How To: Repairing And Painting Plastic Fairings

How to: Repair and Paint ABS Plastic Fairings 6th gen VFR.

Materials:

Plastic fibre filler like any other filler but designed for a better adherence to plastics (such as the ABS plastic our 6th gen VFR fairings are made of). Some call it Poly filler I believe. Its equally as flexible as the material you are repairing which is important to avoid all your hard work coming undone in next to no time.

Fine grain plastic filler: same as above but as the name says of a finer grain, thus getting a smoother result when sanding, thus avoiding a scratchy looking final surface. Think of it as a "Filler Filler". It should be spread on at 1mm thick at the most and is used for filling in the scratches and pores left by the bulk filler mentioned above.

Various grades or grains of sandpaper:

360: I use this grain (always wet) for giving previously painted surfaces a general once over to make the surface just that little bit rough so the paint will adhere well.

240:This grain is used for sanding back where the filler was applied, to level out raised areas to the proper original height/level/shape. Take it easy with this grain as it has a healthy appetite and it's easy to go too far too soon (thus having to build up again with more filler = more work).

To make life easier, wrap it around a small block of wood or similar (approx. 6x10 cm) so you are creating a nice even surface on larger areas (curvy 3D shapes are another story, use your savoir faire here).

400 or greater: This is for the final finish after painting but prior to placing decals and clear coating. It's a good idea to use this grain over the entire fairing, even in the hard to get places, careful on corners, edges and pointy bits as the paint is easy to remove altogether in these spots. This is what will give your paintjob that smooth final finish and remove small imperfections in the paint you laid down.

Special primer for plastics (like bumpers or whatever you call them). White. 400 ml

Colour coats and the volume used: White 500 ml. Red 100 ml. Light blue 100 ml. Dark blue 100 ml. Both blues should have been darker, like, the dark should have been the light and an even darker one used where the dark blue is in this example.

These are all acrylic based paints, this is important as the clear coat which will go on top could ruin the paint below.

Clear coat 600 ml

Catalyst or Hardener 300 ml

Remember catalyst-activated paint will not adhere to non-catalyst activated paint for more than a week.

Masking and Profiling tape (there are plenty of videos on Youtube which explain using this stuff).

Spatulas and so forth.

Method:

1st up locate all the bits that need repairing.

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Use the filler on surface scratches. Large cracks and breaks will need plastic soldering or adhesive first and filler later.

Actually the cracks and breaks are to be done first and the filler afterwards, the photos may not be in the correct order.

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Epoxy adhesive will suffice for small defects

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Solder and repair work to be performed inside and out in order to provide greater strength to the repair work. Use gaffer tape or such on the side opposite the one you're working on to keep everything aligned. Once the solder has hardened, remove the tape and repeat on the other side.

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Apply filler building up worn back areas to resemble their original shape prior to biting the bitumen.

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Follow up with wet sanding (240 gr/cm) and refill areas as necessary to eliminate imperfections and achieve the original shape and form. Once you're satisfied with the filling work, apply the finer filler and wet sand with the 400 grain sandpaper.

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Apply primer so the final colours come out right. At this stage you should be able to tell (see) whether your filler work came out right (rises and dips, uneven shapes and surfaces). Wash, rinse and repeat filler if you can tell how many beers went down whilst filling the first time around.

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Now the surgical part masking off. One colour at a time. Profiling tape (don't know what you guys call it) is a finer, thinner masking tape, for achieving fine lines, straight or curved requires good hand-eye coordination. This is best done with the fairings ON THE BIKE, so it all lines, on this occasion it wasn't possible, but I should admit this was done by a very good buddy of mine, for free, so I'm not complaining.

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The cool fun part is deciding on and applying the decals 'cause it looks like things are coming together and makes for a really personalized final product. Then comes the magical clear coat. A dust free environment is an obvious priority.

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It's best to wait for all layers of paint to dry between applying primer, each colour and the clear coat.

In terms of costs, the most expensive item was the clear coat and the hardener, somewhere between 50-70 Euro/litre. Depends on the quality you prefer.

The coloured paints cost 10 Euro/750 ml per colour.

Filler was 3-5 Euro

Sandpaper and masking tape 10 Euro max.

The decals were also done by another good buddy free of charge.

All paint applied using an air-compressor and medium sized paint gun from a hardware chain store. Don't recall the brand. Cost around 40 Euro and has a 0,5 mm nozzle and air-pressure regulator dial built in (good for when the air-compressor doesn't have any adjustment).

When painting it's important to keep in mind the density of the paint and the air temperature. The paint density can be measured with a density meter, which is nothing more than a small receptacle with a handle and a hole in the bottom.

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This works by measuring the time it takes a certain volume of paint to exit via the hole. The faster it does so, the less dense it is.

Keep in mind the more liquid (runny) it is, the finer the finish but the risk of it running is greater. You'll also need more layers to get proper coverage. On the other hand, the denser it is, the greater the risk of the orange peel effect, like celulitis, since it goes on in globs.

Do a few trial runs before committing yourself.

Remember that the air temperature will change over the course of the day, week, month, year. Ccooler temps (all other factors being equal) will mean a denser paint than in the hotter months or hours of the day.

Try it out on a buddy's bike before risking it with yours, just as my most excellent buddy did with mine!!