This is mainly for the banana seat cbrs, but it may work for the seperate seated cbrs also.
FIRST you gotta be patient. Over the course of a weekend I was in my garage working on this for about 26 hours. No joke. You can spread the time out, but I learned you can rush these processes.
Second. Thid was the first time I have ever used fiberglass, or bondo. I have painted, which you will see, but It took a learning curve for the glass and bondo.
OK down to business.
First you need:
Fiberglass resin, and hardner. (read the instructions on mixing amounts)
Bondo, and hardner. ( same thing, read)
Some fiberglass sheets.
Rags
A palm sander and compressor if you have/or can get it.
Lots of sanding pads for said sander( 80grit, to about 400 for this part)
A THICK plastic bag (you will see why)
Tape (masking or duct will suffice)
Rubber gloves
A few paint brushes (cause once you use one its trash, buy cheap)
If I think of anything along the way I will mention it.
Im gonna try and make it easier for anyone else attempting this, by being very detailed and telling my mistakes. Because this was my first attempt.
First tape the seat this way:
Its sortof a guide, but also a good surface to tape to later.
Now Cut a piece of your THICK plastic that will cover the area to be glassed, and be tape off under the seat like so:
I did use thicker plastic, but it was black, and for the pictures I just taped this white one there so you could see it better. The bottom:
The plastic is mainly so that you can remove the hardened cowl later.
Now I used a rag for my first layer to put resin on. Reason being it was EASY to stretch across the way I wanted it to. So you just tape it (duct tape works better for this) under the bottom also. Like so:
Now the front edge DOESNT have to be exactly where you want it in the end, BUT if you run it big you will have to cut it to the shape you want (hard to do) So I kept it right where I wanted it during this first resin application.
Ok Now mix the resin per the instructions, ONLY when you are ready to apply it, cause it will gel up and get hard quick. Once you mix only the amount you can use in like five minutes start applying it to the rag. Make sure it soaks through the rag. Like so:
Let this dry. It will get hot and start to harden within a hr.
Now this is where this how to gets skecthy. I did all of this above in about 5 hours on Friday night. I go to bed and the wife is going to her sisters in the AM. AND SHE TAKES THE DAMN CAMERA!!!!!!!!!!!
So I will have to explain all the reat until the end!!
OK once the first resin has dried, and the rag is stiff. Get your fiberglass sheet and cut pieces to fit the area. Get these ready first before you mix the resin. Once you are ready, mix the some resin (about 10-14 ounces should be enough) pour some on the area and lay some glass on it. Using either a paint brush or rubber gloved hands (was easier for me) work the glass into the resin. Like the rag make sure its all saturated with resin. Let this dry for about 30 minutes or so and do it again. You can put as many layers as you want. I put 4 including the rag.
Now I let this sit for about 4-5 hours before I di anything else. I dont know if there is a standard or not but this is what I did.
So now I pulled the hardened glass/cowl off the seat. Was suprisingly light and STRONG. I used a sharpie and traced around the cowl where I wanted to cut the excess off. And used a cutoff wheel to cut away what wasnt needed.
Bondo:
Now What I did was mixed about a tennis ball anount of bondo, per the instructions, and using a squigie smeared bondo on the cowl. You will see that the bondo fills the low spots. Let that dry ( doesnt take long) and using the palm sander hit it with 50. Then maybe 120. Now depending on how smooth you got your glass, you might not need much bondo. LOL I needed alot. So I kept sanding some and the more bondo, until I got the shape I wanted. Work your way to from 120 grit, then some 320, and then 400. Now if your happy with the shape, wet sand it with 400 and let it dry. Spray it with some primer, I used gray. This with make any inperfections glare. See little pinholes, fill em. See a low spot, add more bondo and sand to get the shape. TRUST me it is time consuming..
Now once you get the shape, and flaws out, you need to wet sand, wash and let dry. Primer about 4 coats in about 3-4 minute gaps. Let this dry and wet sand with 600, wash and let dry.
Now paint. If you need to know how to paint/buff it let me know and I will explain.
I think thats all. Any questions just ask....
Here is the finished product. Like I said its not perfect but It didnt cost me out the ass either.
Oh yeah here is how I decided to attach it......
This is the end of that leather strap that went across the seat. I cut the ends and epoxied them to the underside of the cowl. Attaches like so:
Ok finished:
Here on this pic is the only thing I dont like about it. I thought I marked/cut the excess off lower than
it is in the picture. I dont really like that it shows the seat but its the same on boths sides atleast.
BTW this is at this site only, so maybe itll help get some googlers here wanting custom cowl help!!!!
custom solo cowl!!
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