I was interested in building an oil catch can for my XS bobber as I wanted to see just how much oil was being vented out the crankcase breather. This might also be of interest for those of you who don't want to vent your crankcase onto the ground or into your filter pods or stock airbox. Like most on here, it is hard for us to throw away old parts and for me, that includes old plumbing hardware. I got to rummaging through my stash looking for a way to build a cheap catch can that doesn't look like crap, and ran across an old boiler vent that my furnace guy was going to throw away after he replaced the one on my boiler. Here is a pic of the new one on my furnace. Furnace/plumbing guys tend to just throw these things away. They are solid brass and you could probably pick used ones up at no cost if you have a furnace/plumbing guy that does work for you:
I commenced to tearing the old one apart and unscrewed the top and removed the inner float:
I chucked the body of the vent in my lathe and carefully removed the casting/top layer until the brass was smooth. I then simply sanded and polished like we do our aluminum bits. I jb welded a hose barb onto the top (soldering probably would have been good here too), and inserted a short piece of fuel line into the barb:
I also drilled vent holes in the top:
and then cut and installed a filter (from spare air filter stock I had on hand):
Here is the finished catch-can. I'll probably pick up a 1/4 NPT cap for the bottom for an easy drain, but in the meantime a simple clamp and rubber cap will work:
I think this will look nice and compliment the bobber paint scheme. I will probably mount it on the right side just under the pod filter:
I commenced to tearing the old one apart and unscrewed the top and removed the inner float:
I chucked the body of the vent in my lathe and carefully removed the casting/top layer until the brass was smooth. I then simply sanded and polished like we do our aluminum bits. I jb welded a hose barb onto the top (soldering probably would have been good here too), and inserted a short piece of fuel line into the barb:
I also drilled vent holes in the top:
and then cut and installed a filter (from spare air filter stock I had on hand):
Here is the finished catch-can. I'll probably pick up a 1/4 NPT cap for the bottom for an easy drain, but in the meantime a simple clamp and rubber cap will work:
I think this will look nice and compliment the bobber paint scheme. I will probably mount it on the right side just under the pod filter: