Adventures in painting fiberglass

[Straymonolith]

So I got this purple monstrosity off ebay:



There were lots of chips and cracks and as you can see in the 2nd pic, there a sizable chunk broken off. Also, the whole thing was purple.
So I decided to repair and repaint it.
Sanding off the factory paint is surprisingly difficult. I killed a few evening for about a week, sanding furiously with different grit sandpaper. Then I got some paint stripper, which helped slightly.



The fun part, was messing with the fiberglass. As you can see in the pics bellow, I reconsturcted the corner with stiff paper and covered the paper with fiberglass fabric. Over the fabric went several layers of resin. It's a messy, sticky, toxic ordeal. When the resin starts dripping and you get frayed strands of fabric stuck everywhere and youi're getting dizzy from the fumes, you just want to punch someone's mom in the face.



But it actually came out rather well. It may look rough in the photos, but after sanding it down, it gets pretty smooth and it's hard to tell the original fiberglass from the new stuff. It's surprisingly strong, too. After primer, paint and clearcoat, it should look pretty sweet.

Now the only thing I need to figure out is how to mount this fairing. Does anyone have close-up pictures of this thing mounted?

After messing with fiberglass, I'm interested in making more stuff with it. Maybe a rear seat eliminator? Maybe my GS needs a sharp looking spoiler?

[hmmmnz]

looks good always fun mucking around with fibre glass.

[werase643]

http://houseofmotorcycles.bikebandit.com/partsbandit/oem_schematic_view~schem_dept_id~721865~section_dept_id~1~section_dept_name~OEM+%28Stock%29+Parts~dept_type_id~2~model_dept_year~1989~model_dept_mfr~Suzuki~model_dept_id~703240~model_dept_name~GS500EK.asp

looky here...there is a pic...drawing

[Chuck]

Sanding off the factory paint is surprisingly difficult. I killed a few evening for about a week, sanding furiously with different grit sandpaper.

Why would you do that?

[Straymonolith]

Why would I sand off the paint? Because fiberglass won't stick to paint.

[Straymonolith]

werase643
I've seen the diagrams, but I'd like to actualy see how it's mounted, relative to the front wheel and the engine.

[werase643]

if you ain't using the orig hardware.... mount it any way you want

[Chuck]

Why would I sand off the paint? Because fiberglass won't stick to paint.

I mean it looks like you sanded the whole piece.  I thought you'd just sand the areas around the repairs, and save a few days of sanding.

[Chris2P]

I would make the mounting hardware out of copper or aluminum because it's so easy to bend.  I'd bend it around the frame and use a screw, washer, nut to secure it.  After all the mounts are made, you can dip them in plastic coat to give a nice finish so it wont look "do-it-yourselfish".


Chris

[Straymonolith]

Chuck,
I'm repainting the whole fairing anyway.

Chris
I was thinking it might actualy be easier to make the right shape from cardboard and mold it with fiber glass.