Tech Advice for paint, GRP & Carbon Fibre

[raptorman]

I have been asked by Shooey to start a thread here to help & advise the forum members on the Subject description.  Over the next few weeks I will be posting pic's & tips for you guys.  If you have any questions or need any advice, please give me a shout

Maybe Shooey or one of the Mods will make this thread sticky.

[shooey]

Done thanks matey 

[raptorman]

Done thanks matey 

Thanks Shooey & I hope that I can assist the members on this forum.

I will start with a short intro into my background & experience.

I got involved with spraying at the age of 14, working in my uncles garage in Nottingham & I got the bug for spraying, I have never looked back since. 12 years in the RAF, 9 years as a painter working on all types of aircraft.  In 1987 I picked up an airbrush & within 2 years I got to paint a guitar for Phil Campbell from "Motorhead"....... That was such a buzz and pushed me to learn more.  I then started painting motorcycles and as I was riding them, I knew how expensive it was to keep them on the road.  I knew there was more to bikes than just painting them, I needed to learn how to make them look good & maintain them at a minimum cost.  FFS.... I was on a crappy RAF wage.  That is all history now.

There are very simple & easy steps concerning the following...........  Body-work, paint-work, GRP, Carbon Fibre, Plastic welding etc. etc.  But, I will say "This type of work is not as difficult as it may first seem and don't be afraid to 'Have a Go'  If you have a plastic panel that is cracked, get your soldering iron out and weld it.  If you are unsure of the plastic type or how to weld it.  Stick up a post in this thread.

[raptorman]

I will start with plastic welding.  This head fairing is from a Kwak ZX9r and written off.  The plastics is ABS and is common on many bikes.  You can use old pieces of plastic as welding rods but make sure they are the same plastic.  A little trick to reinforce the weld is to use copper wire.  I use the grey three core 1.5mm cable & strip the wire clean.

Pic of the wire I use.



This is the wire stripped & zig zagged.  Push the wire into the plastic, using a hot soldering iron, along the break ensuring the wire is on either side of the repair.



Clean up the weld & fill where needed.  This Kwak head fairing was totaled & was in 2 halves but with a little time & patience it is now complete.

[scooby]

is the pic with the wire the finished weld or do you cover it over?

also what do you use to make the weld,a another bit of plastic or just melt the 2 halves into each other?


 

[raptorman]

is the pic with the wire the finished weld or do you cover it over?

also what do you use to make the weld,a another bit of plastic or just melt the 2 halves into each other?


 

The pic is not finished, just to demonstrate how I use the wire. The trick is to start at one, heat up the wire and force it into the plastic until it is almost buried, remove the soldering iron & put pressure on with a cold pair of pliers or hammer.  A few seconds & the plastic is cool, so move on down the wire pushing and cooling, the same way as you started.  Once finished, using some spare plastic smooth over the weld with the iron.

I normally use spare plastic but I first spot weld the parts together to ensure the fit is as close as possible.  Any plastic that is proud, just heat up with the iron and push home.

[raptorman]

Here is a CBR600f panel we are working on. The 1st pic shows the damage at the rear of the panel & the piece is missing so had to make the part from spare plastic.

[raptorman]

A hole has been made & a piece of plastic has been welded on the inside of the panel for the fixing bolt to the frame.

[raptorman]

Filler applied.



Blocked back the filler & applied a coat of white primer to find any pin holes or defects.

[raptorman]

The repair is now complete.  1 & 1/2 coats of white primer was applied, de-nibbed & 2 full coats of black was applied.  It's now off for lacquer & then re-decal.

[shooey]

Kin hell, you'd never know 

Nice work that fella 

[raptorman]

Here you go.  The panel has been lacquered, polished, genuine Honda decals applied and refitted to the bike.  I am awaiting the crash bung from the customer, I can then drill out the hole & fit the bung.

[paxovasa]

Good job you know your stuff 

[raptorman]

I thought I would stick up a few pic's of my paint mixing scheme.

[raptorman]

   Now on to some Carbon Fibre work.

For a quick easy & cheap way to manufacture CF parts, without having to use or make a mould.  I lay down CF sheet & use some resin that you can by of the shelf at Halfords in a yellow tin. It is quick curing & you can bend to shape once cured, with the aid of a heat gun.  This is an under seat tray I am making, which will also carry the ECU.

The sheet was attached roughly & trimmed slightly over sized.  It is easy to take off more but a nightmare to try and add.





A cut was made with a grinder so that the carbon could be lap jointed.