Old 09-06-22, 03:24 PM
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unworthy1
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DIY chain stay protectors ALU foil tape, a step-by-step

Some folks expressed interest when I mentioned that I stooped to making my own "homebrew" substitute chain stay protecteors, to fill the void left since nobody sells the Classic/Vintage thick stainless steel PSA jobs we recall from BITD.
I have a step-by-step with this thread so you can make your own from adhesive aluminum foil tape (know as HVAC tape in the trade) just as I do.
These are so simple a child can do it, as long as such a child can handle an Xacto style knife and scissors.
The tape produces a reasonable facsimile to the original SS items, and you have the advantage of making them larger or smaller to best fit YOUR chainstays...BUT the material is not as shiny or as durable!
For more durability I have double-layered these but even then it's a much softer and thinner metal, no way around that fact.

Let's start: I have a few rolls of HVAC tape, I find it varies slightly in thickness so if you have a choice go for some that's 4-mil rather than 3.4 to 3.6-mil.
I see that there's a "Reinforced HVAC" tape with fiberglass strands embedded, I have not used any but it MIGHT be a more durable material.
The stuff I have is (nominally) 2" wide with a peel-off carrier backing paper and strong Pressure Sensitive Adhesive (PSA) under that backing.


for this demo I used a Stay Tuff plastic item for my template, below is a roll of the 2" 4-mil HVAC tape

taped to a cutting board, Stay Tuff aligned with one edge, you can get 2 out of one 2" wide piece, so why not?

one traced with a Sharpie, the ink wipes off later with any alcohol

second traced.

both cut with ruler/straight edge and Xacto knife, but rounded ends not yet cut...

...cause I cut the curves with scissors, easier to control

Here's the chain stay on a Univega for this demo, it's cleaned with alcohol but paint is chipped so final result will not be ideally smooth

backing paper peeled off and lined up on the stay, only the center of the tape is stuck down at first. I smooth that strip with any smooth plastic tool at hand, ideal tool is a "bone folder" but for this I used a paint brush handle

then work the rest of the tape down I do the top edge from center outward, then the bottom edge, to minimize getting wrinkles; smooth and "burnish" with the tool

final results: it's not as smooth as stainless since any irregularity under the tape will show, but...da ya go!

Last edited by unworthy1; 09-06-22 at 07:25 PM.
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