Post by JonW on Oct 8, 2019 12:28:26 GMT 1
I suspect that like many of us I’ve got a bunch of old RD/RZ stuff in my garage that’s too ‘good’ (‘rare’ would be too strong a word of course) to throw away but not good enough to actually use on a bike.
One of the things that falls into that category is GRP bodywork. I hate the stuff on my restorations as it’s, well... not OEM! I always find old GRP brittle and you chase the issues in the finish for ages, and then the vibes of a 2 stroke make it spider crack all over again. So, it’s ‘Plastic Fantastic’ all the way for me on my bikes.
That said, really this story starts in a friend’s shed as so many stories do. Like me he loathed the GRP bodywork he had acquired. It sat within his a stacks of bodywork collections, all resting like saucers one inside the other on a shelf. Seems one day he had a brainwave and rather than leave some of these nicely painted parts on a shelf never to be used or ever seen again, he had built up a full GRP fairing from one of the Aussie ‘87 round-headlight RZs into a great bit of garage art that was now dangling from his rafters...
“The blokes a bloody genius!” I thought, I need one of those in my life! So I told him so and he looked pensive and mildly excited... I’ve seen that look before and should have been nervous.
Given a remarkably short time to think about it he decided to help my project by supplying his spare set of mismatched / damaged GRP panels to go with the manky old top fairing I got when I bought my F1 a decade earlier. This had found its way back to me after a few owners had acquired it and then not used it – the last of which was originally planning to use it on a land speed record bike! However, just like me and everyone else he obviously felt it was a much less desirable thing once it was in his hands... I reckon that this GRP panel really was a cheap and nasty thing when new, let alone rattled canned black over multiple crash repairs. Maybe it was finally it’s time to shine again...eeek!
This was the start of the collection of parts:
While these panels were not pretty and needed repairs before painting, I figured that they were perfect for what I wanted. Not least as they don’t spoil an actual bike. All the parts you see here are those that no one wanted to use and probably never would.
FWIW: The rectangular headlight was never fitted to these Aussie round headlight (N2) lower (mid and belly) bodywork sets, so new holes needed to be drilled in the mid panels, but with those done it bolted up and looked like it was designed for the job, which it should as the lower panels are direct copies of the OEM bodywork, albeit with the bolt holes in different places.
With the paint sanded back I could see that only one mid panel was in decent condition. Everything else had crash damage, cracks, chunks missing, repairs and filler. The filler was multiple types. Why do people assume that they can use silicone to repair GRP? Its like those idiots who use GRP to repair plastic panels. Sigh...
Sorting out the panels was a typical GRP restoration. Grind out the multiple cracks... Here is the top fairing. What a mess it was!
Just when you think you’ve got ‘em all... Grrr...!
More rework... These are every flimsy panels.
I should say that I didn’t have any GRP resin and as these will be a static display so for the repairs I used Wurth Plastic Body filler as it sets up well but is still flexible. I’m not recommending that you use it in this application, but it’s a lovely product that’s easy to use and I enjoy using it. Thanks Wurth for making this stuff!
So with the panels repaired it was time to think about colour. I originally considered that I would do a sort of Malboro colourway, but lost interest part way through as the foreign decal supplier I was going to use decided my business wasn’t worth having, choosing to ignore my subsequent emails after he misread what I wanted with the background colour (ie clear). His loss. I decided I would make use of my plethora of stickers that I’ve saved up over the years instead. Why not, as they are doing nothing sat in a box and this would be a good use for them plus they were the right price as who doesn’t like ‘free’ instead of the $100 the Malboro decals would set me back. This is art, not restoration, I don’t have to do it any one else’s way!
So, I decided to do the top red and the mids and belly in white. A bit ‘Yamaha-ish’ at least. Decals would be placed the way race bikes of the era did them and I even found some YAMAHA stickers to use as well in my stash.
Painting was done with rattle cans. I bought two 400g cans of white and one of red and already had a can and a hlaf of clear of the same size and brand in my paint drawer. What do you mean you don’t have a paint drawer?! Doesn’t everyone? Whilst i’m admitting how much paint I used, I should add that I also used up the rest of a can of gloss black I had lying around on the insides so the mess of previous oversprays was covered.
The mid and belly panels got two thick coats of white and then a nice coat of clear. The mids are small enough that you can keep the paint wet all over the panel, so they needed minimal wet sanding with 2000 grit between coats, but the belly needed some runs taking out and some orange peel taking off between those coats. The top had one thick coat (multiple passes during said coat) of red and also had the few little runs sanded out and a small repair touched in before clear and more wet sanding with 2000.
Initially the white and red came out of the can quite glossy but the gloss faded after about a week (as the paint dried out) for some reason (cheap paint?!).
See how the gloss has become almost satin. No bother, as I was going to clear them anyway. I didn’t expect that much for a A$9.99 can of mid-priced auto store paint, but it’s a bit naff to call this paint ‘gloss’. Upon checking the reviews online other people had commented on this problem as well actually. Lucky I wasn’t expecting to just use the colour then. Hmm...
