a winder tunnel.
kinger
VIP Member
I think it would be sweet! I love the exposed look!
Nikolai
TY 4 Stroke God
After talking with a buddy who has a partial tube tunnel I will go ahead and make the tunnel panels as pictured above. Thin UHMW will be too flexible and not withstand heat near the turbo. Aluminum will need to be powder coated. So I will make templates out of aluminum and then make permanent panels out of carbon fiber. Super light, rigid, strong and only needs a few attachment points. Both sides together should be under 1 lb.
kinger
VIP Member
I like the top picture with the small triangle filled not open to complete the foot well. I may copy this someday.
