alexandervdr

I used a car endoscope (VERY handy) to inspect my birdcage, about the only way I found to identify rust without cutting and removing the fiberglass.

I was very happy with what I saw, here and there some slight surface rust on the (original?) light green cage. Only one spot for now that calls for repair. It's an about 1 square inch hole on the bottom of the A pillar (motor side). I need to cut away some of the fiberglass to get access.

Is it better to cut out following the white line centered around the hole (my car), more than enough to get access to the repair area? Or should I take off a considerable panel size, like on the other picture (someone else's car).

The reason I ask is that this is a 'stress' area where the fiberglass gets loaded a lot, and I want to be sure that the refit fiberglass panel holds well over time without 'edge' lines showing through the paint.

woodsdesign

Alexandervdr,
I had to repair my car in the same area. Believe it or not we did not cut any fiberglass on the top surround. The shop cut out a piece in the door jam. You can't see any evidence of where it was removed. I was very happy with the repair. A little less light in the wallet (ok a lot less) but the repair was excellent.

jrpidgeon

Alexandervdr,
You can cut the hole. To insure a strong repair you will have to install backing strips on the back side of the hole before you reinstall the plug. This will keep the plug from falling in the hole and it provides a surface for the plug to be bonded. You can use bonding adhesive or fiberglass resin. Either will work.

alexandervdr

I am now considering cutting out the birdcage on the interior side to give me access to the (small) area to patch/weld repair. Then weld the inside back in. Should be less work, and less risk for polyester repair 'creep' to show up after a while.

I may have been a victim (!) of 'beginner's luck', checked my birdcage all around, and the chassis all around. And till now the 1 square inch rust hole on the birdcage is the only weak spot identified ;-)

jrpidgeon

Depending on where your rust is located, access from inside the car should be possible. Here is a picture that should help your efforts. Good luck.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/album.php?albumid=30214[/IMG]

SledgeHammer 2.0

Just out of curiosity, how bad does the rust have to be before you need to repair it?

65GGvert

Fixed your link for you, hopefully.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/albu...ctureid=127180

Better still, here's the picture

woodsdesign

In my opinion if you cut the top surround you will regret it. A repair on the top surround will always show up later.

zangx1

I agree top area=later problems. from my experience

alexandervdr

The reason for my original question was exactly that concern.
I'll cut the inside of the birdcage first so I can check how bad the rust area is. Will post pictures when done that, probably tomorrow.

alexandervdr

big surprise, after cutting out the birdcage from the inside with a dremel tool , I discovered that there was no rot rust at all. What I saw was squeezed out bonding agent with edges (see yellow line) that I had taken for heavily corroded metal... looking through the endoscope image that's quite understandable (I hope). The birdcage is apart from some surface rust in good shape. The 'bloop' in the red line is bonding agent too.

Because I cut the metal with a small disk dremel, the gap created is very narrow, and I can simply weld the cut out panel back in.

Glad I did not do the cutting from the fiberglas panel side

jrpidgeon

Excellent news! Should be easy to button up the patch with no issues of concern.