Cracked fairing repair and repaint

When I bought my 5th gen. it had some broken plastics. I was ok with that, as I had done a bunch of reading about plastic repair and the price was right.

I purchased an HF plastic repair kit. I like the electric iron type as it allows for close and precise work. I was able to repair my broken fairing quickly and easily. I didn't document the process well, but it is easy to learn. You melt in some SS screen to the back side of the joint (so it won't spread) and layer on some ABS rod to set the piece. What I do different that some folks is that I use the V head of the iron to melt a channel into the front of the crack and get all the way down to the metal screen. Now I can lay a full penetration bead of rod into the crack and build it up beyond flush. When you sand that back down, its good to go for primer. No filling needed.

Now then, the real trick is to try and match a factory color that PPG doesn't even know exists (Y124P) and which has been fading in the sun for 12 years. I was able to find a PPG shop in Vallejo, Ca., that actually color scanned the fairing I brought in. Their computer said this was their closest match.



Here is what it looks like when I used it to blend into the existing paint.




The section I painted is outlined in red. I actually took off the fairing so a hard line of new color starts right at the upper edge, where you see the big chunk missing from the nose piece. I haven't polished the clear yet. When you see it up close and in person, you notice the color difference compared to the nose piece, but it is blended pretty well down toward the VFR decal. I told my uncle I had just painted the fairing and it took him a bit to notice where I had painted. So the good part is that the paint is a close enough match that it blends ok for repairs. The bad part is that the paint costs $55 per can and I have already gone through half a can just for that little section. I have a couple of cracks to fix in the tail/side section. I think I might buy some chrome yellow Duplicolor and try that as my base color. Then I'll just have to lay two or three thin layers of the PPG chrome yellow. I wish Duplicolor made a pearl clear in a spray can.

Jose

 

No shit, Reg! I looked up the Colorite recipe for paint. It is supposed be an exact match to the Honda Y124P, but it is a three part paint and each part runs you $33 a can. So it was a choice of either $50 from my local PPG guys, or $100 for the Colorite paint. :decision:

Looking to do your whole bike with Colorite paint? How about $198 per part? Yeah, that's $600 in paint alone.:faint: Never mind a high quality primer and the labor. With the cost of a painted fairing at under $500, that is just crazy talk. Even if the paint is less than perfect with the Chinese made fairings, you can hit any imperfections with 2000 grit, throw some fresh clear on and polish before mounting.

Jose

 

You can get decent results by cutting a small "V" along the joint and using about a 40 watt soldering iron with a broad tip to melt and fuse the ABS, keeping the tip moving slowly and melting the material together. Use masses of ventilation, cuz this stuff stinks seriously !

 

Have an airbrush or sprayer gun? You can make your own pearl clear coat for barely more than the cost of the paint in the spray can.

Choose your favorite (and compatible) clearcoat, and decant it into a suitable airbrush/glass container. You can buy pearl powder from this place for $15-$20 for 25 grams of powder:
Pearl Powders

Mix the powder with the de-canted clearcoat, and airbrush on. Very easy to get a consistent pearl layer this way, and once you've laid out the pearl, follow up with 3-6 coats of the same clearcoat. I still have easily 2/3 of my 25g bag from my RC30 paint scheme project.

 

Hot diggitty do, VT!!!!! That is GREAT to know. Duplicolor does sell a ready to use clear that is very nice quality. I used their spray bomb version on my fairing and it was very nice. It sprayed on with no spatter and flows out well with almost no orange peel. I hit the fairing with some 1500 and polishing compound today and the finish turned out VERY nice.

Jose

 

Just be aware that the standard spray can clear coats are only a single part clear, and as such, they have little to no resistance to fuel or other solvents!! I know this because I found out the hard way!! :frusty:

The best option I have found so far for clear in a spray can is SprayMax 2K Clear ( More info -> 2K clear coat: Spraymax ). It has a separate canister of hardener inside that when punctured will mix inside the can. Once the hardener has been mixed, you only have about 24 hours to use the can before it sets up and is toast. You'll get the same type of protection that you would expect from a 2 part clear with an airbrush. I repainted my whole bike ( twice because of the single part facking clear!! :chaingun: ) and used this clear with great success. A few days after everything was completed, I managed to spill a little gas out on the top of the tank and didn't catch it for a few minutes, then wiped it up... can't even tell it happened. Seriously fantastic products!

Oh, and the SprayMax clear is actually clear... the first time I tried clearing my bike with the shitty single part clear cans, it turned all the white areas an almost amber / caramel color. Amazon has the big cans for $25 each, but you can get it cheaper ( about $18 each ) through these guys: SprayMax 2K Urethane Aerosol Clear Coat.

 

That looks like a great product for small touch ups or a gas tank project, fish.

The problem with a 2k clear is the isocyanates. That crap even absorbs through the skin. Unles you really know what you are doing, I don't think you should piss around with large projects that use 2k coatings. I don't intend to repaint my tank, so lack of fuel resistance is not critical in the products I choose for now, but it's certainly something to remember. I just want to be able to do the repairs on my plastics and afford the paint repair. If it started getting expensive, I would go with my original idea of just buying a fairing kit from China and re-finish the clear. You could hand scuff with 2000 and then have a Maaco or Miracle use a 2k clear on it. Figure another hundred or two at most and you would have a THICK clear coat that is fuel resistant. OOOH!!!! I bet you could buy the pearl powder, ask to mix with their 2k clear and have THEM cover it for you. No gear to buy, or toxins to worry about for you. Hmmmmmmm.......

