What the hell was I thinking....
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 11,614
Likes: 347
From: No Where USA
What the hell was I thinking....
I bought my 80 last year and when I got it the paint wasn´t what I wanted. Even though it was a new paint job it wasn´t that nice. Also the rubber bumpers were wavy. So I figured I would change the bumpers rough up the car and respray it. Well I started sanding and found out the car had 5 paint jobs. Took all the paint off. molded int he front bumper and thats how it sat over the winter while I put a new interior and 383 into it.
Well today I am sanding all the work I had done last summer and found a crack in the glass work I did when I molded in the front bumper. Well I started to sand and the fiberglass came right off. Not all of it just the glass on the bumper. And I didn´t use the resin for the newer panels, I have had other 70´s and 80´s corvettes and never had any problems. It only peeled on the bumper that is regular fiberglass. What it turned out to be was for some reason I didn´t rough up the gel coat on the bumper and left it smooth. I guess I had a brain fart that day. Well I got the bumper all ground down and ready for the new fiberglass.
I have been doing body work for 40 years. Don´t rush your work, it will come back to bite you.
Well today I am sanding all the work I had done last summer and found a crack in the glass work I did when I molded in the front bumper. Well I started to sand and the fiberglass came right off. Not all of it just the glass on the bumper. And I didn´t use the resin for the newer panels, I have had other 70´s and 80´s corvettes and never had any problems. It only peeled on the bumper that is regular fiberglass. What it turned out to be was for some reason I didn´t rough up the gel coat on the bumper and left it smooth. I guess I had a brain fart that day. Well I got the bumper all ground down and ready for the new fiberglass.
I have been doing body work for 40 years. Don´t rush your work, it will come back to bite you.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 6,842
Likes: 285
From: Palmdale CA
Don't feel bad! There was a thread on here a few months ago and one of us said "If you haven't done something stupid while working on a car, you're either lying or you've never worked on one at all!" or something to that effect. The good part is that you're following up on what you did and correcting it! 
Last edited by F22; Apr 4, 2013 at 12:31 PM. Reason: No thumbs!
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 983
Likes: 35
From: Redding California
Always good to hear good AND bad. You would think it would make me smarter about restoring my Vette. But ya know, reading forum info that you don't use that day is kinda like going to school... You read and study, but by the time the test comes around you've already forgotten a lot if the important stuff that you learned... Translation, I could go out to my garage and do the same thing down the road. Then when I got the same result I'd be like, "$/@!, didn't I read about this awhile ago..." I'm probably sharing a little too much, but a little memory loss here and there tends to keep things exciting... Like its a new experience time after time
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 11,614
Likes: 347
From: No Where USA
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 6,842
Likes: 285
From: Palmdale CA
If you want to hear something really funny, ask my brother about his recent experience, last weekend. He's an assistant Service Manager at a Ford Dealership and was a top flight Master Mechanic, with the Snap On rollaway, the whole deal for decades. He goes to a local Pick Your Part junkyard, to get a motor for his son's dead Ford Focus sedan. Finds one that has the same valve covers, but it's in a Ford Contour, with only 88K miles, looks clean too. Looks the same as well, so he pulls it, pays $150 for it and three hours to get it out.
Gets home and finds out, same internals, valve covers, etc, but the block is different! The motor mount castings are in a different location, so he can't use the complete motor! He's now swapping internals between the two!!! Totally hilarious and gawd, he had that 'stupid' feeling too. He shared that one with his coworkers as well and took the good natured ribbing that they (and I) gave him!
Who woulda thunk, they'd change the block for the individual car lines??? That'd be like the Corvette SBC, being slightly different, than the Chevelle and the Camaro having it's own version of the small block?
Gets home and finds out, same internals, valve covers, etc, but the block is different! The motor mount castings are in a different location, so he can't use the complete motor! He's now swapping internals between the two!!! Totally hilarious and gawd, he had that 'stupid' feeling too. He shared that one with his coworkers as well and took the good natured ribbing that they (and I) gave him!
Who woulda thunk, they'd change the block for the individual car lines??? That'd be like the Corvette SBC, being slightly different, than the Chevelle and the Camaro having it's own version of the small block?
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 1,093
Likes: 2
From: long beach California
Don't feel bad I took my weeks vacation last year and $1,500 in supplies an paint for my car. Then flew my dad out from Mo to La to paint it with me. The air compressor blew up on the back section of the car by the time we heard the the knocking. Paint was already full of compressor oil. Sanded down to nothing started all over an it doesn't matter the longer the car dries the more splotches of wavy in stuck paint comes through the clear coat. We tried our best to fix it pulle the car out to check our work after two days of drying and my neighbor several houses down was pulling the roof off his hous with a crane to add a second story to his place!!! Shingles nails dirt paint chips rocks you name it RUINED my paint job before it ever left the garage!!
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Drifting
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,868
Likes: 13
From: Mascoutah IL
Damn good catch... Years down the road you'll remember this extra work when your **** is looking tight, and think back to this moment and smile!!!
Rogman
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 37,637
Likes: 3,116
From: Crossville TN
You get a "Gold Star" for owning-up to the problem and sharing it with the Forum. Hopefully, others will gain from your experience and prevent a similar problem for them.
Kudos for being a 'straight-shooter'....
Kudos for being a 'straight-shooter'....
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 1,734
Likes: 276
From: Port Huron MI
A stitch in time... or something like that. Nice catch.
Hey, Boston Camero... I hate country music but that little tune was pretty catchy... I think I might have seen a car in there next to the little white tank top... Might even have been a chevy... Glad it wasn't a vette though. Birdshot holes in fiberglass would be a bugger to fix.
Hey, Boston Camero... I hate country music but that little tune was pretty catchy... I think I might have seen a car in there next to the little white tank top... Might even have been a chevy... Glad it wasn't a vette though. Birdshot holes in fiberglass would be a bugger to fix.