Working on the front fiberglass of my 68. At some point in the car's past, the nose back to about the middle of the wheel well of the top surround was replaced with what appears to be a hand layup patch panel. The repair was OK, but am trying to clean it up a little and make it somewhat less noticable as a repair piece. I am interested in seeing what the correct shape and location of the end of the ledge that is under the the hood. In my car the end is tapered and ends behind the hood hinge. From looking at photos of cars on the web, it appears as though the end should be more square and extend past the hood hinge. Anyway, wondering if anyone has a good picture that details this area. Figured that while I'm covered in fiberglass I might as well make this look as close to original as I can.

Thanks,

John

 

Hi John,
Here are 2 pics from my 71. I'd think your 68 gutters would have been similar.
Regards.
Alan

 

I don't have a picture of that area handy but Alan's picture looks just how my 68 looks.

 

I think the 68 surround is different around the hood hinge are. I think it was reinforced for 69. I need to check mine.

 

Alans pictures would be correct for a 68. the reinforcment on 69 and up is under the headlight header bar.

 

Alan, Thanks for the pictures. I think I'll build up the end of my gutter with some glass to make it look more like what your pictures show. On my 68 the hood support does not attach through the gutter like is shown on your 71, it attaches only to the inner fender.

Regards,

John

 

68 hood supports and mounting are one year only. Another little 68-only gem you will learn.

 

does anybody have a picture of that reinforcement bar that goes under the headlight header bar.because on my 68,the tops of both fenders are broke,or cracked,and id like to know how to fix it properly.maybe your 68 had similer issues,thus the tapered gutters?thanks

 

This is a replacement PM top surround for a 68-72. It was advertised as a GM resto part. The header bar is bonded like IIRC "later" models so that the rivets won't (eventially) show thru.





Best I can do for now, it's finally on the car.

 

thanks twinray,my issue is,,i have cracks,about 2 inches long,on both fender tops.there near the hood latches,where the latches are bolted to the inner fender area.ive heard 68s didnt come with a certain bracket,to help support the fenders near the hood hinges,,soo they crack..i think i need some kind of spacer,, 69s came with the support brackets that im trying to explain,that wont let the fenders crack.thanks alot for your help,,tom

 

I'd be interested in seeing that bracket as I don't believe then, I have it. It's not on my replacement surround and wasn't on my old front end when I took it off.

 

These:




69s and up have them; 68s did not.

Tom: You have common stress cracks in the corners of the hood surround panel. I'm not certain adding the 69 reinforcements will help, but adding them definitely strengthens the 68 nose. I added them to my 68 when I replaced the clip.

 

Another important distinction with the '68 front surround is that it does not have the lip molded in the fiberglass around the curved area in front of the hinges and the drip gutters. If you look very closely in TwinRay's picture in that area you will see where it extends out about 1" on each side. This was added for '69's and later. Your surround looks like it has this lip but someone has trimmed the front edge of the drip cutters back at an angle. If you look at Alan's 71 they should be straight across the front like his. I think your surround has been replaced with a later one.


I also added the brackets like Easy Mike. If you have the header bar out, it is much easier to drill the two holes on each end for the brackets. I used a right angle drill that I borrowed from a friend to get in there to do it in place. It helped stiffen that area a lot. Chevy added another stiffening brace that runs from the middle of the lower bar of the radiator support to the middle of the header bar around mid '68 model year. Before I added the end braces, you could see the header panel flex when the headlights opened and closed. No wonder the front surrounds of these cars cracked at each corner at the radius. With the bracing in place, it's nice and stiff.

 

I'm not sure exactly what lip that LemansBlue68 is referring to. On my car there is a lip that goes around the front of the hood opening, but it is not longer at the corners as is shown on the picture TWINRAY posted. As I said in my first post, the surround from the center of the front wheel wells forward has been replaced, so I know mine is not a correct 68. I've never noticed my header panel flexing when opening and closing the headlights and my car does not have the reinforcement brackets. I thought about adding them, but I have owned and driven the car for 10 years before I started this restoration and never saw any evidence of flexing or cracking in the headlight area so I decided to leave it as is. Mine is also and early build, October 1967, so it also does not have the stiffening brace that was added later in the model year.

I did make some progress with modifying my gutters. More to do to, but started. A slightly different but related question is if some holes that are in my right inner fender were put there by GM for some reason or added by a PO. I am certain that none of the holes shown in the photos had anything in them when I tore the car down. A couple appear to be drilled by hand, some look too clean to have been drilled by hand. The hole that is below the wiper fluid jar holder is two holes, a small one very close to a larger one. Did not see anything in the AIM that would suggest that these holes should be there or what they may have been for. Any insight is greatly appreciated.

Thanks to all for the comments so far.

John

 

I apoloige for yesterday's brain fade. I thought we were looking for something directly on the top surround. On the back side, on the inner fender, there is a Stainless Steel plate

Initial photos are the bracket on my original surround - the later on the new surround













Bracket (cleaned up and painted ) on new surround






Now back to our originally scheduled program

 

ill have to get under the car soon and look to see if i have those brackets..i could see how they might not support the upper fender enough to prevent the cracking i have.thanks gents for your input,,,much apreciated

 

Don't quote me until I can check my AIM, but the wiper door vacuum relay mounts where the two holes are on the left. I'm not convinced anything goes under the washer bottle bracket.

Top two are for the surge tank mounting bracket. Bottom could be for a clip.

 

The wiper door relay is mounted further outward towards the fender. In the upper right of the picture that shows the wiper fluid bottle mount, you can see the bolts and rivets that are in the plate that holds the wiper door relay. When I looked in the AIM, it did not appear that the holes shown in the other photo were the correct location for a surge tank. The car is a big block, so it does not have a surge tank. Did they drill the holes for a surge tank on all cars?

Thanks,

John

 

no, they only drilled holes if the car received a surge tank.

 

The arrow points to the reinforcement lip that I was referring to (Thanks to TwinRay). '68's don't have it. '69's and later do. I believe it was added to prevent cracking in the area of this radius for later models. After looking at your new pictures, I think you DO have an original '68 surround or this area was trimmed back to look like a '68.