Don't think I haven't seriously considered the option of repairing all the cracks in my plastics, fixing paint chips with some high build primer (or glazing) and having a Maaco or Miracle auto body use their top grade paint/clear to cover the pieces I prepped. Maybe that could happen down the road, If I decided to be a real glutton for punishment.

Decisions, decisions.

Jose

 

You have got it right Dahose, 2k is bad news from a health point of view. I believe the problem is with the hardener, apparently even the run of the mill spray masks are'nt good enough to use when spraying with it. Great job on the repair BTW. One question regarding the colour matching though, over here we just take a piece off the bike/car into the paint suppliers and they mix the paint up for you, is it not the same your side?

 

My understanding is also that it's the hardener. I read that you can add hardener to your own clear and it can help make it fuel resistant, but then you have the whole toxicity thing come up. I also read that the isocyanates actually load up masks and make them fail really quick, so you are supposed to have a fresh air setup for any kind of production work. Apparently even if you just use it once, the isocyanates stay in the filter cartridge and ruin it.

Our paint scan process is pretty much the same as what you guys do over there, Bryan. The PPG shop I went to has this little scanner unit that they press up against your sample. What is interesting is that it plugs into their computer, searches their database and returns a known mixture if it exists. I suppose if it couldn't find a match, they would hand mix something up.

Jose

Jose

 

Yep..Keep on using conventional sprayrigs instead of HVLP, filter type masks instead of fresh air hoods, and anything but laminar flow booths and in just a few paintjobs, you too can be drooling in your Top Ramen and dreaming dreams of owning a Harley.

All that spotwork and blending is gonna show. Best to paint the whole bike IMO.

Try a full line NAPA store for Martin-Senour auto paints made by Sherwin-Williams.

 

What size of soldering tip do you guys recommend? I assume a V chisel tip?

 

Before using a soldering iron @ +/- 600F to weld ABS plastic, the paint near the area has to be removed. Both the paint, primer and substrate outgas once again establishing a potential for ruining a perfectly good bowl of Top Ramen.

For sticking two of those fairing parts together to hols the slick little SOBs in place try a smidgen (sorry there is no metric equivalent for this amount) of superglue and a half a smidgen of bicarbonate of soda. If you are not used to working fast or are waiting for your Top Ramen to cook it will be too late.

A little trick to painting bikes especially if the wnole bike is to be repainted is to use lacquer. Acrylic and nitrocellulose lacquers can be topcoated with two-part clear. Two part autopaint without clear is not as fragile as has been talked about. One might ever think from the BS tossed about that it's an undercoat.

Any leftover two part clear can be poured into Top Ramen. It's inedible but it will last forever.

 

Nice, Billy. :thumb::rofl:

The spot work is just until I can get all the bodywork set. I will look into a sand and re-spray once everything is in one piece and evenly coated.

Another good option for holding the pieces together is ABS glue from the hardware store. It's about $5 for a little bottle and will last quite a long time. You can even dissolve abs rod (cut up a piece of $2 ABS pipe to make your own rods) in it and make a filler paste. I used an old school, hand cranked pencil sharpener to make shavings out of some of the pipe strips.

I love my Top Ramen.

Jose

 

Will you be going for Honda Red when you repaint the whole bike? Great color.. Hope your uncle likes it..

By the time that ABS pipe cement or the DIY slurry sets up, one could go through whole cases of Top Ramen. Not having a pencil sharpener in my tools I used a Surform. You can give the DIY stuff a little boost with methylene chloride, acetone ect ., when all is dissolved. All that stuff is best kept downwind..

The superglue gel and added smidgen of plain old baking soda as a catalyst is right now, especially good for those of us who need instant gratification.

All this fixing is good on the more "modern" bikes. The chem on ABS has sort of been standardized and made (sort of) universal. Back in the day, whatever than means, the ABS was coded and the "rod" had to match or no dice. Lots of "magic" fixes out there for various ABS parts. Most just suck. Even tried some stuff that in used in NASCAR to plug fuel tank and bladder leaks. Two component and has to be kept at near zero F. Too brittle..

I have found that NAPA has some stuff that works great. One of those double syringes in a blister pack for about 7-8 bucks. Damned if I can remember what it's called. Sort of a BS brown, stinks and sets up in minutes.. My tools are elsewhere today.. but I have my Top Ramen so not to worry.

 

I bought a jacket that matches the bike now, so I'm committed to the piss yellow!!! Plus, the yellow and black are Steeler colors. :gosteelers:
Although my uncle would like the red. I bought my old V45 Sabre off of him and it was that deep, rich metallic burgundy Honda used to use in the 80's.

When I worked in the chem. dept. at UCLA, my supervisor (old school engineer) used the super glue and baking soda trick. You are in good company on that, Billy.

It's interesting that not only is all the ABS pretty much the same now, polyethelyne rod is actually the "universal" repair filler for any kind of plastics. It doesn't weld (mix of substrate and filler), so much as it brazes the pieces. Brazing plastic .... kind of funny. I'll stick with the ABS rod and do a real weld on my bodywork pieces.

Jose

 

Any fashion suggetions that you might pass along? I have to make do with an old red Aerostitch that was both my high school and bike colors. The highschool colors are still the same but I painted my bike and now I don't match.. All those Hondas were too small for me until the issue of the 750 four and the 550 four. Ended up with a BMW then popped for the 91 mach 1 brand new.

All sorts of uses for the various types of superglue. Fingernail repair kits, CSI fingerprint kits ect. Used to get the stuff by the litre for attaching LN2 and dense He cryopanels.

Sounds like a plan on that rod. Best bet is not to fall off so much IMO.