is it possible to make my own petrol tank out of carbon fibre ?

I don't see why not, I know model and full-scale planes that have carbon/epoxy fuel tanks so i don't think that there is any major issue with it being in contact with fuel.

The tricky bit would be moulding it i suppose... you would have to make it in 2 halfs and then join it together, I'm sure some of the others on here will have a better idea than be about how to go about that!

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This is something we've been asked many times. The short answer is yes you can, but you need to choose the right resin and of course do a good job of the laminating. Although you'll frequently hear that epoxy resins are very resistant to chemical attack and so make a good choice for a fuel tank, as I understand it there are dedicated fuel tank resins and I think that these tend to be vinylester. We asked the company that manufacture our resins whether they would be suitable for a fuel tank and they said they should be fine but pointed out that there are dedicated fuel resistant resin systems out there.

Matt Statham
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Sales

I think the problem is the alcohol in new fuels E5,E10, E25 - its harmfull for GRP and no one seems to be very  sure about carbon/epoxy.

One solution  could be:

Make the tank with Easycomponents epoxy and seal it with GTS 1750 Tank Sealer.

It's epoxy too and the manufacturer tells they have 19 years experience with sealing ethanol sensitive fuel tanks: www.caswelleurope.co.uk

they made fibre glass tanks in the 50s and 60s the main concern then was in accident damage. were can i get resins that ok for petrol ? thanks .looking at making tank mould in 3 parts. which can be bolted together then pulled apart to get out moulded part.

Sakke's suggestion of a tank sealer sounds very interesting - I've never encountered this but it sounds like it could be a good solution. I can understand that it would be a good idea to have a 'coating' rather than just a suitable resin for lamination because this would create a barrier between the fibres in the reinforcement and the fuel which is what you'd want/need to prevent the fibres from absorbing fuel.

they made fibre glass tanks in the 50s and 60s the main concern then was in accident damage.

Consider Kevlar; stringent regulations in Germany at the moment are requiring Kevlar protection around fuel tanks in many of their motorsport classes. You get a much higher elongation to break property and also impact/abrasion resistance all of which would be help a lot regards the strength of the tank from a safety point of view.

Matt Statham
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Sales

what size mould making kit would i need for a large motorcycle fuel tank ?

I'd say the large mould making kit would do it easy, I used one for a part that was about 50cm by 1m and had loads left (probably 1/4) in the end, I used the rest for a few small moulds.

thanks for info

Do you make the tank in 2 parts? I'm a noob and at a loss on how you would make the gas tank physically..

Please post some pics on this when you get to doing it! I was asked to make a motercycle tank.



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