First Primer

Included in this post are three sets of four photographs. The first set were taken the day the Corvette arrived. I've included these to refresh your memory and remind you that the car has 3 tail lights on each side, the firewall was a mess, and both front fenders had the wheel wells removed. The second set of pictures show the fiberglass repairs that have been made to date. The third set are the primered sections of the car that were painted today. These sections will receive block sanding, additional primer and additional block sanding once the entire car has been primered. Here you can see the three tail lights, the cut out wheel well on the passenger side,

the fire damage and hasty repairs to the firewall,

and the driver side wheel well.

I only masked those sections of the car that do not require additional fiberglass repair. The last several months were spent working on these areas. Note the 2 taillights on each side. Just prior to painting all areas were hand sanded one last time with 80 grit sandpaper to insure proper adhesion.

The primer I chose is a two part chromate free kwikure epoxy primer from House of Kolor. It's mint green (No, I didn't have a choice) and expensive at $180 a gallon.

The results look great...

and I love the firewall!

Although I didn't mention it in a previous post, I want to point out that the entire front end has been rebuild. The cross member just in front of the hood was replaced along with all of the headlight supports. The rebuild also included a new radiator support frame but this will have to be swapped out at a later date for one that goes with our fuel injected motor. The primer will help identify areas that need additional attention. These areas will be fixed using glazing compound, not fiberglass. That's it. Lester H. returns later this week so we will resume repairs on the passenger door.

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.