I've been looking for a hugger in Winning Red for my 08 blade but to date no joy and I'm not prepared to pay £175 for a new one. Not just yet anyway. So, I found an HRC blue hugger on Gumtree for £20 a couple of weeks ago and it arrived the other day. Plan is to rub it down and spray it red. Hugger fitted to check all is ok. There's a small section near the right hand mounting hole, next to the shock, that was rubbing against the swing arm so I marked it and will file that section down. Will be prepping it in a couple of days...
Been at the in-laws today and in between GP quali so what better time to start prepping?! I'm no expert so this may be the right way, it may not, so please be gentle with any critique! Started with 800 grit to remove most of the clear coat, then 1200 and finally 2000 to remove any surface scratches. I'm not rubbing down to bare plastic as I don't plan to primer. Paint is on order...
2000 is far too fine for prep, thats for pre-polishing. Stop at 800, and go with your next colour. personally, i would give it a coat of primer first, but thats just my preference.
Paint arrived on Monday - 3 stage with red basecoat, pearl or metallic midcoat and clear coat. Yes, they're rattle cans but this is being done on a budget. I decked out my garage with dust sheets and ready to go. 3 coats of basecoat and 2 of midcoat applied, leaving 20-30 minutes in between coats. Then 4 light coats of the clear coat after about an hour. I left that for 24 hours, as advised on the can, and then started to cut and polish. Started this with 2000 grit wet and dry to get most areas dull and as flat as possible to get rid of the orange peel, then 3000 then 5000. Final step, rubbing/cutting compound to really bring out a nice flat shine. Then a good polish with some Autoglym super resin polish. I'm pretty happy with the results. Colour match is good, finish is smooth and glossy. Just need to fit it now! Total cost altogether was about £50 as I had most materials already. Good fun doing it too!
Thanks man, appreciate that. I'm well happy with the finish and match, can't wait to see what it looks like on the bike now!
