Fiberglass Fairing Repair

[RHill]

If you are going to "fix" your fiberglass fairings, do it right the first time....spend $20 on a fiberglass repair kit and read the instructions.  Don't slap 2lbs of bondo over the crack and expect it to hold.  Then when that fails, don't slather a 1/4" layer of silicone caulking all over the inside of the fairing.  And finally when that doesn't hold, don't get out pieces of aluminum and pop rivets as a last resort.  All that shit does is make more work to repair it correctly.

 

/rant

If you are actually interested in fiberglass repair and the rant didn't fulfill your needs, here's what I've posted previously:

After too long of a winter break, it finally warmed up enough to start working on the bike.  

 

First, did some fiberglassing using this kit from 3m....seems to have worked well; at least better than 2 part epoxy thinned with denatured alcohol that I've used in the past.  Comes with the resin, hardener and fiberglass mat. Need to sand more before finishing up the glass tomorrow....then on to filler, more sanding and paint.

 

On 3/17/2015 at 10:04 PM, RHill said:

Quick rundown of what I did:

Sand down to the underlying glass if there is overspray/paint, blow off, wipe down with alcohol, tape off from the back(outside)if there are cracks or holes, cut the glass to fit the areas to be applied, mix the resin, apply a coat of resin to the areas to be glassed, stick on the glass and use brush pressure/pricking with light topcoats to saturate the glass...repeat.  I applied 2-4 layers depending on the damage and stress the area will see in normal use.

 

On 3/27/2015 at 10:02 PM, RHill said:

Yesterday I snapped a few pics to do a little fiberglass how-to....

 

 

The damaged area....as I was scuffing the bodywork for paint, realized the area was soft.  I'm guessing when the bike laid over, the fiberglass was pressed up against the exhaust....burning off the adhesive and softening the bodywork.  Cut the area out and sanded the surrounding area down to the glass.

 

 

Cleaned the area up with denatured alcohol inside and out....then put a piece of packing tape on the exterior...

 

Cut 4 pieces of fiberglass mat, overhanging rought 3/4" on all sides....cut the pieces first, the more work you get done before mixing the resin, the more time you have to lay the mat and resin.

 

Mixing the resin...didn't need much

 

 

Paint a layer of resin extending a little bigger than the area to be glassed

 

Press the glass down onto the layer of resin....you don't have to coat with excessive amount of resin....it is more about compressing the glass into the resin already laid down.  I use a combination of pressing and plucking with the tip of the brush.  As the glass becomes saturated it will darken.

 

Repeat...

 

 

 

 

After a little time to dry, pull the tape, rough up the area, apply putty or fiberglass, then sand and paint:

[JackFlash]

All that sort of makes me glad I have ABS plastic fairings
which I am currently in the process of repairing and painting.
.

Sent from my VK700 using Tapatalk

[TheBrown57]

Will be doing this for my fairings once I get the bike in running order. I have some UV activated resin and mat left over from a previous project.