Filling Pits in Motorcyce Headlight Shell?

[kwright]

I have a bit of a dilemma. I restore vintage Japanese motorcycles, and until my current project, I have always painted the frames and other parts. For this project, I decided to try professional powder coating. My problem can be seen in the attached photos. The headlight shell was completely covered in rust, which has created a pitted surface over the entire part. There is one “before” and two after-blasting photos.

If I was painting the components, the solution is straightforward, but since I am powder coating, it’s not that easy. My coater, who is very competent and well regarded in my area, will coat this part, but he believes I will be unhappy with the finished item due to the pitting of the substrate. He recommends either finding a used item in better condition or attempting to smooth the surface by sanding. He does not recommend filling with metal-to-metal for a couple of reasons, not the least of which is the amount of surface to be repaired.

Rust and pitting aside, this item is in very good shape and as I really prefer to restore versus replace parts, I’d like to be able to use this item if possible. I could repair and paint this part, but I’m concerned the finish texture and/or color and gloss will not quite match the powder coated parts it will be mounted closely too.

I sure could use some advice on this.

Note: I’m a long time Eastwood products user and have been a member of this forum for a little while now, but this is my first post.

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