I taking quite an interest in SU's lately. The more I learn the more I like, and more I yearn to improve the breed. Let me play with float ideas and I'll let you know what I find out.

Get my PM Bruce?

The polymer is called Nitrophyl...... Good luck and if captured behind enemy lines this agency will blah blah blah........

"For over 40 years, Rogers Corporation has been the leader in the design and production of liquid level floats where resistance to gasoline, oil, and other hydrocarbons is essential. The key is in our NITROPHYL® NBR (Buna-N) Technology."

Rogers Corporation NITROPHYL-Floats

So close....

MossMotors.com - Restoration Parts And Accessories For British Cars

Perhaps one could do a bit of cut/shape/glue of these to our old float armature? Its just a block of Nitrophyl, make it what you need to be.

Heck Summit racing has a wide variety of Holley Nitrophyl floats, again, an available source of raw materials.

Haven't found anyone that sells Nitrophyl resin raw components to "cast your own"...

Haven't found anyone that sells Nitrophyl resin raw components to "cast your own"...

Nitrophyl is a trade name from Rogers corporation? The basic rubber is a closed cell NBR rubber (Technical name: Acrylonitrile Butadiene). It also goes under trade names as Nitrile & Buna-N, Nipol & Europrene.

Rogers corp does not sell resins. We (where I work) have used them in Gent Belgium, but they require €1200 tooling costs and a minimum order of 250 pieces. That was a special rubber bellow for a high speed shear mixer.

The vulcanising process for NBR if not easy for a hobby guru to try. Probably why no one making them...

Refab from another larger float could be a possability though.

Chas

Now that I know some more trade names for the stuff... Thanks Chas!

how about this for stock?

McMaster-Carr

"This economical grade of Buna-N offers good resistance to oils and solvents but is not as weather resistant as other rubbers. Also known as nitrile, acrylonitrile butadiene, and NBR."

Edited June 18, 201311 yr by zKars

I guess the next question, Jim, is "Can Buna-N be milled down to size from a bar?" Chas, do you have any idea?

That stuff from McMaster would be about as hard as a shoe heel and difficult to machine, but you guys are missing the most important tricky part... It's solid and it won't float.

The tricky part to the Nitrophyl is that it's a FOAMED Buna-N, not solid.

According to Rogers, you can machine and glue Nitrophyl sections together to make a float, but it's not as simple as taking a solid hunk of typical Buna-n (like what McMaster offers) and trying to hog out a float.

The road to success is full of detours. Some of the detours are paved in 75 durometer Buna-n.. Details details...

Something semi critical to the process is the way those floats are cast they end up with a hard shell around the outside with foam inside.

Melts in you mouth, not in your hands?