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Started this here as my previous posts were in the wrong part of the forum. Been fettling in the man cave tonight, have fibreglassed and catty'd one of the rear fairings, rubbed it back with wet-and-dry and just applied four coats of high-build primer ready to gloss tomorrow and then clearcoat on tuesday ready to refit to the bike. Have also fibreglassed one of the front lower fairings too, polished up the other rear fairing and fitted the numberplate, numberplate light and the one surviving indicator starting to feel like I'm getting somewhere!

Good tip for rubbing back catty - put some fairy liquid in the water: makes it polish up better and generally improves the finish of the catty. Afterwards, before painting make sure it's scrupulously clean and remove all traces of the soap or the paint won't stick, but this is very easy to do - use a soft clean cloth and acetone. Easy to get: it's just nail polish remover! Either buy some (cheap as chips) or, as I do, steal it off your missus or daughters! Even cheaper!! It's also dead handy for cleaning cack and sticker adhesive from paint (won't soften the paint like cellulose thinners does) and it's great for cleaning fibreglass resin out of pots and brushes and off your fingers!

Just waiting on more bits arriving, at this rate should have her running before long with a bit of luck! Will post up some pics of the progress when I get to work tomorrow and get the wire back for uploading pics onto the computer from my blackberry!

Phil

beermaker wrote:Good tip for rubbing back catty - put some fairy liquid in the water: makes it polish up better and generally improves the finish of the catty. Afterwards, before painting make sure it's scrupulously clean and remove all traces of the soap or the paint won't stick, but this is very easy to do - use a soft clean cloth and acetone. Easy to get: it's just nail polish remover! Either buy some (cheap as chips) or, as I do, steal it off your missus or daughters! Even cheaper!! It's also dead handy for cleaning cack and sticker adhesive from paint (won't soften the paint like cellulose thinners does) and it's great for cleaning fibreglass resin out of pots and brushes and off your fingers!

Awesome, and I'm looking forward to the pics

Here's a few pics: the first one is my rear subframe after it got intimate with a tree stump
This is the new subframe on the bike with the back end just about rebuilt
Fibreglassed the inside of the rear fairing where it had broken off

A couple more - the outside of the fairing after it had been cattied, rubbed back, masked and primed. Gloss to go on tonight
The headlight bracket repaired using epoxy and some aluminium reclaimed from the kick strip from a fire door
And last pic for now - the bracket with a quick coat of black enamel. Doesn't look to flashy but will be inside the fairing so I'm not too concerned and it's saved me the cost of a new set of headlights

Progress tonight: Sprayed the repaired fairing with black gloss. Gave it three coats and looking good so far. Will let it harden overnight and tomorrow will wet-and-dry it with 2400 grit paper and soapy water before cleaning and clearcoating.
The headlight bracket also arrived off fleabay. I expected the tatty paint from the pics I'd seen but unlike the sellers assurances, it definately was not "in good straight condition!!" Mind, it was only a fiver and it wasn't as bent as mine so I put it in the vice and teased it straight
After the bending I gave it a good scrub with a wire brush to remove surface rust and loose paint. Didn't go to town on it as it'll be hidden under the fairing and the clocks so just tidying it up and keeping rust at bay. Had it been on show I'd have stripped all the old paint off back to bare metal and used two part etch primer but as it is I've given it three coats of high build primer.
Starting to come together now! Hope tomorrow my locks and bits arrive so I can really start to put things back together. Will be clearcoating the fairing and glossing the headlight bracket.

meant to add - the four silver coach bolts in the headlight bracket are serving two purposes: One is to keep the paint out of the threads so they don't get clogged up, and the second is that they provide a support for the bracket when it's being sprayed so it doesn't have to rest on a painted surface and I don't have to mess about hanging it on a wire. Always prefer to spray on a jig as it supports the part better and ultimately makes spraying easier

Ok, got the repaired and resprayed panels on the tail, got the straightened bracket on the front and remounted the clocks and lights and fitted the ignition barrel. Even managed to dismantle the seat lock barrel and modify the tumblers to make it work with the new key which i'm particularly pleased about - a degree in engineering not wasted! Just need to fabricate a tension wrench and rake pick to pick the lock on the old fuel cap so I can put the new one in and then moving on to repairing the front fairings

A bit more progress - picked the fuel cap lock and got the new one on and then took some time off going in the shed to make time for being run over! Just been back in tonight and remade the front of the LH bottom fairing where it joins the nose fairing. Used some steel mesh cut and shaped as a foundation and fibreglassed it onto the back of the fairing to give me something to build onto. Then laid up three layers of fibreglass on the top of the mesh where the plastic is missing and once it had gone off I filled it with catty and rubbed it back. Looking ok now - not perfect but it never will be as the fairing is scuffed and I'm not trying to get concourse condition - just want the bike back on the road ASAP! Job for tomorrow is to polish it up with soapy water and 1200 grit wet and dry and then spray it black to hide the filler. Hope the new nose fairing arrives soon from Mori Man and then I can get everything put back together

Just a quickie before bed (oooh errr!!) sorted the fuel leak, bled the air lock out of the fuel pump, jump started it off a battery from a Massey Ferguson of all things and bugger me if she didn't start!!! Not bad after being binned into trees at 65mph and then sitting on a paddock stand for two years!! just need the nose and a new battery and it'll be MoT - here we come!!

did you really mean massey ferguson or harley davidson lol

Definately a Massey - they're faster and sexier!!

Latest update!! The nose fairing arrived - Big thanks to Mori Man (meant to email him to say this but having probs logging in to my email). have got the fairing rebuilt and refitted, new screen on (dark tint to make it faster!) quite like the red nose on black side fairings - might not respray it after all! New battery on it, it's off the paddock stand now and on it's side stand. Just waiting for a front brake reservoir and then it's MOT time!! Huzzah!! To celebrate, will be palming the kids off on mummy and taking the missus for a ride down to Squires Cafe at Sherburn in Elmet