WANTED: Bates saddlebag or Bay Area fiberglass repair shop

 

I need to either replace or fix a Bates king size fiberglass saddlebag,
right side.
Does anyone have an old one sitting around? or
Does anyone know a good shop for fiberglass repair in SF/Bay Area?

Thanks.

Hal
please reply to hbeilan@mindspring.com

 


Any autobody shop knows how to perform a fiberglass repair. Find a
hungry independent shop and I'm sure they'll set you up!

 


Any autobody shop knows how to perform a fiberglass repair. Find a
hungry independent shop and I'm sure they'll set you up!

 



Hal wrote:

Why do you call the material the saddlebags are made of "fiberglass"?
They aren't made of fiberglass, they are made of fiberglass-reinforced
thermoplastic. You can use an epoxy or thermosetting resin, with, or
without fiberglass as a reinforcement, depending on how badly damaged
the part is...

How badly damaged is the saddlebag? Is it cracked, or does it just have
big holes where mounting bolts pulled through?

You can buy a fiberglass repair kit from Pep Boys that contains white
glass cloth, polyester resin and hardener for about $12 to $15...

You need some disposable pans and plastic spatulas to mix the resin in,
and some "acid" brushes to work the resin into the glass cloth...

Go easy on the hardener, it doesn't take very much of it to make the
polyester resin set up quickly. Polyester resin would set up in warm
sunlight if you had enough time to wait for it. Too much hardener and
the polyester resin will get hot and start to smoke...

You can repair structural damage with that kit and fill in scratches
with Bondo and repaint the saddlebag to match the other one. If the
damage isn't extensive, you could even use a 2-part epoxy like JB Weld
to fix it.

If you want to try re-glassing the saddlebag, sand the area smooth
where you're going to lay the cloth, brush on a layer of resin, and lay
the cloth down onto the tacky resin. Then use your acid brushes with
2/3rds of the bristles cut off to stipple more resin onto the dry side
of the glass. When the glass absorbs all of the resin it will turn
transparent and you're just wasting resin by adding more. If you want
to add another layer, lightly sand the cured resin, but don't abrade
the glass. Repeat the steps of brushing on a thin layer of resin, lay
down more glass, stipple more resin on the dry side...

You need a reasonably warm (about 75 degrees or warmer) dry place to
work, or heat lamps to cure the resin...