Done

[ajbjoust]

OK guys I have had her done for a little over a month but just now getting to post pics.

[ajbjoust]

So I was bad about taking pics of before and after but I did a ton of work. The curves on the main fairings were wore down flat and you could actually hold them up and see day light thru them. I plastic welded them back into a rough rounded form then smoothed and finished off the forming with bondo for plastic. Hardest part of using bondo I found was keeping from "whipping air in it. The tail section had 3 drilled holes in each side where I guess someone mounted saddle bags. I put aluminum tape on the outside of the and filled from the inside with the plastic welder. Once It was filled I removed the tape and sanded the outside smooth. Some tips I have learned from this. 1- buy a DA Sander before starting. I started with 120 grit paper working my way up to 400 grit paper. With all the curves I was not happy how the finished plastic was with the DA so I still hand finished with 600. Could have just been my inexperience with a DA sander and not properly using it LOL. 2- The base coat goes on easy and smooth but the clearcoat is a lot harder. 3- don't be afraid to wet sand if and be aggressive, just cautious with the edges. 3 coats of clear is f-ing THICK!!! 4- after wet sanding buy a aggressive compound. I was originally scared to be aggressive compounding thinking I was going to burn thru the clear, so I went the least aggressive possible. With a non aggressive compound I was getting decent results but it was taking forever and in areas that have curves there is a high change your gonna burn thru due to applying to much pressure and moving too slow. After wet sanding you want a compound that feels like wet sand. I used the 3M compounding system which has 4 different bottles working to a micro polish. That stuff is awesome. All in all I learned that paint is EASY, just buy good stuff and take your time.

[loneraider]

You did a great job ,I did the same thing filling holes as I taped along one side fibre glassed and bondo'd . I had holes in my lower fairings you could put your hands through lol. Your right about the basecoat and clear! The base paint went well but the clear was a mess , I put on too little or way too much and had runs. Than I wet sanded with 400 800 1000 2000 all was good until I started with the compound and burned through Some of the edges. I learned a lot about foam pads after that. Some parts of the bike turned out pretty good for a novice but the other parts I'm thinking about a re spray over the winter. Thanks for posting your pics.

[ajbjoust]

For compound use a wool pad. I had better results with it. Then foam for polish. Also try the 3 inch polisher from harbour freight. Great control so you and get close to edges but not right on them. http://t.harborfreight.com/3-inch-pn...kit-99934.html

[rschlegel]

Wow! You did a great job by the looks of it. Now that its looking good, it was a good idea to hang it from the ceiling to keep it from disappearing LOL! (pic 3)