Ryhnoz60vette

Ok, this may sound stupid but I just found out that my 86 z51 coupe is not made of fiberglass but some plastic material. Is this correct?? And I forgot to mention that I'm restoring/ customizing my project corvette, and it's time to start the body repair/ paint work. It doesn't have any major damage, just some previous repair that's budding and a few small cracks in the hood, rear small hair line cracks, and I want to shave the antenna hole on the quater panel. So my question is what material do I use to repair this?? Since its made of this non fiberglass material?? How do I repair the spots and how do I shave the antenna hole? I really need some advice from someone who has done this before and has had LASTING results. I plan on keeping this car and want it repaired correctly. Thanks for your info

JackDidley

It is fiberglass. SMC. Sheet molded composite. Made from fiberglass and a resin. Its the resin thats different than old school fiberglass.

TGM

You can repair SMC with Epoxy resin and Epoxy compatible fabric. Do not use Polyester Resin it will not bond to the SMC. You can also use Vette Panel Adhesive/Filler to fill small spots like bondo.

Ryhnoz60vette

Ok, thanks for the info. How would I shave the antenna hole them and reinforce it so it won't crack later on?

TGM

I wouldn't worry about reinforcing it. If you sand it with 60 grit sandpaper and start from the hole and cone it out a least a inch so the epoxy has more surface to bond to.

cgantner5150

There is a lip on the inside of the antenna hole / recess. I cut some pieces with a hole saw from a section I removed from my hood (for the scoop). Bonded two pieces (stacked) in the antenna recess for backing, but it probably was a bit of overkill. Use epoxy resin - it will bond to the SMC.

Ryhnoz60vette

Great, than y'all for the tips, cgantner5150,do you have any Picts of how your antenna looks shaved? And what hood scoops did you go with? And do you have any Picts of them? I'm looking to buy some scoops for mine and I'm looking at differant styles to choose from.

cgantner5150

I went with the L88 scoop. Search for them there are a few threads on here and one when I painted it last summer in a portable garage in my back yard.

I'll have to search out some pics if the shaved antenna. I was going for something that most people would not notice but the initiated would double take because something was "missing". Shaved the 3rd brake light also (still looking for a suitable one to do on the inside of the rear glass - Porsche 928 looks promising).

Ryhnoz60vette

Thanks for the pict, sweet car , I like the hood, nice work. What do you mean you shaved the third brake light? The one on the roof or do you have the 92-96 rear bumper and you shaved the one in the rear bumper? I like your forced air front licence plate air duct to, I've been trying to find one if those but , well I'm still looking. That's a real nice c4.

cgantner5150

I had the stock 86 roof light.
The AO forced air intake actually came up for sale local. $75 for just the plate (it was for a late C4 so it had to be massaged to fit). Fabbed up the rest of the system myself. Actually I just tunneled through the bumper support. Used an AC duct (4x6 I think) behind the plate. Then used my stock lid with the top cut / opened up. Not exactly forced air but an increase in fresh air.

Ryhnoz60vette

Great job. Yeah I'd even be happy with just finding the plate duct too, I already made my own air duct and cut thru the support, all I need now is the front plate. So what exactly do I use to do the body work on my car then? Fiberglass mat plus epoxy resin?

cgantner5150

You got it - for any major repairs. For bondo and glazing, I used Evercoat products recommended by my local paint supply. Then I used SPI epoxy primer and SPI filler primer.
I will have to research for the exact stuff I used.

Ryhnoz60vette

Thank y'all again for the help