Good afternoon guys!
Figured I'd photo document this for two reasons - old time guys can critique my work, and maybe my experience will help other new guys.
I bought a chin fairing and headlight fairing a few weeks ago (thanks Patrick). They needed a little work and some painting before they were ready to go on the bike.
Here's the chin fairing:
(http://i487.photobucket.com/albums/rr234/jdw03n/1.jpg)
Here's the headlight fairing:
(http://i487.photobucket.com/albums/rr234/jdw03n/2.jpg)
Here's an up close picture of the crack in the headlight fairing:
(http://i487.photobucket.com/albums/rr234/jdw03n/IMG00179-20090516-1225.jpg)
The first thing I did is ran the bathtub full of hot water and degreaser and bathed the parts. Then I sanded them down with 60 grit sandpaper. I cleaned up the area around the HLF crack well.
Then I set about fixing the crack. I bought this at the Autozone for 15 bucks:
(http://i487.photobucket.com/albums/rr234/jdw03n/IMG00173-20090516-1017.jpg)
I cut the fiberglass so it was about an inch on either side of the crack and followed the instructions to prep the resin:
(http://i487.photobucket.com/albums/rr234/jdw03n/IMG00174-20090516-1023.jpg)
Put two layers on the inside of the fairing:
(http://i487.photobucket.com/albums/rr234/jdw03n/9.jpg)
(http://i487.photobucket.com/albums/rr234/jdw03n/IMG00178-20090516-1225.jpg)
After 45 minutes, I sanded it down with 60 grit sandpaper. I then used a small amount of Bondo to fill the outside of the crack:
(http://i487.photobucket.com/albums/rr234/jdw03n/IMG00184-20090516-1236-1.jpg)
And while that was going on, I sanded and painted the tail plastics and the chin fairing:
(http://i487.photobucket.com/albums/rr234/jdw03n/4.jpg)
(http://i487.photobucket.com/albums/rr234/jdw03n/7.jpg)
That is as far as I've gotten so far. I'm going to sand down the headlight fairing now that the Bondo's cured, and prime and paint it next. I'll post another photo soon when I get it painted. Tomorrow, the mounting fun will begin.
Edited: Pic size fixed
Looks like its going to turn out great! Your bike is going to look awesome. Congratulations and good work :cheers:
Maybe next time bigger pictures?
Headlight fairing mounted...gotta get another bolt to get it fully mounted. You can see the newly painted tail section also. As you can see, it doesn't quite pass the 5' test, more like the 20' test. Things I learned repairing this part: 1) Do your fiberglass repair outside, unless you like getting stoned to fumes. 2) Get a sander, don't try to do it by hand.
(http://i487.photobucket.com/albums/rr234/jdw03n/a-1.jpg)
This one's looking right at the place where the crack was:
(http://i487.photobucket.com/albums/rr234/jdw03n/11.jpg)
Those parts look like they could use a couple coats of clear and a good wet sand with 1500 or 2000 grit.
Well you never did post the finished project? Did you put the chin fairing on? If you are missing mounts or what ever let me know. I have an easy way to make your own.
I've got another thread here where I asked about the brackets, then ended up fashioning some that worked pretty well...I'll have to find where I put that thread...