Rosey1958

Help! My beautiful red 58 corvette has been damaged

Somehow the bolt that holds the air filter in place was not screwed in completely and the hood was forced shut leaving a 3/8 to 1/4 inch hole in the fiberglass hood. Any advice for repairing this blunder?

Dave Tracy

You might try to grind out the loose shards of glass from the hole then bevel both sides of the hole. Get some resin, polyester or epoxy and mat glass. Cut some of the mat into a pile of strands. Fabricate a backing on the inside of the hood that will conform to the hood, maybe linoleum. Put a piece of aluminum foil between the linoleum and repair. You could use duct tape or just close the hood over blankets, pads etc. Mix up the resin and stir in the mat. Paint the periphery of the repair with resin and push some of the mat/resin from the underside, place the backing and compress the inside of the repair. Continue to place the mat/resin from the outside of the hood and compress the repair as much as possible to get the air out. There might be easier ways that others may chime in on.

MiguelsC2

Welcome to the Forum.


Be sure and fill out your profile. It helps members help you. Location is a good start.





If you haven't done this kind of work before? I suggest you go see a Corvette bodyman. There's color matching at hand also.
This isn't something you want to do twice. Depending on the type of paint you have? You will likely be repainting the whole hood. Maybe even some blending into the fenders. Depends on what your expecting the final product to look like?

If you don't have a good place to take it? I bet a Forum member will know of someone in your area.

MiguelsC2

Let's see some pics of that '58!

Kerrmudgeon

There are a few more steps to repair it than this. You have to learn basic fiberglass repair before tackling this, or it will show up in a short time, especially on the hood! Everything is important. Temperature, amount of hardener to resin, type of matt, feathering of "wound", thickness, etc,etc, A pro can do a permanent job in short order, and if you've not done it before, take it to a pro.

You can practice on fixing your lawn mower surround or anything else. The hood of your car is a special place. Higher temps from motor, and it's very flat. Screw it up, and it will look terrible. JMHO, and I've been doing it for 40 years.

Frankie the Fink

Kermudgeon has it.

This spot on the hood is a tough fix and even my professionally repaired and repainted hood now shows the 'ding' in the center of the hood after 3 years. You have to have the right light and lean down and know what to look for, but it's there for sure. Common screw-up on these cars...air cleaner bolts or leaving a tool on the air cleaner and slam the hood and there ya go...problems galore.

snozberry

It's a lengthy thread but I've learned more from reading it then anything else I've read. Go to the C3 forum and read "Rookie's first attempt at a restoration" by Stinger12. He goes over many details on fiberglass repair. Small holes aren't that difficult. You will have to grind it out more to get a good bond. I would turn the hood upside down, grind out the bottom, flip the hood back over and place some packaging tape over the hole on the top (resin won't stick to it). Then I'd mix up some filler, Bondo, and place that over the tape to create a hard backing on the hole. Then flip the hood back over and place a few layers of resin soaked fiberglass mat over the hole. Once the mat is in place, this step would be optional but will make it stronger, put some plastic over it and push down on it to squeeze out all the excess resin/air. Sand it down then flip the hood over and grind out the hole from the top until you get to the new fiberglass you just repaired. Then add the resin soaked mat to the hole in the top, cover with plastic to squeeze out all the extra resin/air again, then sand smooth. After that you'll be ready to prep and paint.
Read the thread I mentioned above, there's some good pictures on doing it to help guide you. Kerrmudgeon's right on some of the things he mentioned. If you look at the thread and think you're up to it, PRACTICE FIRST!!! Especially with mixing the resin. Polyester resin is a bit finicky. Every temperature/humidity wants a different mix. A little too much hardener and it can get brittle or burn (yes it will start smoking), too little and it'll never dry correctly. Good luck.