marioncole

I went out this evening to bond the rear quarter and front lower fender to my 74. When I opened the Eckler's bonding adhesive that I purchased 18 months ago, it was in fine shape. However my creme hardner was rubberey looking and makes me think it had dried out. I thought "No Problem" all these palstic systems use a benzole peroxide hardner. I went to Eckler's site to check out if they sell the same part number hardner for body filler and bonding adhesive. They only sell two hardners (one for fiberglass repair and one for body filler) so I assume that the one they sell for body filler is also the one they sell for bonding adhesive since they are both Benzole Peroxide based. However the mix ratio on Bonding Adhesive is an 8 to 10 inch ribbon per pint and the ratio on body filler is 2 inch per pint. This makes me think they might be different. Does any one know? Also while checking the Eckler site, I notice they have a disclaimer that the products are not for 1973 (SMC) and later corvette. I have laready used their body filler in a couple of places and now am wondering if I can use their bonding adhesive or not. The quarters that I am replacing were purchased from Ecklers. I have sent an email off to them but was hoping someone here may know the answers as i would like to work on this over the week end rather than wait for an answer from them. It would be excellent if someone from Ecklers monitors the forum and could send a reply.

wombvette

The paste hardner is the same as any other product that uses paste hardner.

18 months is a long time, the shelf life on that stuff is in question. It may be OK, but I would be cautious. In general polyester products are not as good as epoxy based products for bonding SMC. That said Evercoat has a product that they claim is for SMC that is polyester based (Vette Panel Adhesive). I am still not convinced, but it will probably work as good as the original factory stuff, which was also a polyester based product.

vetteboy1976kr

I think you bought the wrong stuff. They have a special mix for the 74 and later SMC panels that I am using on my 76. The stuff for the old panels has a red and white label, SMC stuff is Here are the part numbers you want to use:

Bonding adhesive 27281
resin (SMC formula) 10698
body filler (SMC formula) 10701

I just bought the filler, adhesive, and resin from Eckler's two weeks ago and they all have a shelf life of 1 yr. I believe that the two hardeners are different. The bonding adhesive comes from Fusor in NC (814) 868-3611. The two part numbers are 320 (3 lb. can) and 322 (2.5 lb. can). The eckler's ad says that the SMC stuff is a "two quart, two part mixture" so I'm assuming that they are mixed in equal amounts?. The FRP (old) stuff says that it comes with "easy to mix cream hardener" which I assume is a tube of the generic hardener. The hardener I have does not say it has benzole peroxide in it. If you purchased the fender from Ecklers then you do have an SMC panel. Send me an email if you want a pic of the cans while they still have a label on them.
Kevin

wombvette

EXACTLY, As I said Fuzor is an EPOXY compound, the regular is POLYESTER

standup

........Body filler and Bonding Adhesive are two different things and if you mix the hardener from one into the resin of the other you will end up with a sticky mess that won't cure..........

......18 months will be beyond the "Use By" date for the product......throw it away and buy another complete kit........ :yesnod:

KenSny

:iagree: Do NOT mix hardners from one type of product with another, and since it's going on a car and a lot of time and money will come after the bonding/filler don't don't use the expired stuff otherwise you may have to start removing it and make a bigger mess.

marioncole

I ordered the correct bonding adhesive and filler from ecklers yesterday. Thanks for the replys. I'm glad that I had a problem with the hardner or I would have used the wrong stuff. By having a problem and checking into getting new stuff, I found out by Eckller's web page and this forum that I have the wrong stuff. So this is one time when I'm glad I had a problem. I do not think eckler's had a warning that the poly was not for a 74 when I bought mine. I don't think they offered the Fusor product then and I assumed the product they were selling was for a 74 as well. Evidently they came out with a different product (Fusor) after I had purchased. Now I have to redo two places where I used the older Body Filler but thank goodness I found out I had the wrong materials before hanging the Quarters and doing all the fender seams with body filler. Thanks for the help!!!