Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Custom Corner a few mods

OK, you will all be aware of the sad state of the rear end of her, so yesterday decided to crack on with the repairs


This is how she looked after the idiot drove into me

Now, wanting to make it lower and more swoopy at the back I bought this off evilbay. Its off a harley electroglide. Now you would think that one of the biggest harleys would be quiet wide. Wrong it is a lot narrower than the Triumph

The only answer was introduce it to Mr Angry Grinder

I then chopped the back off the Triumph off, just in front of the damage


Now, this was the tricky bit. Using wood and screws I joined the three bits together until they looked about right and held the shape. Now, the harley metal is a lot thinner and flimsy, and only having a stick welder meant welding the lot together was out of the question. So I put a piece of steel down each side, a little spot weld and turned it upside down

I then fiberglassed the underside and its come out very rigid

At this point I ran out of resin, nowhere open to buy any from, so its look around to see what else I could do

Now, I have a load of this plastic coated ally that I got off freecycle, so decided it would be ideal as a cover for the painted chain guard

After cutting a piece off it was time to attack it with the sander and wet and dry

The end looked a bit boring though, so I attack it with the dremmel and needle files, and end up with this. Still a bit rough and needing some final filing, but we're getting there

A quick buff on the wheel, trial fit and here we go. Like I said, needs a final shaping and a proper polish but should look better than the standard matt black cover

Also made up a cover for the bottom yoke whick will hold two spot lights

These very lights, thought they looked a bit different to the conventional twin bates, and I think the blue glow looks cool.

I have alsd ordered an LED truck light which is very slim, which I am going to flush fit into the rear mudguard. Am also thinking of moulding in the rear indicators and side mounting the number plate.

Once everything was together it was time to start moulding it all in. I have jumped the stage where I fitted the indicator, but will photograph it when I do the other side

Starting to take shape now

For the back light I have cut a hole in the mudguard and then with some cardboard I made a little box to hold the rear light

I then turned it over and fiberglassed over the cardboard


Trial fit of the light, and this is the progress so far.

To finish off the rear light I have some 4mm ally which I am going to cut slots in which the light will shine through

Good one Chris and thanks for taking me through the process. I'll be interested to see how she looks when finished. By your work so far I'm thinking whatever happens, that rear fender will be an original for sure.

what a wonderful time of year it is...Christmas my rear...seems like end of Jan early Fed is when all the work starts.

Im diggin the glassed in lights!

That is definitely a first. Mating two different steel fenders with a generous helping of fiberglass and bondo.

very cool to see the step by step. That chain guard looks great.

with all the fiberglass why not just make one out of fiberglass?

Thats a lot of work, for sure! Good luck on the finish and keep us posted. Also, great pics! (just like reading a magazine about mods, I love that kind of stuff, gets me to thinking).

I spoke to a buddy of mine who works in the automobile refinishing industry (body work, etc.) and he was aghast. He said it's only a matter of time before that structure disintegrates and leaves shrapnel on the roadways. It's not unheard of to customize a fender by sectioning different pieces together, but the "proper" and safe way to do it is to weld it all together. Bondo is not structural, its' for finishing only. I bought a crusty old VW bug once that had bodyrot holes covered up with fiberglass matting instead of being replaced with sheetmetal patches and it all fell apart. Water gets in between the fiberglass and metal and starts rusting.

Best of luck.

That is probably very true for the femder,but I did put the magnito cover back together from about 10 pieces on one of my dirt bikes with some screen and bondo,rode it for years until I finally broke a ring and that cover held together nicely and kept dirt and water out. Too much stress on the back end of that fender hanging out past the mounts with no support. Like The good Friar said best way would have been to weld strips of metal in even if after that you then molded it with fiberglass and bondo.

The fiberglass isn't holding the pieces together. Where the wood is in the first few pictures, I spot welded in steel strips so it was all one piece before the fiberglass went on.There is also a steel bar hidden by the moulded in indicators, and a thinner strip welded in at the tip of the mudguard

That sure will be a custom back guard, I like the indicators and look forward to seeing finished job.
I dont think I would get away with the blue front lights round here.
Is it the Newcastle Brown Ale that gives you inspiration?

THAT LOOKS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!Sorry you had to get smacked though to get it done

Pure inspiration!

Tell us more about these...who makes em?


These very lights, thought they looked a bit different to the conventional twin bates, and I think the blue glow looks cool.

OK, bit of an update

The pictures don't do it justice, looks better in the flesh




Needs a ****** good polish now, and am awaiting delivery of the number plate and chrome surround, but this it it pretty much finished ready to just bolt back on.

I suppose I could have just bought a standard one, but where would the fun be in that. Also I couldn't find an aftermarket one I liked so I had no choice but build it from scratch.

Have also managed to loose 1 indicator lens in the black hole that is my shed........me thinks it time for a tidy up

I really like the molded in turn signals!

Soren

OK pics are a bit dark, but here is how she looks

Looks cool, can we get some more pics of the rear? I like the turn signals in the fender