How to (really) seal up a 13B housing

Ok, let's say you wanted to seal the intake, exhaust, and spark plug holes in a 13B rotor housing, how would you do it? Basically, I'm going to make a desk-top aquarium out of one (or two) housings and I want to fill those holes, but still have it look decent. I was thinking of running the bubbler line though one of the holes.
Just throwing that out there to the smart folks on this board.

Carefully cut piece of metal as block off plates for the intake and exhaust set them in jb weld and bolt I place.

For the spark plugs I would put spark plugs back in. Ya I know not real original but it us what I would do.

dean1484 wrote: Carefully cut piece of metal as block off plates for the intake and exhaust set them in jb weld and bolt I place. For the spark plugs I would put spark plugs back in. Ya I know not real original but it us what I would do.

I was wondering how I could put an LED in a spark plug in place of the electrode. That'd be a cool way to light the aquarium.

Plexiglass? With some type of cement?

Just make sure whatever glue/sealant you use won't kill the fish.

My Katana has the same threads on its oil drain plug as normal spark plugs. That would be an easy button for that hole.

For the others, if you took the gasket and used it as a template you could probably cut out pieces of plexi to cover the holes. I would seal the plexi to the housing and then bolt manifolds and such back on, with LEDs or bulbs inside them shining through the plexi.

Forget fish-you need some sort of rodent and an Epitrochoidal Hamster wheel!

Appleseed wrote: Just make sure whatever glue/sealant you use won't kill the fish.

Yeah, I thought about this. I have no idea what to use. I wonder if there is a food-grade epoxy I could fill the intake and exhaust ports with.

Appleseed wrote: Just make sure whatever glue/sealant you use won't kill the fish.

And seal the chrome, since that will kill the fish too.

There is food grade epoxy. We use it in woodworking. Go to your local woodcraft. They'll have it.

Knurled wrote:

Appleseed wrote: Just make sure whatever glue/sealant you use won't kill the fish.

And seal the chrome, since that will kill the fish too.

Really? Lemme ask anfew questions then.
1. Is the inside of the housing chromed?
2. If there are chemicals in the housing, do you think making them at 400* will release them?

DrBoost wrote:

Appleseed wrote: Just make sure whatever glue/sealant you use won't kill the fish.

Yeah, I thought about this. I have no idea what to use. I wonder if there is a food-grade epoxy I could fill the intake and exhaust ports with.

Check out how fish tanks are assembled- they use glue to hold the glass together.

Really, you are looking for a sealer- as it would be pretty cool to use bolts to force the housings together and hold whatever clear material you use for the outside.

As for the chrome- I'm not sure if there is a risk that it will leach into the water. But someone should be able to reverse plate it.

DrBoost wrote:

dean1484 wrote: Carefully cut piece of metal as block off plates for the intake and exhaust set them in jb weld and bolt I place. For the spark plugs I would put spark plugs back in. Ya I know not real original but it us what I would do.

I was wondering how I could put an LED in a spark plug in place of the electrode. That'd be a cool way to light the aquarium.

Good idea. I'm thinking the best way to do it would be to make a faux spark plug on a lathe, with a sandblasted (for light diffusion) glass dome JB-welded to the tip where the LED will sit.

You could just solder an LED onto the tip of a spark plug, but then you'd have to worry about the chemical safety of the solder, waterproofing the LED, and potential electrical safety problems.

DrBoost wrote:

Appleseed wrote: Just make sure whatever glue/sealant you use won't kill the fish.

Yeah, I thought about this. I have no idea what to use. I wonder if there is a food-grade epoxy I could fill the intake and exhaust ports with.

Use 100% silicone. Its what is used to assemble glass fish tanks. There are plenty of opinions on which is best out there. I don't remember which I used but it wasn't the really expensive stuff. My fish haven't died yet... its been 10+ years now.

How about using the ports as inlets and outlets for a plexi log-style "manifold" so the smaller fish have different options and hiding places for swimming around their tank?

I like the ideas folks.

DrBoost wrote:

Knurled wrote:

Appleseed wrote: Just make sure whatever glue/sealant you use won't kill the fish.

And seal the chrome, since that will kill the fish too.

Really? Lemme ask anfew questions then. 1. Is the inside of the housing chromed? 2. If there are chemicals in the housing, do you think making them at 400* will release them?

The internal surface that the apex seals ride on is chromed.

I make my comment, because you're not the first person to want to make a fishbowl out of a rotor housing, and those who came before you found that the fish and chrome don't mix.

Knurled wrote:

DrBoost wrote:

Knurled wrote:

Appleseed wrote: Just make sure whatever glue/sealant you use won't kill the fish.

And seal the chrome, since that will kill the fish too.

Really? Lemme ask anfew questions then. 1. Is the inside of the housing chromed? 2. If there are chemicals in the housing, do you think making them at 400* will release them?

The internal surface that the apex seals ride on is chromed. I make my comment, because you're not the first person to want to make a fishbowl out of a rotor housing, and those who came before you found that the fish and chrome don't mix.

Hmmm, either have to find a way to do it, or find something else to do with the housings I have.

I'm thinking you could strip the chrome off (with sandblasting or an acid bath maybe?) or seal it behind a chemically-safe epoxy.

Should just be able to seal the chrome pretty easy. Even with something like packaging tape.

Can you put the spark plug into the glass from a regular decorative light bulb? Seems to me that running a coil and points on that bad boy would be a sweet way to light the tank.

Why bother sealing up all of the holes in a housing and having to worry about any sort of contamination getting into the water from less than perfect cleaning.

Heat and bend one sheet of Plexiglas to fit the contour of inside of the housing. Use more Plexiglas and aquarium sealer to form the other two walls. Then, the rotor housing is just a container for a self contained aquarium. Leaving a fitted lid that is held in place by the housing would also enable easy cleaning when the aquarium was removed.

What about anadizing? The plexi liner is a good idea, just not sure how to do it well.

DrBoost wrote: What about anadizing? The plexi liner is a good idea, just not sure how to do it well.

The inner surface is a chrome plated sheetmetal insert.

I really like the idea of just making a Plexiglass "plug" to fit inside. It would make maintenance a lot easier too, I'd think. (Disclaimer: All I know about fish is that the chrome surface in a rotor housing kills them, and the Chinese place up the street makes a killer ginger tilapia dish)

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general/bending-plexiglass-how-229604/

Making a plexiglass form don't sound like rocket surgery. ...

MrJoshua wrote: Forget fish-you need some sort of rodent and an Epitrochoidal Hamster wheel!

I just googled Epitrochoidal hamster wheel. I had high hopes but was very disappointed.