As Project 13 nears the finish line, it's the little things that remain. One not so small project is detailing the bodywork. These finishes may be 32 years old, but it's pretty amazing what some effort and the right tools can accomplish.
Dulled and discolored paint, scuffs and even scratches can all be eliminated, or at least brought up to the best level we can hope for. I begin with paint touch-up, allowing the paint to cure for a few days before approaching the paint job as a whole.
Here's some of my favorite finishing tools, along with various fine grades of wet/dry sandpaper. I approach any problem areas a with 5000-grit wet sanding, only going with coarser paper if necessary — this will take out many scuffs and light scratches. In the case of this project, the fuel tank was slightly discolored, with the white showing yellowing, probably from a combination of gas spills and years of UV damage. A combination of 3000-grit followed by 5000-grit brought the tank to an acceptable level. Great care and a fine touch is required — it doesn't take much to sand through the clear and color coats. It's easy to take paint off, impossible to put it back.
This leaves a dull finish which I tackle with an application of Meguiar's Mirror Glaze #83 with the dual-action polisher using a three- or four-inch pad, followed by Meguiar's Ultimate Compound. The final touch to any project is a hand application of Meguiar's Polish.
(click on an image to enlarge)
Dulled and discolored paint, scuffs and even scratches can all be eliminated, or at least brought up to the best level we can hope for. I begin with paint touch-up, allowing the paint to cure for a few days before approaching the paint job as a whole.
Here's some of my favorite finishing tools, along with various fine grades of wet/dry sandpaper. I approach any problem areas a with 5000-grit wet sanding, only going with coarser paper if necessary — this will take out many scuffs and light scratches. In the case of this project, the fuel tank was slightly discolored, with the white showing yellowing, probably from a combination of gas spills and years of UV damage. A combination of 3000-grit followed by 5000-grit brought the tank to an acceptable level. Great care and a fine touch is required — it doesn't take much to sand through the clear and color coats. It's easy to take paint off, impossible to put it back.
This leaves a dull finish which I tackle with an application of Meguiar's Mirror Glaze #83 with the dual-action polisher using a three- or four-inch pad, followed by Meguiar's Ultimate Compound. The final touch to any project is a hand application of Meguiar's Polish.
(click on an image to enlarge)
The same techniques can be applied to the plastic turn signals, lenses and mirrors, assuming they're only lightly damaged. Here, the finished turn signal is mounted on a shorter 1 1/4-inch stalk to bring it closer to the fairing for a trimmer look.
Next up is the seat. To bring back the sheen and soften the old vinyl, I do a deep cleaning with warm water, a mild detergent, soft brush and a good scrubbing with a bug sponge. After an overnight drying, I apply a quality leather conditioner, rubbing it into the vinyl. A good quality product won't produce the slippery surface that common products like Armor-All will.
This seat also has some worn corners which is very common to these old seats. There's no substitute for originality, so I wanted to use this seat despite the damage. To blend the damaged area I trim away any excess vinyl and rub in one or two applications of a quality shoe polish, like Meltonian, pictured here.
It doesn't fix the issue, but your eye is no longer drawn to the imperfection and the original seat is back on the bike.
It doesn't fix the issue, but your eye is no longer drawn to the imperfection and the original seat is back on the bike.
Project 13 doesn't have the optional passenger seat cowl, so to make that fact less obvious, I unscrew the large chrome cowl mounts and replace them with a couple of tiny plastic push-in hole covers, which I find at Ace Hardware. The cowl hardware can quickly be replaced if desired.
Most of the fairing screws and their associated washers are NLA from Honda. I can't locate some of these aftermarket, so back to Ace for some generic replacements. These large screws didn't originally come with washers under the screw heads, but I like to cushion them anyway, so I've found some nice-fitting nylon washers in either white or black.
Here, the metal (backside) washer, an OEM part still available, is combined with an outer nylon washer.
It's the little things.....
Here, the metal (backside) washer, an OEM part still available, is combined with an outer nylon washer.
It's the little things.....
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