Softail Bagger

[HarleyCruiser]

Here is a quick sketch of what I think the windshield will look like, it will be rap around, and a kick at the top.
Sorry I am not very artistic, but a pretty good critic. Critics make good carvers because they look for what is wrong and then fix it.

[rcd]

You are very creative and do really nice work! You should be proud.

[HarleyCruiser]

I got a little done on the fairing over the last couple of days, I have spent more time just looking at it and deciding what it needed.
I want to add a couple of halogen lights one on each side, to give it some attitude.
They will go in a tube in the recessed area, so that you will not see the light just the tube and the light inside.
I also hollowed out where the headlight goes, it will be even deeper that this when it is done.

here is how I am forming the cut out spots, with a die grinder and a sanding disk.
I am using a scotch bright, they cut really fast on the Styrofoam.
Will finish it off with a Dremel.

I still don’t like the shape in the rear, I think it needs to be swoop down lower. Looking at it I realize the front and rear, top and bottom need to follow the same lines.
Will change that next by pulling off the top layer and replacing and reshaping it.
If you look at a lot of cars, bikes the front looks like a face, and you give the face attitude. Don’t know if I can do this or not.
I was thinking about some LEDs over the light, as turn signals, they would be in tubes also, but don’t know if I like that idea or not. I might just use the two halogens as running and turn.
Don’t know yet, going to let it sit and study it.

[HarleyCruiser]

By now you know I have a tendency to jump around on my prodjects, well I am painting the front fender and touching up the paint on the rear fender.
I had to pull the rear fender to mount a new tire, and felt it was a good time of the year to do some painting.
I am not going into a lot of detail on how to paint, that is a book unto itself, and there are several out there.
Just want to say painting is very satisfying and frustrating at the same time.
Especially with the urethane paints.
I learned years ago with lacquer and gradually moved over so it was a easy transformation.
You all have hear that ninety percent of painting is in the prep work.
This is very true.
The flatter, smoother the body panel the better the paint job.
The less bondo and paint, the longer the paint job will hold up.
Yea I know we all think the thicker the paint the deeper it looks, this is not true.
The shine is in how flat the top layer of the paint is, not how thick the paint is.
The thicker the paint the easer it is to scratch and the easier it is to fail, crack shrink or get moisture underneath and bubble.
So the more time you spend on the prep getting the metal or glass straight the better.
You do not want to fill your dips with paint, bondo.
When I fitted the front fender I mounted it several times, to get the look that I wanted, and I needed to cut out around the brake for it to clear.
So I ended up with two extra holes, and too much cut out for the brake.
To patch I put the fender back into the mold and added fiberglass.
Make sure you taper the fender where you are patching it to give the glass something to bond to other than a flat edge.
Here you can see the patches where the red arrows are.

After the patch is made you start sanding, first with course sandpaper 60 grit, 100 grit.
It is important that the top layer is resin and not glass cloth.
You do not want any cloth showing as this can cause the paint to fail.
So paint over it, build it up with resin then sand it smooth.
When it is perfectly smooth and flat, you prime it.
Here I am wet sanding the gel coat of the glass with 220, then 320.

I use a urethane primer filler. It is thicker than regular primer and fills small imperfections.
After it dries you can start using your body fillers if you need.
There were only several real small pits from air pockets so I used a polyester glazing instead of bondo style filler.
The polyester is much easer to sand, is a lot like thick primer.
You just don’t want it too thick.

Then you start wet sanding the primer and filler. 320 or 400 will cut pretty fast, the object is to sand out all the imperfections.
The fender was in real good shape so it only took this layer of primer and filler to get into shape.
Some times you need to do this several times to get it perfict.
You will notice that on the sides I am using a paint stirrer with sand paper wrapped around it.
Make sure you do not sand on one place too long, you can sand a groove real easy.
You want to sand the whole side evenly, going different directions.
The wood stirrer helps keep it flat.
So all I have to do is prime it again, and then start painting.
More to come latter today, the sun is up I’m going to go paint.

