Cut hole, fill, mold to shape in ABS motorcycle fairing

Anything goes in the world of fiberglass and plastic

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 8:16 am
As I said, I pulled off what I considered a "double batch" on Saturday. Which consisted of the right-side saddlebag, saddlebag lid, hinge, handle, side panel, fairing, headlight bezel and rear fender. Here's a shot of all the right-side stuff with the white applied. I didn't take a shot of the fairing, fender and headlight bezel setup.
first white.JPG


This is a shot of the next morning, when I was setting up all of those same parts, but from the left side of the bike.
second setup.JPG


My thought process was to knock all of these parts out together since they all touch, mount together, or mount directly side-by-side on each side of the bike....to maybe help keep things closer in color since we're doing the pearl.

Here's a close up of some of the parts after they dried.
parts-drumroom.JPG


The headlight bezel...I managed to get two major runs in the first coat of pearl. I was jacking around with the gun and trying to adjust something. Lost my mind in the process and shot the heck out of the bezel. Ignorant mistake. So...I had to set it aside. After it dried, I ended up sanding out the runs and reshooting the white on it with the next day's batch of parts. That freaking piece has been done 4 times now. It's my nemesis.

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 8:23 am
A horribly fuzzy shot of the fairing and bezel after the white had been shot....waiting for white to be shot on the second batch and then pearl. This was before I murdered the bezel with pearl drips.
fairing-bezel.JPG

Here's a somewhat embarrassing shot of the fairing. We can see what I call dry spray in the reflection there. By this point, my compressor was pumping so much water that my ball-filter on the gun was pretty choked back I think. I made a lot of adjustments trying to get it right...but was having a hard time. It was just getting brutal at this point. The compressor was tripping the breaker when it came back on...3 times in the middle of clear it did this.
fairing dry spray.JPG

Anyway...I put plenty of clear on this fairing. Most portions of this fairing look good. Some need attention. I don't have any doubt that he can cut it smooth if he has the nuts to do it.

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 8:52 am
I know. I post a ton of pics. Sorry. But this one should be your favorite of all time.

My buddy gave me this 33 Gal Craftsman air compressor to do this project when I figured out that my little pancake compressor wasn't up to the task. This one is BARELY up to the task.

Late Saturday, nearing the end of pearl and clear on the second batch of parts, my gun was acting very restricted and it was spitting water out of the connections where the little ball filter is. And I thought...maybe I need to check to see if the tank has a lot of water in it.

Haha...ok...I can't even act like I didn't know I should drain the tank. Because I know I should. I also know that my buddy hadn't drained it "in a while" when he dropped it off. Because I asked. But this video is pretty sad, huh? This thing was draining for a good 60 seconds before I even thought to grab my phone and take video.



I know. You don't have to say it.

Thank you for helping me out anyway. I realize how frustrating it must be to know you're giving sage advice to people who just won't do the right thing.
:knockout:

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 11:40 am
And that's why I call small compressors "rainmakers." Lucky that you are doing smaller parts like this... could you imagine doing a whole car in a single night shoot????

Nahhh... you car guys are no problem at all compared with the wood finishers. I taught professional level finishing classes for about 14 years for a couple of large wood restoration tool suppliers. Those guys NEVER had enough gun/compressor combo for what they were working on or they were trying to use big whole house airless systems to finish with.... and then their were turbine systems learning curves.... and on and on. I think you're getting things figured out pretty fast...as always...experience is one of the best instructors.
Metal, wood, fiberglass, we work it all... www.furniturephysicians.com We can restore the irreplaceable!

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 11:53 am
Yeah..there's NO WAY I could shoot a car with this compressor. Just doing a bike fender and the faring at the same time really pushes the envelope of how many square inches I can get covered before pressure starts to get wonky. And honestly, I think most of my problem is the water backing up my in-line filter. I'll have to work out a real solution - which I know has been covered here extensively - before I do my own bike.

We've already decided that we are going to do a full-on custom bike after mine. I only have one demand for that bike. I'm happy to do all the body work and primer work....but we've got to send it to a real painter after that.

I know when I'm whooped.

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PostPosted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 6:47 am
Last night, I went over to the bike owner's place and we shared a beer and a little bit of wet-sanding and buffing. The left side of the bike is back together....minus the lower leg fairings, which I'll be painting this weekend.

SIDE REAR.JPG

SIDE FRONT.JPG

TAIL LIGHTS.JPG

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PostPosted: Wed Sep 02, 2015 6:23 am
There it is. Lower fairings won't be done till later this week, but they won't even go on the bike till cooler weather. So, for all intents and purposes, this puppy is done....minus a few spots he still needs to detail with 2,000 grit and a buffer.

RIGHT.JPG
LEFT.JPG
REAR.JPG


This was a crazy learning project for me. A giant, months-long mess of "what the heck am I doing" followed by a whirlwind of get-er-done in the last week.

DarrelK - thanks for your very valuable input. And Chris...I'm glad I found this forum. Some fantastic reading and advice here.

The next one that I actually paint will by my own. Then, I retire.

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PostPosted: Wed Sep 02, 2015 8:58 am
I just realized I never showed you what the bike looked like before we started working.

before side.jpg
before-rear.jpg

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PostPosted: Wed Sep 02, 2015 10:38 pm
Wow, what a transformation. I bet that thing looks awesome in full sun with the pearl flashing at angles. Well, I definitely think you "bagged" enough experience (sorry, couldn't resist that ) on his bike to start doing yours. I'm glad you got some things figured out with our advice here. In my opinion, the biggest thing you guys are up against on projects like this is the questionable quality of the parts you've got to work with. You can't just "bolt on" any part these days without major massaging.
Metal, wood, fiberglass, we work it all... www.furniturephysicians.com We can restore the irreplaceable!

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PostPosted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 6:00 am
A look at the clear coat drying on the final pieces of this bike.

So much learned EVERY time I spray. I'm learning that it takes the nuts to spray just inside that window of too dry and too wet...at least with this Tamco 2021. It takes a pretty heavy coat to get it to flow.

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