The Woes of New Sheet Metal

I was out late last night by my standards, and I didn't get home until 10pm. I was at Denis' house working on my Harley fenders.

One thing I learned last night: Just because a sheet metal item (car or bike) is new doesn't mean it's straight.

I bought the front fender new a few years ago, and it has been kept safe the whole time I've owned it. In other words, I've never dropped it or banged it or anything. He initially looked it over and said it was pretty good, and that we would just need to give it a primer and sand like most other things.

Wrong.

Last night I was there when he attempted to block sand the primer coat. That's what you do when you want to show the high/low spots. Let me tell you, it looked like it was formed with a rock and club. Much hammering, sanding and evaluation later, he mixed up a batch of "mud" and gave it a coat of that to fill the voids. After it cured, it was sanded down, finally making the fender smooth like it should be. I left with the rear fender for me to sand this weekend when I have time. It's already been filled before it was primered, so all I have to do there is sand it smooth for the final coat.

Denis assured me that it's very seldom a new piece of sheet metal is perfect. He's been a body man for a few years and has seen a lot.

It occurred to me as I lay down in bed last night that I only have four weeks left and my bike has to be 100% operational. Sure, the updates will be done easily, but I also want enough room to handle any tweaking and updating that needs to be done by then. It's obvious that I've spent way too long doing this. It should have been done months ago. Typical.

It's Sarah's last tennis game of the season today. Yay! They had a game last night too, and trounced them soundly. The one she played in was won 7-0. The other team was way out of their league.

It's Friday, and boy do I need it. Thanks to Cinco de Mayo tomorrow, lots of good Mexican beer oughta be on sale today.