Testarossa's 78 KZ1000 Fighter Build

Then I used a cutoff wheel in my dremel tool to cut the plastic close to the cut lines. I then filed the edge up to the line, and then sanded them smooth.

Now this fender does have two broken mount tabs that must be repaired. You can see the first in this picture.

It just so happens that one of the scrap pieces removed from the fender has the same curve as the missing tab. I just made a cardboard template off the tab that is intact on the opposite side. Then cut the plastic piece. I cleaned up the edges of the fender where broken so that I would be attaching to straight lines, not jagged break lines. Then I just fusion welded the two pieces together using my soldering iron.

Now I have some ABS plastic rods from another repair, so I use them as a filler rod. Make sure that there is enough material there to sand back to the finished profile.

Now, I still need to do a little work around the screw hole to make it match the other side, but I have it close. These type of repairs are not perfect. There are usually quite a bit of pinholes to fill before you paint the repair.

I guess you might want to see the fender after I cut it. I almost forgot to take this picture.

I will probably paint the fender black to minimize it's appearance. At the very least, the sides will be black. I really like the look of no fender, but it's not very practical.

porchev914 wrote:

Just an FYI on the tank- even a straight tank will have high spots/low spots and slight waves in the sheetmetal. If you were going for a pro job you would skim coat the whole tank to fill in all the slightly low spots to make it perfect

Good point Adam. I'll probably do just that. I want it to look as good as I can get it.

It looks good, I like it.

testarossa wrote:

It just so happens that one of the scrap pieces removed from the fender has the same curve as the missing tab. I just made a cardboard template off the tab that is intact on the opposite side. Then cut the plastic piece. I cleaned up the edges of the fender where broken so that I would be attaching to straight lines, not jagged break lines. Then I just fusion welded the two pieces together using my soldering iron.

Boy, does this bring back memories of my side cover repairs....looking good!

Did you have some cracks around the mounting tabs?

I actually had the usual flex crack in the side cover. About 2/3 of the way up the front side of the side cover. Similar repair, although I didn't have any ABS filler rods - had to smooth it out and paint. Still a bit of a ridge even after primer and paint, but hard to see.

DoubleDub wrote:

I actually had the usual flex crack in the side cover. About 2/3 of the way up the front side of the side cover. Similar repair, although I didn't have any ABS filler rods - had to smooth it out and paint. Still a bit of a ridge even after primer and paint, but hard to see.

I guess I'm lucky to work in a machine shop. If we need material, it just gets lumped in with a daily order. 1/4" ABS barstock, no problem. Before I had the barstock, I had an old KZ750 tail piece that I would cut chunks off to use as filler. Most model kits are made from ABS, you can use the spars that the pieces are attached to.