DUB

Call if you need to.

YES...grinding of the heads of the rivets is correct...but I also said that in doing so...the fiberglass bonding strip would have to be carefully slid off the rivet shafts and then bonded to the beam...because you would be using a very small diameter drill bit in a Dremel tool to remove some of the fiberglass surrounding each rivet shaft....that way...the bonding strip would slide off and be able to go back on and be bonded in place with an adhesive...and at that time you could...IF NEEDED...cut down some of the height of each rivet shaft exposed....then fill the areas where the heads of the rivets your ground out were....and then the fiberglass bonded back to the top hood surround.....where you can use isolated heat and a kitchen spoon to aid in pushing any raised divots back down a so the top surface of the top hood surround would not be heavily sanded or ground on at the raised bump areas.

DUB

SB64

Hey Dub, so the bonding strip has to come off the brace completely or just around the rivets. Then check the remaining height of any rivet stems , glue the bonding strip to the car and then glue the brace?

DUB

The fiberglass bonding strip HAS TO come off the original beam....so it can be bonded back on with and adhesive...because you have removed the heads of the rivets that were the only thing holding the fiberglass bonding strip to the beam....then the fiberglass bonding strip is bonded back onto the top hood surround.

I have not come across one of these beams where the bonding strip is riveted AND also is glued together where the rivets are.

DUB

SB64

Hey Dub, I think with all that I need to do so I can drive this car in my life time I have decided to for go the original brace for the new one. I don't want to spend my time on something you don't see and I will take the hit on the lack of rivets. So I am waiting on the bonding strip. So then what, Bond the bonding strip then the new brace. I also took your advice and have measurements on how high the brace sat off the clip with the adhesive and bonding strip. Hopefully I will be able to duplicate that. New bonding strip on its way, should be in next week. FYI
r

DUB

IF you are going to use the new beam...I do not know if you need to use the new bonding strip or not....and in our past conversation...you will need to do test fits and see what you actually need to do to get the headlight assemblies to fit correctly and flush against the beam and still have adjustments in them. You may not need a bonding strip at all....but may need to use something like wood match sticks as shims so you can see how much of a gap for your adhesive to fill in between the beam and the top hood surround.

Knowing that you are not worrying about the rivets..if the bonding strip can be popped off the rivet shafts...then take a rat tail file and slightly open up each hole in the fiberglass bonding strip so the bonding strip can slide back down on the rivet shafts...then the bonding strip can be bonded to the beam,...that is also do-able...it is up to you.

DUB

SB64

I don't have a picture of the bonding strip but it has the recessed round spots where the rivet heads go. Now that would be a great detail if I could rivet the bonding strip to the brace as well as apply some adhesive between the rivets and have the rivets plus a thin skin of adhesive. That would be a great detail.
r

DUB

If you rivet the bonding strip to the brace...you are right back at 'square one'. Having a potential problem that will do the exact same thing. Which is why you are removing the heads of the rivets....so the bonding strip can slide off and be bonded back on with NO rivets holding the two together...and the rivets ends are only there for the 'feel' factor.

DUB

SB64

Isn't there anything I can do to retard that rivet process like tape, or a rubber sealent or some high tec crap that's on the market now.
r

DUB

I do not have a crystal ball. I would not do your car that way if it were in my shop. The reason being...I could not, nor would not trust any of the high tech adhesives in this repair scenario and GUARANTEE that the rivet head would not get exposed to salt or any other material that causes it to corrode and swell...and then causes the bumps to show up. It is literally no different when you can see screws or pop rivets surfacing in bodywork on a Corvette...and those are completely covered....but in time...they fail.

Removing the source that causes the bumps is the only method. Take them out of the equation...you get a desirable result. And GM did away with the rivets and bonding strip. Either due to the problem with the bumps or it was cutting costs.

I KNOW that GM uses this same principle of riveting on a fiberglass bonding strip and then bonding a panel to it on other areas of the Corvette on earlier years....BUT...those areas are not exposed to the elements like this beam is exposed. Completely different.

DUB