[HarleyCruiser]

Just a side note, you can never be to careful about keeping things clean when painting.
I paint in a open shop, so this is the best time of the year because there is no bugs not a lot of humidity and dust.
I always wash the part good, dry it and use a cleaner before painting. Never touch a part before painting, the oil from your hands will ruin a good paint job.
And if the part has had any type of silicone wax on it in the last two months take extra pains to remove it.
Fish eyes are the results, if you don’t.

[HarleyCruiser]

I am using a two stage paint, PPG shop line, base coat and clear coat.
A single stage paint is just a base coat that dries shiny.
Two stage paint, the base coat dries flat, it also does not use a hardener.
The clear makes the base shiny and kicks the base coat.
A three stage paint uses a base coat, a toner coat, and a clear. There are candy and pearls three stage. On candies, the base is usually one color and the toner is like a thin color paint, with lots of clear, that lets the base coat shine through.
Pearls are usually gold or silver base, and they have a clear with real small plastic chips like metal flake, usally pearl colored that let the base coat show through.
Anyway not going to do that, maybe later when everything is done might do something with ghost flames, in something three stage.
Back to my fender, start off with a dust coat, let it dry a little. Then hit it again.
I am using a touch up gun, this is all that I ever use for painting bikes, that and a air brush.
A big gun is just too big.


I’m also touching up the paint on my rear fender, I am not repainting the whole thing so I need to protect my LED tail light.
I use modeling clay for this.

Just remember the clay is oil based so you need to wipe it down around the plugs before it is painted with a cleaner.
I have used body putty to fill the spots where I bottomed out, and chipped the paint.
The rear fender is not fiberglass, it is metal, but the process is pretty much the same.

[HarleyCruiser]

For touching up the rear fender I use an air brush.
It is very precise and you use it like a touch up gun.

I am only painting the repaired spots black, the rest is ok.
There were some scratches on the sides and a place on the top by the rear seat mount that needed repair/paint.
It won't need much clear, either.
Letting the paint dry now, will shot it with clear, and get back for more post.

[HarleyCruiser]

I got the fenders cleared, let the front dry for a while then put it out in the sun to help the paint kick.

You need to make sure it is dry before you start working with it, and be careful as to not get it too hot.
The sun is not that hot this time of year so it dried to touch in about two hours.

Some people would call this a paint job, and bolt it on the bike, but since I want a really nice paint job, not show quality, but as nice as I can do, you start to color sand, or wet sand the paint.
I am sanding it smooth even if I burn through the paint and need to re-color the fender.
You can’t see how perfect the fender is until you get it clear, so it is part of the process, this base/clear is a sacrificial paint.
Since I am going to give it another coat, I am using 220 that is pretty wore out.

After you wet sand you dry the fender, and you can start to see your imperfections. You can see where I burned though the clear. (2)
Arrow number three I have burn through the base coat as well.
This is an area that had a imperfection that could not be seen until now and needed to be sanded out.
Make sure you sand everything around the area, the same as you don’t want a flat spot.
Arrow number one still needs sanding, you can see the low spots are shiny and the high are dull.
Everything should be dull.
It still needs some sanding, then touch up the base coat, then re-shot the clear. Then cooler sand it again and then rub it out.

Doing a paint job like this is a lot more work, but doing it in a open shop and wanting a real quality job you need to expect a lot of extra time involved.
Remember you need to enjoy painting or you will never be any good.
It is not something you rush.
That is why quality paint jobs cost so much, especially custom fenders.
I get a kick when someone tells me they have a custom paint job, and they didn’t even remove the rivets, or the paint has orange peel.

[bozze86]

Looking good and nice fiberglass work

[unclepsycho]

Wow! I got the holiday's off been settin' here and found this thread. Just read it from start to finnish. Wow! this is awsome. I think it is great, well written, and cool to show that ya don't need shiney new shop full of tools to get the job done. Sure inspires me to get off my easy chair and go get back to my projects. Keep the thread going, and thanks for all the info.