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Old Aug 15, 2007 | 09:57 AM
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From: Eustis fl
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Hi guys, a couple of questions. On my 71' panel between front bumper and hood, the rivets from that panel under it are making little bumps on the panel. Anyone deal with that? I think I remember seeing something here on that, and I tried the search, but nothing came up. The search thing never works for me, must not be doing it right. Also, the body seems are showing through the paint. I suspect just prep the body for paint as usual, they shouldn't come back, right? Or does something else need to be done? Thank you, Joe
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Old Aug 15, 2007 | 10:00 AM
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It means that the rivets are corroding. They will need to be removed completely.
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Old Aug 15, 2007 | 11:51 AM
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Originally Posted by jmp
...I suspect just prep the body for paint as usual, they shouldn't come back, right? Or does something else need to be done?...
Wrong. They will come back and ruin your new paint. The fix is to remove the headlight header bar and the bonding strip. On the earlier cars, the headlight bar is riveted to the bonding strip. With age, the rivets react to the steel and start coming up through the fiberglass and the paint.

Drill out the rivets. Rebond the headlight bar and the bonding strip. If needed, do regular body work on the dimples in the paint/body. Then paint and they won't come back.

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Old Aug 15, 2007 | 12:15 PM
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good to know, I was just looking at my 71 last night wondering what caused that condition. So there is no need for the rivets if you use a good bonding strip?
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Old Aug 15, 2007 | 01:06 PM
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Originally Posted by js292
...So there is no need for the rivets if you use a good bonding strip?
And a good bonding adhesive. The later cars do not have the bonding strip riveted to the header bar.

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Old Aug 15, 2007 | 05:51 PM
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From: Eustis fl
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Thank you. I'm going to have to look into doing that soon. Is there a particular bonding agent to use?
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