A audio that a Corvette owner never wants to hear is a siren wailing from behind. Another is the sickening sound of crunching fiberglass. And the latter is likely to be even more than painful than the former. Follow forth to run across what is involved in small fiberglass repair and gain tips on treatment these and other collision repairs.
C1 Corvettes are composed of fiberglass body panels that are bonded together, creating many finished seams that hopefully are not visible. A person tin run their finger forth the paint from the front of the car down the front end fender, along the rocker console, up the rear fender, over the back and down the other side to the forepart again without feeling a seam. This makes a very polish-looking body but likewise makes for a lot of work when a trunk panel has to be replaced. All the seams where the panels adjoin have to be ground, sanded and finished to a high standard in order not to be seen.
Another problem with this type of fiberglass trunk construction is that there is no end to some of the individual torso panels where repainting can be stopped. This issue is of particular concern with cars that accept a clearcoat. When a painter blends the clearcoat mid-console, the layer of clear existence practical gets thinner and thinner. A thinning clearcoat edge doesn't agree up well to the elements and is oft not an accepted repair procedure.
C2s and C3s inverse to commodities-on rocker panels making replacement and repair of some body panels a bit easier. However, the fenders were still bonded to the upper surroundings (pinnacle) panels. Replacement of whatsoever of these panels requires grinding and chiseling to separate each from the adjacent panel. After a new panel is installed and bonded, the bonding material exposed at the seam still needs to be ground flush to the panel surface and properly finished.
An ever-present problem is that bonding materials and torso fillers tend to compress with fourth dimension, fifty-fifty ones that are catalyzed. A fiberglass repair may look perfect when leaving the shop but months later on subtle lines give witness to the fiberglass repairs when looking closely at the pigment. For that reason, information technology is essential that you find a shop that has plenty of experience repairing the earlier Corvette fiberglass bodies.
The primers, sealers, color glaze (basecoat) and clearcoat tin can also shrink. This is less of a trouble with modern ii component (2k) catalyzed paints than it was with lacquer paints. The store I worked at years ago, Corvette Center in Connecticut, used to reassemble the lights and bumpers on a freshly lacquer painted car so that the owner could drive information technology for a few months to allow the materials to stabilize earlier it was brought back for wet sanding and buffing. (Unsurprisingly, more a few of these cars sustained collision damage once more during that iii-calendar month waiting period. Their 6.70x15 and 7.75x15 tires were no friction match for a Corvette'due south horsepower back then.)
Even with today'southward improved bonding and filling materials information technology is always wise to requite them plenty of time to fully cure before the concluding paint is applied. Heating the repaired area with infrared lights or parking the automobile exterior under the sun on a warm day helps accelerate the curing procedure and thereby reduces the amount of shrinkage in the following months.
Fortunately, owners of after-generations of Corvettes have little or no worries nearly the subconscious seams and shrinkage where panels are bonded together. C7s, for example, are designed so that the individual body panels abut ane another with no finished seams. That enables body panels to be individually replaced, repaired or repainted. Because of this, when panels are replaced every bit opposed to repaired it is not as essential that repair shops take a depth of feel working on early Corvettes. Still, if fiberglass repairs are needed, it is e'er good to see other Corvettes in the shop and be able to inspect the store'southward work on our prized plastic possessions. Vette
one. The scene of the accident. The short guard poles were not visible equally the car turned right around a large tree into a slanted parking space. Multiple colors on the pole testify this wasn't the offset time it bit a car.
two. Y'all can often reduce the cost of repairs by doing some disassembly yourself. The owner removed the grilles, parking lights, sidelights and emblems before it was brought to the store.
3. Inspect the trunk and paint on nearby panels to make up one's mind if at that place are other defects or damage to repair. It will cost a lot less to accept care of these at the same fourth dimension. Too, painting next panels can assist with colour matching. The small cleft in the fiberglass on the driver-side fender could be fixed and the misalignment between the body and the urethane bumper cover could be improved.
