Another "riveting" article on the belly pan project.

No long lead in for this post. I have been writing about the belly pan fabrication endlessly so it is time to get some real progress documented. I promise, in this post the stock lower fairing actually becomes a belly pan!

The tools for yesterday's job. A cordless drill, a rivet gun and a wood block were the essential pieces that needed to get good results. The clamps helped to line things up and keep it all in place. Very simple hand tools that were all procured for less than $50 total that allow me to transform the boring stock plastics into race functional bodywork. As fiberglas bodywork for the Pregen Ninjas is close to $500, I'm saving a bundle.

I started by doing the last 15 minutes of sanding, grinding and fitment of the metal pan to the lower fairing in place on the bike. After I was finally satisfied, I cleaned up the lower fairing. First thing was to use some Goo Gone to remove the remaining bits of heat shield that was clinging to the plastic. I also had to use it to get rid of the duct tape stains that were on the inside of the plastic. The upper fairing to lower fairing mount tabs on the upper fairing have long since broken off and a previous owner turned to duct tape to make the fix. Yuck.

I also broke out the heat gun and de-Ninja-fied the little Ninja. After slowly heating up the Ninja decals, I picked at them until I got a corner up and slowly warmed the plastic while pulling up the decal. It only took about 15 minutes and afterwards the lower fairing cleaned up nicely. With a little plastic polish and my buffer the whole thing should be pretty enough that I won't have to paint it unless I'm looking to change the color.

Once clean and pretty, I popped the center front rivet into place to check for fit on the bike. Once I knew that it would work out, I got seven more rivets locked in. The belly pan is solid! All those grinding sessions ensured that I had a great fit between the metal pan and the lower fairing plastic. As a bonus, bridging the open gap on the bottom of the fairing with the riveted metal pan made the whole lower fairing stiffer and less flexy.

Here is what it looks like from the inside. You can see that I also popped two rivets into the side wings that overlap to the lower fairing sides just under the mount holes. This morning after a run, I added four more rivets on the bottom for one structurally sound belly pan! I also trimmed off the tab in the back now that I know I won't be needing any extra mounting surfaces. After I fill the front and side vent holes, I will seal around the inside opening edges with some weatherstrip sealant that I bought for my rear caliper mount bolts. That should give me a race legal, fully fluid containing belly pan.

I plan on hitting the dollar store after work tonight so I can grab more raw material for the vent plugs. A couple of $1 cookie trays should do the trick. I estimate two more nights of shop time to finish this up. I can't wait, as that means test time should be right around the corner.

See ya, Blue