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.

Tires, Valance and B Pillars

TIRES
The votes are in and a full matching set of tires have been ordered.  An exhaustive search of the Internet was performed to make sure we bought the widest tire possible without creating clearance issues.  We ended up with 225-60-15 BF Goodrich tires with raised white letters.  They have a good classic profile and the tread design is appropriate for our 63 Corvette.  The set is on order and we expect them in a few days.

VALANCE
Ty has been rebuilding our rear valance, the piece that fits under the rear bumpers.  The exhaust holes are being blocked off because we don't need them with side exhaust.  There are also  missing tabs and weak spots that are being corrected.  Here are a couple photos of this in process effort.

B PILLAR

When we rebuilt the B pillars last year we has to remove the fiberglass panels that covered the pillars.  We are now reinstalling these panels.

The fiberglass panel was riveted into place and duct tape was used to protect the drip rail shoe. 

Double click on the photo to see how the fiberglass matches the shoe.

Watch for our new Torq-Thrust D wheels and BF Goodrich tires.

Wheel Wells and Engine Compartment are Ready for Paint

When this picture was taken the fiberglass repair had only been made from the underside.

The fiberglass repair is now 100% complete with exception to feathering and general clean-up.

Fiberglass is used as much as possible to make repairs.

The fiberglass we use is clear which makes it difficult to photograph our progress. 

Very little Bondo has been used on the car.

More Sandblasting, Fiberglass Repairs and Paint Preparation

The weather cooperated for about 3 hours on Friday so we did some sandblasting.  The body was wheeled to the RV pad and both of the driver side wheel wells were sandblasted.

All areas received attention, even the areas that would never be seen.  This was a messy job.

The fiberglass looked great after sandblasting but there were still areas that needed attention.  Ty came over on Saturday and ground out a couple cracked bonding seams, feathered a few areas that need fiberglass repairs, and he did some general cleanup in preparation for paint.  He was covered in dust and was as dirty as I was from sandblasting.

Time for a repair.  This access panel is suppose to be oval but you can see someone modified it years ago.  I can only guess why. 

A batch of resin was prepared, strips of fiberglass matt were cut, then the repair was started.

After the fiberglass cured I used the die grinder to restore the original contour.  Holes were drilled and all surface irregularities were removed.  This repair is ready for paint.

I also decided to resand the inside of the engine compartment.  This will be repainted when the drivers side wheel wells are painted. 

Other minor fiberglass repairs were made this weekend and new bonding agent was applied where needed.  While we wait for the weather to improve we will continue to make preparations for paint.

Thanks for watching.

More Primer

We were finally able to put more primer on the car. As a reminder, the primer only signifies that the fiberglass resin and mat work is complete. Most all the primer you see will be removed when we start the body work for real. The most recent paint was applied above the center line of the car only. Additional primer will be applied below the center line once the body is put back on the tall dolly. That will occur after Cool Deserts Nights.

All issues with the 67 hood have been fixed and it too received a full coat of primer.

The car looks great from 10 feet away but, once the primer was applied it became even more obvious there is a lot of body work to do.

You can see clearly in this photo that Wilson still has work to do on his section of the car. Wilson... come back...

Thankfully most of the fiberglass blemishes look like this.

Restoring the A Pillar Fiberglass

Now that the left front A pillar is fully repaired it's time to restore the fiberglass. In 1963 Chevrolet engineers were not willing to bond the fiberglass body directly to the metal birdcage. Their solution was to rivet fiberglass bonding strips to the birdcage then bond the fiberglass body to these fiberglass bonding strips. In this picture I have riveted two original bonding strips onto the birdcage and added one home made strip, the black one, using bonding agent. These strips create a bed for the body panel. In this side view the two pieces of fiberglass you see were originally one piece. These will be repaired with fiberglass.

Bonding agent is black in color and has a toothpaste consistency. It was applied to the top of the bonding strips then the body panel was placed on top of the bonding agent, aligned, tabbed (using rivets), clamped, and allowed to cure over night.

The next day the clamps were removed and rivets were drilled out.

The side panel requires a fiberglass repair. Ideally, fiberglass repairs are performed from both sides, however, there isn't access to the back side of this repair. A backing strip will be required to hold the fiberglass in place.

Bondo was applied on the upper body panel to fill in surface irregularities and to temporarily fill the holes. Because I prefer repairing holes with fiberglass I drilled out most of the Bondo creating a pocket.

Cut up pieces of fiberglass were mixed with resin then used to fill in the holes.

Excess material was removed making a very strong fiberglass repair.

On the side panel I folded over a length of duct tape so there was no sticky side. Using needle nose pliers I pulled the duct tape behind the fiberglass creating a backing strip. The duct tape can be easily removed later because fiberglass doesn't stick to duct tape.

Multiple layers of fiberglass matt were used in this repair. If you look close you can see the duct tape on the backside.

The duct tape was removed and the fiberglass was sanded smooth. The bonding agent, Bondo and fiberglass resin received a final sanding then the area was masked off for paint.

Remember, the green primer only indicates the fiberglass work is complete. These areas will receive additional attention when it's time to color paint the vehicle.

The left front A pillar repair is now complete.

Lester is in the Building

What a treat! Lester H. is visiting from Frederick, MD for a few weeks and was quick to volunteer his services. Les scoped the car and was quick to claim dibs on the damage to the passenger door. It was near 100 degrees that day so staying hydrated during the repair was essential. Here Les is showing us the damaged door panel prior to repairs.

A close up of the damage. This was probably caused at the race track when the door was opened into a nearby bollard. Could have also been a grocery cart I guess. After limited access to the backside of the panel was obtained Les had to be a contortionist to reach inside using the angle grinder to remove some of the fiberglass thickness.

This is a shot of the inside of the passenger door after Les was finished grinding. To show the remaining thickness of the fiberglass we held a trouble light on the outside. Shortly after this picture was taken two layers of 8" x 8" matt were installed.

Les is pointing to the area that requires further attention. Be sure to watch for updates to this blog where you'll hopefully see more of Les and the completion of the passenger side door repair.