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Maybe this pic of the drain tray will make more sense.............
The "full view".......(remember......Resto-Mod!)......................
I will add 14" of new fiberglass panels to the sides and the bottom of the cargo area and close off the vent openings/leaving the grills intact.........I will also have a 38" X 20" X 7" @ 15 gallon tank made to fit under the cargo floor with supports/crash-bars to protect the tank which will not be visible when looking at the car from the sides or the rear.
I made one side-extension for the cargo area before road-running, and started the other panel upon returning home tonight.
Maybe tomorrow I will be able to make the cargo floor panel
And yes......my grand-daughter is now part of Corvette history....the only available large-enough/flat-enough/non-stick surface was the lid from a storage bin...the outline of the panel shows perfectly for trimming...........
naturally the resin absorbed the permanent marker writing with no problem also!
I bought one of those fluorescent light diffuser panels to use as a surface to make the large cargo floor extension 36" wide by 15" deep/then used a marker to lay out the pattern.......
The same pattern was drawn on the fiberglass cloth........
I put a full size piece of cloth as the base layer/then used four edge-remnants of cloth to lay the next layer/alternating layers of full size and remnant cloth and coating the entire area with resin between layers......finally I added the full size 4th layer to finish the thickness....the panel isn't quite as thick as the original trunk floor because I used woven cloth for more support........Because of the extra floor length I will also add metal support braces under/across the floor.......
I'll give it an hour to firm-up......then trim the edges of all three pieces to rough-size for fitting onto the body.
NOTICE: DO NOT USE FLUORESCENT LIGHT PANELS....THEY DO NOT LET GO OF THE CURED FIBERGLASS!
I did a little mocking up and measuring.....it's not "pretty", but now I have a good idea of the panel trimming that I will need to do.
This is a pic from the passenger side looking into the trunk/cargo area.
At the far end of the tape is where the original rear tank wall will soon fit..............
This is the original depth from the panel behind the seats...... 30" ......
This is the modified depth with the tank wall removed and the fiberglass extensions in place......... 45".................
Here is the original tank wall mocked up and resting against the frame rear crossbar.................
I wish that drip-pan would have come aloose with the heat gun/it would have fit much better in the new location, but it wouldn't budge after 45 minutes.....so I "wacked" the drip pan with a 6" cut-off disc.
More work is done to the rear/cargo extension................
The driver-side panel is marked for cutting....................
Both side panels are cut to fit................................
The original tank wall (held in place with my hand) is fitted to the side panels.............................
The 2 sides/rear wall/floor are taped together.......................
This will increase the cargo area by 50%........................
I lost track of what needed to be done/it took an hour to remove all the clamps across the top of the rear deck. Then I started clamping the vertical gap on the passenger's side of the car............Tomorrow I will fiberglass sections of the inner panel between the clamps.......
There was some overlap on the driver's side vertical gap so I trimmed the overlap off with the dremel tool, then added clamps to make the two areas flush....................
I'll post more pics in a few minutes
The driver's side is clamped and pulled flush.............
Here are two views of the quarterpanels with the edges pulled flush.....
A little more progress on the tail light "clip"............95% of the underside gap is covered now......I'll scrub the area to remove the "wax"/bond the 5%.....then cover theentire seam with a lengthwise layer............................
It's not that bad........really......nothing a quart of resin and a pound of cloth can't fix.........
I dug into it/feathered it about 1&1/2" wide so the cloth would have plenty of area to bond to.......still need to knock the wooden clamps off the underside and add another layer of cloth/then add a second layer the full length of the seam...........
I finally put the FINAL layer of fiberglass/4 layers of woven cloth. It's not "pretty"/matter of fact---it's uuuugly.....but it's stout.......
Passenger side...........
Underside of deck...........
Driver side............
This is the filler DUB recommended once I have all the fiberglass repair done....................
I squeezed in another 2 hours of fiberglassing tonight after Dr, appoint.s and picking up supplies.
I fiberglassed under the deck vent grills since the extended cargo area made them obsolete, but I will still keep the original vent grills in the original locations.....one more layer of cloth and resin should keep all the water out of the cargo area..............
I also managed to install the passenger side wall of the cargo extension.........
I'll install the original section of the rear (gas tank) wall this weekend....then I will beef up the floor using DUB's advice before I install the floor.
Back from the garage! By the time I "found" the rear original panel/wall and taped it into place......it's too late in the day to mix resin...I've used aluminumized HVAC tape to hold the rear panel in place until I can start fiberglassing the corners...I'll settle for a pic until tomorrow...............
the pics are blurry........the black marker lines are guidelines for the cloth to make sure I get at least 2" of coverage from the center of each joint.......
Passenger panel.......
Driver panel......................
Underside of deck/rear wall...........
Test fitting the floor section......................
Laying out the floor for D-supports/I still have to split the dowels and bond them to the floor section/then fiberglass over the entire area.....
Last edited by doorgunner; 02-08-2016 at 10:23 PM.
B.C ...........thanks! The PTSD and memories have me a month behind on the fiberglass work that is needed to finish the chrome bumper conversion.......
and I knew that I would regret not enlarging the rear compartment while it was so easy to get to......the water leak onto the trunk carpet made the decision easier.
I'll try to get back to an hour/2 hours a day on the project
the grille opening you held up was other side. they also have the bumper lip on the side integral to them. so try to fit the long complete lip, and if necessary you have spare sides...speaking of grille openings, how different in size are the 68 and 76 grilles? i am thinking if i can use the 74-up grilles, taillights, turn sig lights and lower valence it would reduce cost since i will not be trying to make the car able to be passed off as a 72-older...
Last edited by derekderek; 10-21-2015 at 11:00 PM.
the grille opening you held up was other side. they also have the bumper lip on the side integral to them. so try to fit the long complete lip, and if necessary you have spare sides...speaking of grille openings, how different in size are the 68 and 76 grilles? i am thinking if i can use the 74-up grilles, taillights, turn sig lights and lower valence it would reduce cost since i will not be trying to make the car able to be passed off as a 72-older...
You should be able to use your turn signal assemblies and grills....you may need to buy the '68 center grill........then trim the opening to fit the turn signals and grills.....also trim the lower valence to have the same look as the '68 valence......
OR..................
butt the outer grills against the center '68 grill so that a "solid-looking V" is acquired......then trim the lover valence to match the "V grill" that you created.........(pic is mocked-up/grills are only zip-tied in place)........................
If it's too late for me to call you, just P.M. or text the the info I need.
Last edited by doorgunner; 10-22-2015 at 01:07 AM.
I understand that DG , thats why mine got put on hold . I was almost ready to put on the road , but i knew i wouldnt be happy . So i have new rotors and calipers on order along with a new intake , tubular A arms , adjustable rear struts , spreader bar , STS inserts and MAYBE a new set of heads ...
I understand that DG , thats why mine got put on hold . I was almost ready to put on the road , but i knew i wouldnt be happy . So i have new rotors and calipers on order along with a new intake , tubular A arms , adjustable rear struts , spreader bar , STS inserts and MAYBE a new set of heads ...
the grille opening you held up was other side. they also have the bumper lip on the side integral to them. so try to fit the long complete lip, and if necessary you have spare sides...speaking of grille openings, how different in size are the 68 and 76 grilles? i am thinking if i can use the 74-up grilles, taillights, turn sig lights and lower valence it would reduce cost since i will not be trying to make the car able to be passed off as a 72-older...
I have a set of 76 front grills and signal lights if you need or can use them.
10-21-2015, 07:43 PM