4. Although not like shooting fish in a barrel to see, there are several small bubbles on the hood. These might have been caused by oil absorbed into the fiberglass. As a contempo Vette article showed, information technology can exist quite a procedure to making sure paint problems from oil contamination in the fiberglass don't return.
five. Here'south the motorcar every bit delivered to Superior Motorcar Body in St. Petersburg, Florida (the bumper cover was removed past the owner). An old bumper cover or its pigment can scissure upon removal or handling so don't be surprised if the shop warns you of that or asks that you remove the cover yourself.
vi. Superior Auto Body owner Ron Valario is doing the initial grinding around the cracked fiberglass to determine the extent of the impairment and to determine what lies nether the pigment.
seven. The 36-grit grinding disc makes fast work of removing the layers of paint and exposing what lies beneath. Tip: when doing any heavy grinding of fiberglass, tape your sleeves closed or you may have a serious example of the itchies hours later on.
eight. Similar a box of chocolates, you lot never know what you're gonna find underneath paint. From the left yous can see the most recent scarlet paintjob, a prior ruby-red paintjob, a skim coat of trunk filler, a glass mat from a prior repair, and finally the grayness of the mill fiberglass console. Most the top of the basis area, the seam where the fender was bonded to the upper surround panel is visible.
ix. The exposed layers of different materials at the driver-side front corner told a like tale of prior repairs once the layers of paint were removed.
10. On C3 Corvettes, the front fenders are connected to the upper (hood) surround panel by bonding strips that lie backside these body panels and are glued together. The narrow gap between the panels and then has to be filled, sanded and finished so that it is invisible when painted.
11. Both woven fiberglass cloth and not-woven fiberglass mat were used in this modest repair. The woven cloth was laid down get-go to provide structural strength. So the randomly oriented strands of the mat reinforced the subsequent layers and filled areas. The mat-reinforced resin is easier to sand and is effective at hiding the impress-through outcome that can result from using but heavy fiberglass cloths.
12. In the final layer of fiberglass that was practical, the random fiberglass hairs are barely visible through the red-tinted resin. The repaired area is made significantly larger to ensure a smooth transition from the damaged area.
13. Inside the fenderwell, the adjoining surfaces were ground and bonded together to provide boosted strength to the repair. The bonding strip that connects the fender to the upper panel can be seen with the sometime glue that seeped out from its lower edge.
14. The front side of the front fenderwell console was also bonded to the fender for added strength.
15. A number of body repair materials are used for the terminate piece of work. Evercoat Edge long strand is reinforced with Kevlar and other curt and long strand fibers. 3M Platinum Select filler and Evercoat Edge premium putty complete the job prior to painting.
sixteen. The torso filler materials are practical over the fiberglass on the left side and are set for cake sanding.
17. Greg Cacace is using a long lath to smooth the surfaces prior to paint. Greg's previous employment working on high-finish fiberglass boats provided useful experience for fiberglass repairs on Corvettes.
xviii. Because bodywork was done to the front end surface of the fender, it is essential to mate information technology over again with the bumper cover to run into if there are loftier or low areas that forestall a good fit.
nineteen. Later on the fenders are modified to fit the bumper cover, the first coat of primer is applied. It is very important to thoroughly mask adjoining areas to prevent overspray from getting onto the fenderwells and into the engine compartment. Removing overspray is a job y'all really want to avoid.
20. The waterborne basecoat looks drab and boring without the clearcoat. Superior elected to pigment the entire forepart stop to eliminate colour match bug with the hood and headlight covers. Be forewarned: reds and yellows are among the near expensive auto paint colors.
21. The waterborne basecoat looks drab and dull without the clearcoat. Superior elected to pigment the entire front end finish to eliminate color match problems with the hood and headlight covers. Be forewarned: reds and yellows are among the about expensive auto pigment colors.
22. Reassembly was like shooting fish in a barrel and the fender is much meliorate than before. This is a practiced fourth dimension to supercede tired trim parts, emblems, light housings and grilles because at present information technology actually looks better than new.
23. Rick Tousley's C7 shows how Corvette body panels have changed over the generations. The rear fender is separate from the deck lid and rear bumper encompass. The horizontal seam where information technology abuts the rocker console is as well simply visible. Replacing and repairing panels on subsequently-model Corvettes requires much less bodywork and refinishing.
25. It is e'er comforting to see other Corvettes at the trunk shop facility yous choose, but it's particularly important with the special fiberglass repair needs of C1-C3 Corvettes.
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