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Any top tips for cutting a fairing?


Gobert23

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Well, fingers-crossed... I've paid my monies to get my hands on a carbon fibre belly-pan for the 916.

Now, I looked at the late 998 model (road) belly pan, but that won't fit onto the 916, without 'modification' to (read that as cutting great chunks out of...) the stock road fairing.

I've considered fitting a later fairing (without the side vents) but that's not really in keeping with my project.

Anyways :eusa_whistle:

The road fairing, on the pre-998 machines, meets underneath the sump, as you would expect, and has two Dzus fastners that holds the two halfs together.

When you introduce the Ducati Performance* race part (the belly-pan) there are lower areas of the side fairings that need to be marked up and chopped away.

From memory, the belly-pan needs to sit properly at the front to meet the v-panel (that covers the oil cooler) and at the rear to clear the exhausts. There's also the small matter of marking and cutting the side fairings/panels so that they'll 'sit' with the belly-pan as well.

I'm going to have to make up some brackets, but my real worry is cutting a set of plastics :icon_pale: (v. worried**)

Q. Has anyone on here done this? Any experiences of modifying (stock/OE plastic) fairing panels?? (NB: Not carbon fibre or GRP fairing panels)

G :icon_blackeye:

*It had better be! It's not here yet.

**I'm not cutting the original Strada panels (that'd be a crime!). I've got a spare set of panels that'll be re-painted.

in the hope that

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yarp iv cut them all,jig saw is the tool,keep the speed slow,and use a meedium tothed blade,maskin tape the surface,than mark with perment pen,and off you go,work of advise,cut to the one side of mark,and finish or the edge with a hans held wrasp file,then fine wet and dry,job done.

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Dont push the blade through too fast or you will find that the plastic melts behind the blade and sticks together again. Yes, as Speedy says, mask the area and cut through the masking tape.

iv cut loads of plastic parts,and iv found a slow blade(med tothed)pushed like a vergine works best.and spray some wd40 on the blade as hot blade=a fucking mess of a cut. :icon_blackeye:

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I've got a jigsaw, but it's a cheap and nasty thing that's seen better days (a little tired after being used on a hard-wood floor).

I do have a nice new Dremel though (with all the trimmings) which may just get put into action on this one (power is nuttin' without control and all that...)

What's the recommendation then? Cut from the inside out or from the outside (the 'painted' side in)?

I'm now thinking about how to get a uniform edge (a neat chamfer?) once I've done the cutting(??)

T'is definately going to have to be a case of 'measure twice (actually more) and cut once'.

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dremmel may spin to fast and melt the plastic,bleve me when i say the jig is the tool for the job,as long as its got speed controle,its a done job.and if you do use the dremmel,cut from the painted side as it will sent all the swarf to the back,and try on somthing the same first.to get use to the cutting action.and top tip use 2in tape to mark out cut mark,peel off then stick to paper,then cut out the mask you want,then remask the area to cut,place the mask on and re mark,turn over then do the oposite side faring,wal a they will both mach.

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I used the Dremel on my GSX-R fairing and as they've said, even at the slowest speed it still melts the plastic.

Also, speaking from experience, measure twice thrice cut once......it's suprisingly easy to get it wrong and mess up your fairing :eusa_whistle:

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well mate i once got that mad with a jig saw i took the angle grinder to my race seat, needless to say never take an angle grinder to plastic :eusa_whistle:

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<Puts Dremel back in the box>

:rolleyes:

R'eet... I'll need to get myself some new blades for the jigsaw and one o' them Tamiya saw thingys :dribble:

I'm a lil' nervous to be considering chopping up perfectly good Ducati panels, but needs (project demands!) must, eh?

Must aslo pencil a note to myself, to remember to work out where/how to fit new Dzus fastners in the belly pan as well, as nothing's pre-drilled.

NB. Duct Tape might yet be the answer... (just not pretty)

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I've always usd one of these:

FAICS.jpg

Works fine on plastic, fibreglass and carbon.

I've always found a coping saw easier to use and have more control over, plus there's no melting of plastic etc.

I can never cut a straight line with a jigsaw for some reason. As Jamie Porter says a bit like cutting bread with a chain saw...

Mask of the area with masking tape, measure as many times until you think you are right and measure again, just to be sure.

A fine tooth blade gives a good finish. I would then use something like 240 grit to give a nice round edge and then 600 to give a nice smooth finish.

It works for me anyway.

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  • 2 weeks later...

when i modified my blade belly pan i masked off the cut and used a junior hacksaw, then wet and dry paper to put a nice smooth edge on it. it actually worked out a million times better than i had hoped tho it takes an enormous amount of bottle to make that first cut! just get it as well prepared as you can, take a deep breath and DON'T shut your eyes! i got thru two test runs before i learnt that one lol

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+1 dremmel is too fast - great for GRP, not for plastic - just melts it and makes a mess.

As others have said ^.

However for modifying GRP bodywork, Dremel's are teh shizzle.

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