http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1738290019

My Facebook profile

WELCOME TO MY BLOG

Here you'll find some info on Ducati repair and modifications along with photos. I've got stuff for sale too, so check out the older posts. Please leave comments about anything you see, good or bad. Thanks for looking, Steve

Search This Blog

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Bodywork repair-round 4

After my high side in the rain last year I had to retire the flat gray bodywork as seen above, because the tank was so severely dented on top from my shoulder!! (Got a nice deformed right shoulder now too... Oh well)

 I bought a used red tank and multi colored bodywork but only the tank was up to my standards, so I decided to put some old rashed ArmourBodies stuff I had from another crash. It needed a lot of work as the crash had left some pretty major through holes, mostly on the left side. 
 Above: The upper fairing after sanding and filling with fiberglass from the inside. I left the front snorkel areas painted as they are a pain to sand, they were not damaged anyway.
 Above: Decided to try something a little different with the Dzus fasteners on the upper fairing at the stay. I never really liked the clips on the fasteners on the top of the fairing, they don't seem to blend well with the aerodynamics of the fairing/windshield. When I saw that KurveyGirl (google it for nice parts) sold these fasteners without the clips (4mm Allen head) I decided to use them and recess them down into the bodywork!!

I did this by first drilling the hole through the fairing a little larger than the outside diameter of the head of the Dzus pin, then I layered up small sheets of Fiberglass mat, Kevlar cloth and Carbon Fiber to make up the thickness of the pin. Next I drilled through the exact center of the larger hole through the new pieces for the pin. Now the fairing is reinforced with cf and Kevlar at the mounting points (I also reinforced all the other mounting locations of the bodywork as well as where impact zones are- like the location of the underbody sliders, with Kevlar!)


Test fitting with windshield in place. Most of the sanding has been done.

I sprayed a couple coats of rattle can primer and filled the low spots with body filler and red putty. Below:



I then wet sanding with 240 grit paper bringing the filler down to the surface, and sprayed another couple coats of primer.
When I was relatively happy with the results, I sprayed more primer in the bare spots then wet sand with 600 grit.
I've decided to leave the bodywork primed for my first track day and paint it red when I have more time and my makeshift paint booth set up.
 Note the recessed areas for the air scoops where I masked off the red painted parts, this area is a pain the sand and because it had no damage I decided not to repaint it.

I've used it this way during the track day and it worked out well, doesn't look that bad, and came through the day with little damage. Actually, may race/track riders prefer to just use primed bodywork for ease of repair and cost. Any areas can be just hit with a little primer for a spray can. But, I don't know how long I'll keep it like this because I'm to finicky about looks!!

No comments: