How best to repair glass fibre track fairings?

As the search function appears to be down on the app and I'm due to pick up some damaged track fairings on Saturday (thanks @peggy675) thought I'd ask around what people on here do/use to repair their fairings.

Realise there's a ton of stuff on the net, so it's just a case of asking peeps here to get the benefit of others experiments with repair kits/body filler/alu mesh sheets (I have a hole to fill) etc.

I'm not after a showroom finish btw - shall repaint and add some vinyl wrap most likely (another thread for another time). Thanks

 

halfrauds do a tub of goo with fibres in thats good for repairs or a fibreglass kit with sheets of fibreglass in for bigger repairs/holes.

 

alternatively, stop crashing

 

If you haven't crashed you aren't trying hard enough....well that's what i told myself!

At least the belly pan doesn't need fixing!

 

Think you tried a bit too hard last year though Peggy!

 

How much do you need to fill each crack? Is it a bit like grouting and you literal just fill in the cracks/holes and bond it back together or are you putting another layer behind the damaged area as well? I know I'll need at least one sheet and a lump of filler for one hole in the tail section - just no idea if I need a 250g kit/500g kit or even more...

 

There are a few ways of doing it. If you are going down the fibre glass route then. I would suggest the following;
Gently rub down the outer to take off as loose or protruding bits.
Rub down the inside as the surface will need a good key for the new grp to bond too, also flatter the better.
Drill out the ends of any and all cracks, which will stop them running further into the body.
Bevel the edges on the front of the cracks, effectively turn then into little trenches.
Tape over the front of the cracks with gaffer or masking tape.
Glass up the back.
If your careful any excess of resin will fill up the void behind the mat to the tape and fill the crack for you. The trenches sides will give the resin or filler if need something to bond to.
Rub off any jaggies and take off the tape.
If the resin hasn't filled the hole to your satisfaction a bit of a rub and some body filler will do the trick.

 

This ^^
Great overview of the process CS.

 

I can recommend the Bigboy fibreglass kit fro Tool Station (where else) less than a tenner and everything you need for a few little repairs, reinforcement.

 

I could do with a set of track fairings as mine are tatty anyone selling any 2008 belly pan an front cheers

 

Bit more scrubbing, a sand/drill/bevel and I'll be ready to do the 1st set of repairs as per suggestion above.


Bit more delay to project as had to do a few sudden dive spins this morning, followed by a closer inspection of this beauty...

 

Had a window to do the 1st pass patching up of the battle damage on my fairings from 675peggy

Sure I've used too much glassfibre and it'll need a lot of trimming/sanding off later on, but a) the sun is shining so I'm going off on a ride this afternoon and b) the damn stuff is very sticky and gets everywhere!! Also hardens very quickly in the sunshine! Holes are patched and the new primer arrives this week - paint guy is checking to see if he can match the tornado red codes...

 

They are looking good, I'm at donnington tomorrow so you might have another set to do!

 

After all this time & effort that you've put into these, are you still going to be able to think of these as your "throwing it down the track" bodywork mate.?

 

You have a very good point @StMarks, but "as they only cost me £45..." I'll be less hesitant to back off and hopefully shall brake a bit deeper/carry more corner speed. These fairings are really meant for my planned 2017 Portimao trip as that aside, I still have to ride it home at the end of the day, unless I buy a trailer - and it still want the bike to look "nice" although I also haven't seen what damage I can do with a rattle can yet....

 

Double post... paint fumes...

 

So, finished stripping the old paint off, completed the fibreglass repairs (nasty stuff), sanded it down multiple times over the weekend ("hobby" electric sander), put the primer on last night and as the Tornado red can arrived today, cracked on and put a coat of red on. See how it looks in the morning... I've followed the @StMarks approach and not gone to town on body filler/sanding as these are meant to be "chuck down the road fairings" after all...

 

Looking good! Always like seeing people progress with fairings and the different ideas.
Are you going for any stickers or leaving it blank?