Plastic Putty / Filler / Bog

[submit]

I am doing the prep work to repaint the bike, the fairings have quite a fair bit of scratches on it, some are pretty deep.

What is the correct way to prep ABS plastic? Do I use a special filler with plastic primer? If so where can I get them as Protec doesnt have anything for plastic.

Thanks

[stone]

depends how deep,but even if its been dragging down the road you should be able to get away with sanding it with say 180g dry,then 320,then plastic prime and primer/filler.

[submit]

bike had been dropped by the previous owner and the whole left side fairings has shattered and been repaired using Q bond by the look of it. So yea i think the gaps are pretty big

other than that there are gaps something about 1mm deep at the back.

[Mr M00se]

Im interested also, cause i have to remake some ridges that were ground away on the mitos fairing

[stone]

In that case Id get the roughest bit of sand paper you can get your hands on,say 36 grit,then scratch the fuck out of it to give the fiberglass bog somthing to hook on too. BUT be carfull,that shit is HARD as to sand,so what you do is fill the the gap/hole/low/flat spot with the fiber bog and be ready to hack the most of it off as its getting hard.it will clog up the 36 fairly quick and but if you just apply it and walk away you mite as well grind it off and start again.

Then normal bog,then plastic prime and so on.

If you just bog cracks they will most likley still crack after the paint is done and you ride the bike.

BEST bet with cracked fairing repair is let a pro plastic weld it for you.

[Laika]

When I got my bike the fairings were scratched up from being dropped at low speed, some were 1-2mm deep in places. I used normal body filler and spray filler sanding between each application then finished up with a few coats of paint. I used wattle killrust paint in a can as recommended by a couple of (bike) people for its flexibility on fairings, its almost a year now and no cracks or peeling in the paint even with me bending and twisting to get my rear fairing on and off. I made a more detailed post on another forum around the time I did the work, if your interested I can dig it up can post it here.. let me know if it will help.


How it looked


Filled and sanded


Spray filler added (yet to be sanded)


How it ended up (painted in matt black)

[submit]

thanks for the input, the cracks have been repaired and there are no signs of them splitting so i'm pretty happy with it.

Didnt think normal body filler would bond onto plastic tho. Laska did you just use normal body filler to fill the scratches, then apply primer filler over it? Were both products automotive car products or did you get them specialised for ABS plastic?

[Laika]

>Didnt think normal body filler would bond onto plastic tho.
>Laska did you just use normal body filler to fill the scratches

Yup, normal filler from my local auto shop.


>then apply primer filler over it?

Blue stuff is a spray filler/putty to fill the fine scratches


>Were both products automotive car products or did you get them specialised for ABS plastic?

Both were regular car products from supercheap/auto1 type shops.. nothing special


Other notes/tips .. Try not to use to use more body filler than you need, it's as hard as the fairing when cured so use care when sanding back.. Take your time with the prep work.. Most of the sanding was done with flexible sanding pads/sponges I got from bunnings.. I wiped the panels down with enamel thinners before each coat/fill to make sure everything was super clean.

[druu]

Laika, care to tell us th particular brands of primer/filler you used? I'm also in the process of prepping my fairings for a respray so wouldn't mind some more detailed info. Maybe the link to the other forum where you explained it in detail?

[Laika]

Laika, care to tell us th particular brands of primer/filler you used? I'm also in the process of prepping my fairings for a respray so wouldn't mind some more detailed info. Maybe the link to the other forum where you explained it in detail?[/b]

The filler I used was "Septone Car Filler" (polyester resin kit)... The spray filler was the same brand from memory.

I thought this web page was worth a read if you’re doing it on the cheap... http://domlnator.tripod.com/id21.html

With my paint work with old stuff wasn't peeling at all it was just mismatched colours and had some big scratches so I didn't use any primer. The old panels were given a good wash with hot soapy water and a plastic bristle brush, then when dry to took to them with the sanding sponge to roughen up the old clear coat/paint to give the new stuff something to stick to. The bad stuff got filled with the car filler (I just followed the instructions) then sanded back when dry, all the scratches and what I had filled with car filler got a coat or two of spray filler, more sanding until I was happy it was as good as I could get it. Worth noting is I cleaned the panels with enamel thinners every time I was going to add filler or paint to a panel (before every coat).

For painting I used killrust cans... 6-8inch working distance, 50% overlap on each stroke, spray before and finish after the panel on each stroke, secure the panel so you can keep the can close to upright. On the next coat I would rotate the panel 90deg to keep paint finish even. I had my extra cans of paint ready to go, if my can even hinted at spluttering or might not be enough to finish a larger panel I'd grab a new one and use/clean the other later. A partly used can would get the nozzle dropped in thinners 5min before use and tested to make sure it was good. I kept a few cleaned nozzles from empty cans, they can come in handy. I was painting on hot summer evenings so everything was warm (panel, paint, air) and I had no problems. In cooler weather putting the cans in a bucket of hot water to warm the paint can be a good idea, but don’t paint if the air is moist/cool if you can help it. If you’re going for a gloss finish you should be lightly sand between coats, with matt paint don't sand between coats. I can comment on clear coat as I’ve never used it. I have used car polish (cutting for dull/faded paint) to bring a guitar body I painted with a can up to a glassy finish so I don’t see it would be much different, just be careful on edges etc, its easy to rub thru the paint even with polish (same goes for sanding between coats of paint)

A lot of this stuff is just me thinking out aloud things to try and help the backyard painter with a rattle can, if you have a decent spray gun, booth and some experience feel free to add some stuff or tell me where I'm full of it

As the weather gets warmer I'll doing some more painting to my bike... That fuel tank is top of the list!