Bodywork Repairs

G'day all, The tail piece on my Z1-R has been well and truly butchered by some PO for some "who-knows-what" reason - see pic!




Not only was the internal brace separated from the tailpiece but it had been melted/drilled/buggered up! So I had to come up with a repair scheme.
I found this product called "Rapid Fix" which is a 2 part adhesive/bonding/filling product which I used to re-attach the internal brace to the inside of the tailpiece - see pics.




It's just like araldite but much quicker/stronger and easier to use. One part of the kit is a fine powder which is applied to the area needed to be bonded/filled/joined,. Drops of the the liquid adhesive are then applied (sparingly) to the powder and an instant "weld" or patch is made.

I had to make a patch to strengthen the brace where it had been butchered - I used a couple of pieces of plastic and just glued these on using high strength araldite - thought the Rapidfix would be overkill and it would consume a lot of the kit - which is not cheap.





I have also used Rapidfix to fill some holes in my sidecovers which a PO had drilled. Just blanked off one side of the hole with tape , filled the hole with the powder then added a drop of the adhesive ; then turned the cover over, removed the tape, added a bit more powder and a drop of adhesive - job done!
Be sure to not apply too much powder of youre filling something which needs to be sanded back - there is very little shrinkage and the RapidFix is very hard - can be drilled/sanded once the adhesive has been applied!
I'll be using this to repair my fairing which has some splits/damage also

My apologies for the attachments all being the same ! I have some trouble putting multiple images into my posts! So I'll put them in singly the first one in my previous post shows the completed repair. (not pretty but structurally ok and can't be seen.

The pic is attached is of the tailpiece after the brace repair and shows the extent of the butchery with which I had to deal!

Another pic of the outer patch after both patches were glued in place.

Final repair pic (this time with correct pic -

looking from the rear!)

Some info on Rapidfix FYI at the attachment (I hope!)

Sounds very similar to this product:

www.eastwood.com/rigid-plastic-repair-kits.html

The guys on my Cafe meetup group told me about this stuff. Can be used to recreate side cover pegs, fix fairings, etc. Wonder if its by the same company as Rapidfix.

Hi Weales,
I've been repairing ABS body work panels with another method. It actually makes a repair that is stronger than the part before the damage.
Check out: www.kzrider.com/articles/technical-tips/...ir-first-timeforever
Bill

For smaller crack repairs, like side cover tabs, I just use a soldering gun with a flat tip and plastic scrapes to melt the crack closed and build it up a little. Just clean all the paint off and keep the heat low to prevent bubbling. High dollar plastic welding guns are also available , so is the low buck Harbor Freight junk.

PaintWorkz wrote: For smaller crack repairs, like side cover tabs, I just use a soldering gun with a flat tip and plastic scrapes to melt the crack closed and build it up a little. Just clean all the paint off and keep the heat low to prevent bubbling. High dollar plastic welding guns are also available , so is the low buck Harbor Freight junk.

Used that method for the first time on my lawn tractor fuel tank which had acquired split on the bottom of the tank. Used the little ring that comes on oil bottle caps as material. And the fact that it is not an open flame I didn't have to worry about the gasoline fumes. Worked great!