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.

On to Page 2...