Passender Side B-Pillar Fiberglass Repair

A few weeks ago we repaired the drivers side B-pillar fiberglass.  Now its time to do the passenger side.

This is the panel that needs to be reinstalled.

Before the fiberglass repair was started we had to fix a damaged rivet hole located near the tip of the drip rail shoe.   A copper plate was positioned behind the sheet metal then the area was welded.  The copper plate acted as a mold because weld wire will not stick to it.

The area was ground and shaped then the rivet hole was drilled a little later. 

After aligning the pieces, fiberglass was applied to the backside, allowed to cure, then the front was ground then fiberglassed.  This sandwiches the pieces and makes for a very strong repair.

The repair was feathered and blended and the rivets were put back in place.  It's super strong and it's now ready for primer.

I think we will start working on the door jams next.  We need to install the rubber mouldings so we can confirm a good fit on the drip rails.  Because the only way to install the rubber moldings is to glue them in place, this will be the first place we paint Daytona Blue on the car.  Should be interesting.

B Pillar Fiberglass Restoration

Last year when we repaired the B pillars we had to remove the fiberglass that covered the pillars.  It's time to reinstall those covers.

The drivers side cover was tabbed in place (two black tabs), riveted at the drip rail shoe, then fiberglass was applied after feathering all the joints.

I didn't like the gap between the top of the panel and the drip rail shoe so I decided to add a little more length to the panel.  Our preference is to sandwich all fiberglass repairs.  Because the panel is already fiberglassed into place I had to wedge open the gap at the top of the panel and place fiberglass matting on the backside.  Duct tape was strategically placed to capture all the excess fiberglass resin run-off.   

The back side was fully wetted with resin then fiberglass matting was put on the front side to complete the sandwich repair.  The duct tape worked great.  You can see the excess resin collecting on the paper towel at the bottom of the photo.

Here is a close up of the repair.  Remember that our fiberglass is clear so even though you see rivet holes the holes are long gone.

A tongue depressor and duct tape were used to make the resin conform to the drip rail shoe.

After 24 hours the duct tape was removed.  This picture was taken just before the fiberglass was trimmed to fit.

Double click on the picture to see how much length was actually added to the panel.  It's about an 1/8" overall but it matched the shoe very nicely.  This overall repair is extremely solid.  Just prior to painting this area the pop-rivets shown will be replaced with flush mount countersunk rivets and bonding agent will be applied along the panel and the car skin.  The same will be required for the passenger side.  

The next post should be about the side exhaust.

Thanks for watching.

B Pillars are done!

This is a video. Be sure to push the play button.
By the way, a skiddle is a combination skillet/griddle.

We will insulate our Corvette in 2010 using a really cool product called Lizard Skin. Be sure to check out the second video at this web page http://www.lizardskin.com/pages/videos.php

Repairing a 1963 Corvette B Pillar

I thought I'd show you how I am repairing damage to the drivers side B pillar on our Corvette. I used this process on the passenger side and it turned out tough as nails so I am sticking with it. This first picture is the upper drivers side B pillar and it's about half way through the restoration process. When I cut this out of the car originally it was so deteriorated it came out in two pieces. There was nothing left of the piece we discuss below. Nothing. I cut, trimmed and folded a piece of photo paper until it fit where I wanted the next piece of sheet metal to go.

I used a permanent marker to trace the outline of the paper onto the sheet metal.

After the sheet metal was cut I bent the metal to match the paper folds.

Holes were punched where I wanted to plug weld then I put a series of straight cuts between the holes on the farthest flange and V cuts on the closest flange. These cuts will allow me to contour the item.

Starting at the intersection of the B pillar and the window frame I clamped tight then plug welded each hole.

As I worked from left to right I was able to easily bend the piece because of the straight cuts and V's.

After all the plug welds were made I went back and welded all of the straight cuts and V's.

The welds were ground flush then sandblasted to remove any residue. I'll smooth over the welds with JB Weld to eliminate any areas that might collect moisture.

This piece still needs a lot of work but it's now one step closer to being complete.

Ty T. has been working on the passenger side A pillar. I'll show you those pictures in an upcoming post.

More B Pillar Repairs

Lots of research this month. After I cut out the upper portion of the drivers side B pillar I realised that I didn't have any good reference pictures of the B pillar's configuration. I finally posted a question to the National Corvette Restorers Society (NCRS) asking for help after which I received several very helpful pictures. This is one of the pictures. You can see the drivers side B pillar in the center left of the picture. This was my template.

If you recall the B pillar looked like this before any restoration occurred. With the upper portion of the B pillar out of the car and on the bench I started to cut, form, bend, weld and grind. When welding 20 gauge sheet metal it can only be done with a string of tack welds. Any attempt to run a bead resulted in blow through. The tack welds might not be pretty but they're strong. The welding process also turned the malleable sheet metal nice and rigid. At this stage of fabrication the piece was becoming very stout.

Another picture of the same.

Before I capped this piece I did lots of grinding using a burr grinder. You can see the shavings in this picture. I also put a thin coat of JB Weld over the tack welds to fill in any nooks and crannies that might trap moisture.

In this picture a portion of the upper pillar has been capped. Again, lots of tack welds were used then ground flush.

After a coat of primer I set the piece on top of the lower B pillar and verified proper alignment. The next step will be to attach bonding strips to the assembly then bond the assembly to the body. The assembly will have to be welded in place before the bonding agent sets.

Also during this month I sandblasted and painted the steering box, all four door hinges and the steering knuckle. I also managed to get a second coat of primer on a helmet that I am painting for a friend.

That's it for November. Thanks for watching.

News Flash - Man Goes Berserk with Reciprocating Saw

For full details click on the video below.

B Pillar Repair

It's been 1 month to the day since I last posted to this blog. I've been tooling up to do metal repairs and we now have a 220V MIG welder (thanks Dennis K. for doing the wiring) and a few nice air tools including several grinders, a nibbler, a flange and hole punch, and a shear. I decided to start working on the right B pillar which is located adjacent to and behind the passenger seat. The first picture you see is the area before I started repairs. What you see is an old repair that predates Dennis S. the previous owner and probably even the owner before him. Dennis disclosed these issues at the time of the sale so I've known that both the A and B pillars require work. Part of the fiberglass body had to be removed for access to the damaged area. In this picture I had already started to remove thinning rusted areas so I could understand the extent of the damage.

As I removed more rusted areas I found additional areas that needed attention. In this picture you can see another section of rusted metal back up and under the fender. This is a different piece than the one seen in the photo above.

All rusted, thinning, damaged areas were removed then cleaned up for fabrication and welding.

The inner most panel has been replaced as shown in this picture. It was butt welded in place using dozens of tack welds then ground flush.

Additional pieces were fabricated and welded. The piece I am holding is only 1/2 it's original thickness.

This is the B pillar in it's current condition. The fabricated piece you see directly under the fiberglass body has not yet been welded in place. It also requires bonding to the fiberglass. Everything is coming together nicely and I don't expect any big issues. This is tedious work though and I suspect all 4 pillars may end up taking most of winter weekends to complete. Check back periodically for updates and thanks for following along.