Then clear after a 2000 wet sand
Another wet sand with 2000 and a polish
The belly pan after crack repair and first coat of colour
It would need another coat as coverage with cans is not ideal on larger panels since the paint dries on one side while you paint the other. When I’ve done tanks (yes I’ve done a YPVS tank with cans before!) I’ve had to use two cans, one in each hand to keep the paint ‘wet’ while spraying!
And here again a day later the gloss has already gone off it. Sigh.
Time for some gloss. Slow output with small nozzle and large area makes for dry overspray in places. That’s where the wet sanding comes into play of course.
The top fairing looked a billion percent better for just having primer on it, but really came alive when hit with colour. Two base coats of the cheap red, sanded with 1200 in between coats.
It still has some cracks but I think it always will. It’s a fragile bit of old GRP and you can only do so much without spending half your life on it and I’ve other stuff to do of course. Acceptance is part of Art lol!
Colour sanded with 2000 to remove the orange peel and make it flat, taking out a couple of runs in the process. Then cleared:
a sand with 1200 and 2000 to take out the orange peel again
Then hit with some Meguires Ultimate Compound
I actually re-sanded some areas and went over it again with more compound until I was happy with the panel.
And here it is with the stickers on:
The Screen was the one that came on my 500. It was some sort of aftermarket Honda unit that had been cut down to fit and looked ok from 10 paces, but it wasn’t fooling anyone up close. The 500 has a restored OEM screen now and this one was never going to be used for anything, so the perfect candidate for this sculpture.
It looked ok at first glance and after sanding down the rough cut edges I did minimal work taping it up and threw some paint on once a spare screen decal was fitted.
Not looking too bad at all!
Next the stickers all went on and I bolted everything together carefully and then realised I’d need to make a frame work to be able to hang it. I used some old curtain pole and a bit of lawnmover(!) and created a lightweight frame that was adjustable in the angle the fairing hung, smothered it in some spare grey paint and bolted it in and then lifted the now solid sculpture into pride of place in my garage.
To complete the look I’d love someone’s old damaged birdcage and some old rusty headlight parts as this will fill in the gaping hole in the front. Anyone got anything like this they don’t want?
I reckon this project has come a long way from a bunch of unloved bits and bobs stuck on a shelf and I think it’s fulfilled the brief to make a bit of garage art that took its inspiration from my mate’s work. Best of all the outlay wasn’t terrible at all to get it done, mostly it was elbow grease and time. What I really need is a man cave to hang it in, but all Ive got is my garage at the mo.
So what do you think?
One of the things that falls into that category is GRP bodywork. I hate the stuff on my restorations as it’s, well... not OEM! I always find old GRP brittle and you chase the issues in the finish for ages, and then the vibes of a 2 stroke make it spider crack all over again. So, it’s ‘Plastic Fantastic’ all the way for me on my bikes.
That said, really this story starts in a friend’s shed as so many stories do. Like me he loathed the GRP bodywork he had acquired. It sat within his a stacks of bodywork collections, all resting like saucers one inside the other on a shelf. Seems one day he had a brainwave and rather than leave some of these nicely painted parts on a shelf never to be used or ever seen again, he had built up a full GRP fairing from one of the Aussie ‘87 round-headlight RZs into a great bit of garage art that was now dangling from his rafters...
“The blokes a bloody genius!” I thought, I need one of those in my life! So I told him so and he looked pensive and mildly excited... I’ve seen that look before and should have been nervous.
Given a remarkably short time to think about it he decided to help my project by supplying his spare set of mismatched / damaged GRP panels to go with the manky old top fairing I got when I bought my F1 a decade earlier. This had found its way back to me after a few owners had acquired it and then not used it – the last of which was originally planning to use it on a land speed record bike! However, just like me and everyone else he obviously felt it was a much less desirable thing once it was in his hands... I reckon that this GRP panel really was a cheap and nasty thing when new, let alone rattled canned black over multiple crash repairs. Maybe it was finally it’s time to shine again...eeek!
This was the start of the collection of parts:
While these panels were not pretty and needed repairs before painting, I figured that they were perfect for what I wanted. Not least as they don’t spoil an actual bike. All the parts you see here are those that no one wanted to use and probably never would.
FWIW: The rectangular headlight was never fitted to these Aussie round headlight (N2) lower (mid and belly) bodywork sets, so new holes needed to be drilled in the mid panels, but with those done it bolted up and looked like it was designed for the job, which it should as the lower panels are direct copies of the OEM bodywork, albeit with the bolt holes in different places.
With the paint sanded back I could see that only one mid panel was in decent condition. Everything else had crash damage, cracks, chunks missing, repairs and filler. The filler was multiple types. Why do people assume that they can use silicone to repair GRP? Its like those idiots who use GRP to repair plastic panels. Sigh...
Sorting out the panels was a typical GRP restoration. Grind out the multiple cracks... Here is the top fairing. What a mess it was!
