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I can't believe with all you and the wife have to deal with because of the loss of your son that you have to ask for justice from people who want guys like him here ! I know there not all like that it just gets my dander up that you have to fight to send that animal back where he came from !
ok , stepping down off the box !
Good to see you moving along with your car and getting closer all the time with it !
Thanks SPCLFX.....you read the "Cliff Notes".....the situation is much worse......
That is what those diagonal measurements are for. Used to watch these jamaican guys cut cars in half thru the windshields and change roof or front clips.they cut the pillars a little bit long and shortened them a lil at a time until diag measurements were the same as unhit car. Windshield fit perfect every time.
I managed to get in another two hours (barely) on the car today...........
You are looking at a 3/8" gap. When the hood is moved to the driver side of the hood opening the hood-to-opening gap is 1/8" AND the center point of the hood lines up perfectly with the "V" in the center of the headlight panel
The driver side hood to opening gap increases to 1/2"........NO problem....If I shorten the wooden cross bar that holds the two fenders in place a total of 3/8".....the driver side gap and the passenger side gap each become 1/8" wide
BUT......one of the things I learned is.....a wooden jig to hold the clip together is fine for making fiberglass repairs ......but the jig is not dependable for fiberglassing Patch Panels into place with accuracy because thre is too much flexing taking place.
I have left 1" of extra repair panel "edges" on the repair panels..
l will place the clip on the car and bolt it in place using RVZIO's clip dimensions and the diagonal dimensions that Derek just reminded me about.
Last edited by doorgunner; Oct 2, 2019 at 10:07 PM.
What if you put a rad support into the clip? Maybe even lower crossmember and horseshoe? Or are you thinking you should wait until you have a Corvette to put the nose into to be sure the pieces go in the right place?
Last edited by derekderek; Oct 3, 2019 at 05:08 AM.
What if you put a rad support into the clip? Maybe even lower crossmember and horseshoe? Or are you thinking you should wait until you have a Corvette to put the nose into to be sure the pieces go in the right place?
Ohhhhh...you can't sleep either....lol
....thanks for keeping an eye on me.
Derek...the wooden jig I slapped together doesnt seem to be sturdy enough for me to cut the repair panels to actual size.
For example....while I am working on the driver-side headlight panel-to-fender fit.....the hood-to fender opening on the passenger side immediately gets 1/2" wider near the wiper area.
You have a good point about installing the radiator support onto the clip.
Tomorrow afternoon I will fabricate a metal mock-up radiator support rather than continuing to use wooden 2" x 2" braces which flex diagonally too much.
If the metal jigs work I will be able to cut the repair panels to size and bond them into place.
Even though I am overlapping repair panels/1st pic below...... the over-all fit looks halfway decent/2nd pic below......
Wow Tony this is amazing work.
If you lived here in California you could replace the blue painters tape for some good 100mph duct tape, bondo the front and rear clips together and run it through the streets of Los Angeles as is. LOL
People replace rusted out rad supports all the time. Hey. Parts section. WTB- rusty rad support you didn't have the heart to throw away... If your car isn't being run, you could steal that one and the lower crossmember it bolts to. Then take the front 6 inches of frame horn and start fitting or fabbing bumper brackets. That lowes-home depot 2 by 3 angle with the holes in it may work for frame horns and rad support.
Last edited by derekderek; Oct 3, 2019 at 11:35 AM.
Tony, it’s awesome to see you still working away to save your corvette! I need to get caught up on what you’ve done.
Me too!
Between life / PTSD / rebuilding the Harley / going to D.C,...….I have to look at pictures to remember the direction I was headed with repair panels. Normally I would print a list of what my next step is going to be.
For example: As Derek said, I need a radiator support in place in the clip to stabilize the fender-to-hood opening/gap
THEN...….
BOTH fender-corner repair panels, headlight panel, and lower valence need to be fitted/clamped together and aligned with the bumper before being bonded/grafted together (WHEW!).
THEN the rebuilt assembly needs to be aligned with the leading edge of the hood on the clip and final cuts made on the fibetglass fenders to bond the assembly to the clip {WHEW X 2!).
It is a lot of extra work and learning, but the $2,000 I will save over buying a new door-to-bumper clip will go into bodywork and paint by a professional (I never know when the PTSD will return-full-force and "shut me down" mentally/physically for 3 to 10 months at a time)/
I'm actually very surprised I have had 3 months in a row that I could halfway focus on the project.
steal the rad support and lower crossmember out of your car. rig the rad with tie wraps and coat hangers for now. they probably only push it not drive it in the shop anyway. with the nose off there is almost nothing but the rad brackets and 2 bolts to the crossmember holding it in anyway...
steal the rad support and lower crossmember out of your car. rig the rad with tie wraps and coat hangers for now. they probably only push it not drive it in the shop anyway. with the nose off there is almost nothing but the rad brackets and 2 bolts to the crossmember holding it in anyway...
I'll give that a try tomorrow! They do drive it in & out, but they can push it for another week while I do your idea.
As in radiator ! It only took 5 minutes to remove it....I wanted the biggest radiator that would fit so I fabbed a heavy duty support since I wasn't excited about the way the lower part of the OEM radiator tends to rust out...…
I'll let the new paint bake for a while...then install it...
Me too!
Between life / PTSD / rebuilding the Harley / going to D.C,...….I have to look at pictures to remember the direction I was headed with repair panels. Normally I would print a list of what my next step is going to be.
For example: As Derek said, I need a radiator support in place in the clip to stabilize the fender-to-hood opening/gap
THEN...….
BOTH fender-corner repair panels, headlight panel, and lower valence need to be fitted/clamped together and aligned with the bumper before being bonded/grafted together (WHEW!).
THEN the rebuilt assembly needs to be aligned with the leading edge of the hood on the clip and final cuts made on the fibetglass fenders to bond the assembly to the clip {WHEW X 2!).
It is a lot of extra work and learning, but the $2,000 I will save over buying a new door-to-bumper clip will go into bodywork and paint by a professional (I never know when the PTSD will return-full-force and "shut me down" mentally/physically for 3 to 10 months at a time)/
I'm actually very surprised I have had 3 months in a row that I could halfway focus on the project.
I got myself caught up on your thread and it’s really looking good man! I’m happy the PTSD has held off lately so you can get some good work in.
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