Robbie-T

If ALL you are wanting to replace is the metal brace that you posted a photo of.. They are not that bad.

The other photos that people have posted are dealing with an entirely different support.

Depending on IF you want to remove the headlight assemblies or just lower them and get them out of the way..is up to you.

The metal support you are showing is held in by rivets that will need to be drilled out using 3/16" drill bit...BUT ..also you will more than likely need a heat gun due to the adhesive GM used BETWEEN the metal support and the SMC body material....which this adhesive provides even more strength....and should be put back in.

If it were me..I would apply the heat on the metal part so it can heat up the adhesive that is touching it and slowing begin the process of trying tot get the metal to come away form the body.. You might find that you might need to heat it up a good distance ( maybe half way) due to the metal bracket is not going to bend. SO...BE PATIENT.

There should be a major mounting bolt in the front center that should also have a thick rubber bushing. This will need to come out to get this part out. I grind paint stick to a sharp taper like chisel and use them as wedges to carefully apply pressure on the body and part to get it to slowly come apart.

IF you find that removing the headlight housing was not good enough and they need to come out....I would re-install them and then take them a part....or the front fiberglass impact bar will need to be taken off..to hopefully have enough room to allow them to drop out form the bottom and still assembled.

DUB

 

 

Would you guys suggest removing and cleaning up my header bracket on my 68 since I have everything removed currently? I'd be afraid of the existing rivets causing issues eventually after a repaint.

 

It is much easier to remove the header & rivets when it`s all open..... than later, especially after paint!

 

hard to say without seeing the car , by that (if it were mine )if all the steel looked in good condition and if the alloy of the rivets look good , as in no corrosion or chalky look to them , if you rub your fingers on them and no whitish powder comes off ,then that's a good sign there's been no electrolysis and they will be ok .

But if there was even a small sign of the car being left outside in the elements in its history then , as your already got it stripped down ,now is the time to do it .

just remember ,RUST NEVER SLEEPS

As an example a friend over here has a 72 and he just did a frame off and his car steel parts look like they were riveted on yesterday , actually all the steel is perfect on it , so he had no worries throwing 20k at the paint work.

 

Yeah only for 15 years...Been in the family all but it's first 4 or so years. I think I'll put the effort in and do it.

 

chazde3,

That might be a good idea...and keep in mind a lot of measuring a making of jigs so when you put it back in...you get it back to basically where it needs to go...so when other parts are being attached...you do not screw yourself.

It will depend if you are going to reuse the current beam and fiberglass bonding strip of if you are going to install the second design where there are no rivets.

There is a way to keep the look and feel of the bucked portion of the rivets and not have the raised bumps occur again. Keep in mind it does take a lot of time to achieve this....so if someone whee to feel for them.... they are there.

DUB

 

I actually ground the rivets down last night and pulled off the header bar. It was in remarkably good shape for nearing 50 years old.i spent the day cleaning it of what rust was there and coating it in POR-15 along with the front support bar which I plan on leaving attached to the car.

I had planned on using the existing rivet holes to locate exactly where the header bar goes. And later using VPA to fill in the rivet holes in the fiberglass. Or do you suggest glossing in the rivet holes while the header bar is off?

 

This is my vette
It has been painted by the previous owner but I'm not happy with the paint. I just did my self the the clutch pedal replacement and push rod z bar and all bushings, what I nightmare. The thing that scares me is to replace the front headlight surround its bonded on which means taking the old rusted one out with break the fibre glass.

The old headlight surround is to far gone all rusted out.

I live in Melbourne Australia.
Problem is know one knows the little tricks when working on these vettes. Is there a way to take the sorround and bonding glue off without wrecking the fibre glass ?

 

are you talking about the piece that you posted a picture of, that's right at the front of the nose , in front of the headlights , or the other bigger pieces that others have posted pics of (rvzio headlight support bar)? Or are they both rusted out ?

 

When I took mine off, I left the bonding strip in place, then dug the rivets out of it. When I put the metal header back in, I filled the holes with extra adhesive.... per Willcox Corvette instructions. Then I clamped the header with boards on top. (The boards helped push the bumps down, and distribute the force of the clamps.)

 

http://repairs.willcoxcorvette.com/1...-installation/

Above is the link to the instructions for doing this job. Just click on supporting document.

Willcox

 

Question, if you can see rivet dimples on the top surface of the headlight surround panel, does this always have to be a sign of corrosion?

 

Pretty much. "Dissimilar metals" react to each other.... aluminum rivets in a steel support.

 

The dimple is usually caused by the aluminum rivet swelling from the corrosion.

Willcox

 

Willcox's tech sheet on this is a good reference.

I do a few things a bit differently and that is.

When use my Dremel tool with my small router bit on it with a sleeve on it so I can control the amount of DEPTH of my cut...I go around the rivets and get them out. I do not go as large of a hole as what Willcox does. I keep it to what it needs....about the diameter of a nickel ...most of the time.

I then heat up the fiberglass and get the 'bump' to go back down before I bond the beam in place IF I am using the same beam with the rivet holes in it. The method of doing this depends on if the car is painted or bare fiberglass and going through the body work stage.

I also use the SEM adhesive that Willcox uses...but what I do know about it...and you can call SEM and confirm it is that the metal needs to be ROUGH and BARE STEEL. Due to this adhesive begin epoxy based...as long as when you apply it you make sure that you cover ALL of the BARE STEEL...it will not rust. So...I think that POR-15 needs to come off you you might not actually get a good bond. Call SEM and verify.

And hopefully when you used the POR-15...you used there MARINE CLEAN and then the ACID ETCH as is required before you apply the POR-15.

I honestly would not worry about using VPA to fill in the holes where the rivets were located....BUT..I would get each of then CLAN and ready so you can apply some of the SEM adhesive prior to installing the beam. You can use the VPA if you like due to all of the holes you have to fill in can make this a bit challenging. And TRUST ME...when you are clamping the beam in and the SEM is oozing out of the holes where the rivets were...it can get quite messy.

Before you get to far ahead of yourself...due to you will be loosing the area where the rivets were so you know where to put the beam back correctly..I would install it again and make pencil marks or tape marks so you know where it will go back.

DUB

 

I get what you all are saying now. I had thought you guys meant to remove the rivet out of the outer surface of the nose, hence my question about filling the holes with vpa. I see now you guys meant dig them out from below. That will happen very soon, just have to run to the store for some dremel bits.

 

I am glad that you understood what was written...becasue...if you cut holes in your exterior surface and posted a photo of it...that would have been TRAGIC on a level that I can not comment on.

And I will throw this one at you. When you are using whatever tool to cut the bonding strip away to get the rivet out...take the time to make a jig/template that you can clamp in place and CENTER over the shaft of the rivet...so when you run your router tool around it...you have to not worry how big to make it and how deep to set it at once you figure that out. Due to having so many rivets...TRUST ME...taking the time to make a template is worth it....or do it freehand....whatever makes you happy.

DUB

 

I understand from the pics all have posted that the rivets and support bar are pretty much toast. If mine looked like these, I'd be replacing it too. What I don't understand is that everyone seems to think that if you can see the dimples that you have to replace the rivets because they are corroding. I got my '72 when it was less than 2 years old, and I've seen the rivets since day one. They haven't changed a bit or gotten any worse over 40+ years. In fact, years ago, one thing you'd look for to see if a Vette had front end damage was the rivet dimples. If they were there, then it was original. If not, it had body work done to it.
Duane

 

That may be the case, but some of us want our projects to look as good as they can. Personally, I would like to only rebuild this car once in my lifetime so doing this work is a small amount of work in the grand scheme of the whole restoration.