Anyone ever used one of those one piece front end
fiberglass replacements that Corvette Central sells?

Bought a `72 thats had shoddy repairs and was thinking
it would be cheaper just to replace the whole front?

Thanks,
John

 

Yep,
Just installed it this summer. It was a complete PITA getting everything to line up but with a few good friends (forum members included) help and of course some beer, it was much more tolerable.



Terry

 

When I bought my 69', it had a one piece Eckler's front clip.
The clip itself is made pretty well but the only challenge is if you need to do any 'tweaking' to get it to fit the rest of the car properly.
On my car, the front and left side line up perfectly but the right side is a little off to where the right door and the right side hood seams are wider than I would care for. Being one piece, it's hard to correct this without cutting the clip to accommodate for the irregularities elsewhere.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the one piece is probably easier to handle and more convenient but you may not get the fit 100% where as the individual components require a lot more effort to install but you can pretty much be assured a 100% fit because you can 'tweak' the individual panels to fit your application.
It all depends on your comfort level and what you are trying to achieve.

 

Precisely!!!! I had the same issues but reversed sides. Right side lined up (in fact had to trim it) but had to tweak the left just to get a close enough gap to look normal. I also had to cut, slide and reweld the main front bumper horse shoe bracket to close the gap between the bumper and the fiberglass nose. Yea, I had to walk away and count to 100 a few times but after it is all done, it looks good and was worth the effort.

Terry

 

The one piece, hand laid glass noses are okay, but far from correct or perfect.

Original noses were made from press molded fiberglass, and assembled from pieces. The backside of the glass is smooth, and there are assorted bonding strips glued to the backside, behind the seems where the individual parts meet.

One piece noses are rough on the back, and do not use the bonding strips. A one piece nose can cost more to have installed. They don't fit as well, requiring more work, and the fiberglass is more porous, so you often end up lot's of little pin holes, when the fiberglass is sanded for painting.

One piece noses, can have an effect on the value, of an other wise correct Corvette. When I do an inspection and find a one piece nose, I will reduce what I think the car is worth. On a 63-67, I figure the car is worth $7,500-$10,000 less, on a 68-72 I'll usually deduct less, $2,500-$6,000, depending on the car's year, engine, etc. On a 73-82, the effect on the value is much less, something in the range of no effect at all, to around $3,000.

Whatever way you decide to go, make sure you find someone familiar with hanging a nose on a 68-72. For some reason, people tend to mount the 68-72 noses, too far back, causing all kinds fit problems when you go to mount the hood, wiper grill, wiper door, and fender top moldings.

 

I did a door-to-door ACI nose. It is pretty much perfect. The installation/paint was done by a top-notch Vette guy. It does de-value the car. But I am probably $50K into a $25K car, enough is enough. My advice? Always start with the best car you can, you will be bucks ahead.

 

Hi,
I agree that the effect on the perceived value of the car really needs to be carefully considered when installing a one piece front clip.
On an otherwise well done car it's a shame to see a one piece clip because some people see the choice as taking the easy way out.... when it's STILL a lot of work to install the clip well to end up with a car having a stigma.
I'd rather see a repaired original clip on a car that's been hit rather than the one piece clip.
Regards,
Alan