This first picture is just a shot of the relocated lower pair of fairing mounting studs as they appear prior to final sanding and paint
This second picture is a close up of the left side lower stud. Multiple layers of resin later you can see how smooth and totally embedded the stud has become. For those who follow my threads from time to time, I did finally choose to use the steel expanded micro mesh. The square of material I used is not all that large as it doesn't change shape all that easily and kept wanting to return to being flat. Once I set the first heavy layer of resin in place it that locked it down and successive layers have completely buried it. The biggest pain was needing to have lay multiple layers of resin, each having to be sanded down once cured, to get the shape of the surrounding shoulders to take on the general shape and curves of the surrounding fibreglass while keeping the general profile as low as possible, The right side stud is a mirror image of the left, so no picture required.
And this last shot is the same left side stud, now with a wrap of painter's tape to keep the freshly chased and clean threads of the stud from getting contaminated by the primer and top coat. At this point the last round of sanding was done using either 120 or 180 production paper and the scratches are still visible. The next series of sanding will be with wet/dry and done wet to keep the dust down. The last grit will be a 320 and after that comes the primer.
I am not heavily concerned about the painting process as this is the underside or back side of the fairing and the only way anyone will get to see it is if they are either sitting on the bike or have just come through it due to a case of terminal stupidity; a situation I would not want to have happen just on general principals.
When I did the reconstruction of this component, it received several more layers of glass and resin than it had been born with. These units are typically made by using a form and applying a heavy layer of gel coat to the inside surface. Then a chopper gun is used to spray finely chopped fibreglass strands into the mold with the glass getting its resin bonding coat at about the same time it leaves the gun nozzle. That way the gun hoses and nozzles stay free and unclogged with resin. Still a messy job.. The final shape is only about an 1/8th of an inch thick or less, meaning it cracks and breaks easily under stress or hard impact. In its new and improved? version it is about 50% thicker with both fibre glass matt and cloth being used in alternate layers for strength. If I can ever discover where I stashed the cans of new gel coat the outer surface will get sanded smooth and several fresh layers of new gel will get laid, sanded and buffed out. I could skip the whole gel coat drill if I elected to mural the outer surface but they are expensive to get done and hard to protect and maintain, plus it would no longer match the bags and tourpack, all of which are white.
This will likely be my last foray into the world of fibreglass, My lungs are as old as I am and the older they get, the more sensitive they seem to be getting to dust and mold and fumes and vapors, all of which are an integral aspect of working with glass. The local weather doesn't seem to be helping either with the sun being out but the air cold and damp. NOT good for clean breathing.
Nick
