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Inspection plate in front of rear tire should be looked at
There is a plate that is located in front of each rear tire. It's about the size of a hershey bar. Reason for plate is to get access to one of the body mounting bolts. Bolt goes thru the green pained bird gage into the frame. Since this area behind plate can see water if the sealant around the perimeter of plate is not good, it is best to check sealant. The sealant over the years gets dry and hard and should be replaced with new sealant. The plate is easier to remove with tire off car but can be removed with tire on. This is one area anyone should look at when buying a C2 as it is prone to rust. If you see green paint then more then likely the cage is in good shape. Picture shows nice cage with new mounting bolt.
Another source of water into that area can occur if the rear fender has taken a hit and was damaged to the point of separating the fender bond with that same bulkhead panel the access plate is mounted in. That's what happened to my car. Road spray seeped through the open bond joint and followed the panel around to the frame pocket. It's also possible that if someone does a half-assed job of replacing a rear fender and don't bond that inner joint - similar to how some sloppy front end replacements didn't get properly bonded between the firewall cowl and fender.
Another source of water into that area can occur if the rear fender has taken a hit and was damaged to the point of separating the fender bond with that same bulkhead panel the access plate is mounted in. That's what happened to my car. Road spray seeped through the open bond joint and followed the panel around to the frame pocket. It's also possible that if someone does a half-assed job of replacing a rear fender and don't bond that inner joint - similar to how some sloppy front end replacements didn't get properly bonded between the firewall cowl and fender.
Yes, that must be a weak bond. Someone on here repaired the green area shown in picture by removing that panel.
That access panel is also about the only way to retrieve dropped bolts and sockets from the hardtop mounts by the seat backs. In fact that's how I discovered it!
I remember this thread now. how did you know how much pressure to preload the rubber cushion before the weld.
Those replacement parts were fabricated off the car on the bench and exactly matched to some originals I was able to borrow for the job. Installed them in the car with everything test aligned first. The bolts and cushions were not in place for the welding.
02-21-2017, 01:15 PM
Inspection plate in front of rear tire should be looked at