Just when you think you’ve got ‘em all... Grrr...!
More rework... These are every flimsy panels.
I should say that I didn’t have any GRP resin and as these will be a static display so for the repairs I used Wurth Plastic Body filler as it sets up well but is still flexible. I’m not recommending that you use it in this application, but it’s a lovely product that’s easy to use and I enjoy using it. Thanks Wurth for making this stuff!
So with the panels repaired it was time to think about colour. I originally considered that I would do a sort of Malboro colourway, but lost interest part way through as the foreign decal supplier I was going to use decided my business wasn’t worth having, choosing to ignore my subsequent emails after he misread what I wanted with the background colour (ie clear). His loss. I decided I would make use of my plethora of stickers that I’ve saved up over the years instead. Why not, as they are doing nothing sat in a box and this would be a good use for them plus they were the right price as who doesn’t like ‘free’ instead of the $100 the Malboro decals would set me back. This is art, not restoration, I don’t have to do it any one else’s way!
So, I decided to do the top red and the mids and belly in white. A bit ‘Yamaha-ish’ at least. Decals would be placed the way race bikes of the era did them and I even found some YAMAHA stickers to use as well in my stash.
Painting was done with rattle cans. I bought two 400g cans of white and one of red and already had a can and a hlaf of clear of the same size and brand in my paint drawer. What do you mean you don’t have a paint drawer?! Doesn’t everyone? Whilst i’m admitting how much paint I used, I should add that I also used up the rest of a can of gloss black I had lying around on the insides so the mess of previous oversprays was covered.
The mid and belly panels got two thick coats of white and then a nice coat of clear. The mids are small enough that you can keep the paint wet all over the panel, so they needed minimal wet sanding with 2000 grit between coats, but the belly needed some runs taking out and some orange peel taking off between those coats. The top had one thick coat (multiple passes during said coat) of red and also had the few little runs sanded out and a small repair touched in before clear and more wet sanding with 2000.
Initially the white and red came out of the can quite glossy but the gloss faded after about a week (as the paint dried out) for some reason (cheap paint?!).
See how the gloss has become almost satin. No bother, as I was going to clear them anyway. I didn’t expect that much for a A$9.99 can of mid-priced auto store paint, but it’s a bit naff to call this paint ‘gloss’. Upon checking the reviews online other people had commented on this problem as well actually. Lucky I wasn’t expecting to just use the colour then. Hmm...
Then clear after a 2000 wet sand
Another wet sand with 2000 and a polish
The belly pan after crack repair and first coat of colour
It would need another coat as coverage with cans is not ideal on larger panels since the paint dries on one side while you paint the other. When I’ve done tanks (yes I’ve done a YPVS tank with cans before!) I’ve had to use two cans, one in each hand to keep the paint ‘wet’ while spraying!
And here again a day later the gloss has already gone off it. Sigh.
Time for some gloss. Slow output with small nozzle and large area makes for dry overspray in places. That’s where the wet sanding comes into play of course.
The top fairing looked a billion percent better for just having primer on it, but really came alive when hit with colour. Two base coats of the cheap red, sanded with 1200 in between coats.
It still has some cracks but I think it always will. It’s a fragile bit of old GRP and you can only do so much without spending half your life on it and I’ve other stuff to do of course. Acceptance is part of Art lol!
Colour sanded with 2000 to remove the orange peel and make it flat, taking out a couple of runs in the process. Then cleared:
a sand with 1200 and 2000 to take out the orange peel again
Then hit with some Meguires Ultimate Compound
I actually re-sanded some areas and went over it again with more compound until I was happy with the panel.
And here it is with the stickers on:
The Screen was the one that came on my 500. It was some sort of aftermarket Honda unit that had been cut down to fit and looked ok from 10 paces, but it wasn’t fooling anyone up close. The 500 has a restored OEM screen now and this one was never going to be used for anything, so the perfect candidate for this sculpture.
It looked ok at first glance and after sanding down the rough cut edges I did minimal work taping it up and threw some paint on once a spare screen decal was fitted.
Not looking too bad at all!
Next the stickers all went on and I bolted everything together carefully and then realised I’d need to make a frame work to be able to hang it. I used some old curtain pole and a bit of lawnmover(!) and created a lightweight frame that was adjustable in the angle the fairing hung, smothered it in some spare grey paint and bolted it in and then lifted the now solid sculpture into pride of place in my garage.
To complete the look I’d love someone’s old damaged birdcage and some old rusty headlight parts as this will fill in the gaping hole in the front. Anyone got anything like this they don’t want?
I reckon this project has come a long way from a bunch of unloved bits and bobs stuck on a shelf and I think it’s fulfilled the brief to make a bit of garage art that took its inspiration from my mate’s work. Best of all the outlay wasn’t terrible at all to get it done, mostly it was elbow grease and time. What I really need is a man cave to hang it in, but all Ive got is my garage at the mo.
So what do you think?