rene040269

Hi Guys, this morning i noticed that the lower part of my passenger side door ('80 Vette) was not lining up with the rocker panel and was sort of bulging out half an inch or so. Further investigation shows that the door skin was not attached in the middle of the door anymore, only on the front and back of the door. It looks like the fiberglass skin is separating from the steel inner door. I could stick my finger in the gap in the bottom of the door.

Does this sounds familiar/does this happen often?

Can i re-bond it or do i have to take the skin completely off before glue-ing it back on?

Thanks for sharing.

Easy Mike

Rebond it without attempting to remove the door skin from the door.

rene040269

So the route to take is clean the gap, put adhesive in it and clamp it in position until the bond is cured?

Wondering why this happens, just 33 year old adhesive finally givin'up?

gkz

On mine, it was because the door was misaligned (hinge bushings worn).

Easy Mike

Yes.

Yes.

Roco71

I had that issue on my 71 at the bottom of the door. I used a paint stick and folded 150 grit sandpaper over it to clean up the old adhesive between the skin and the door frame before applying adhesive and using spring clamps.

gkz

Postal123

the only thing I would add is rather than just clamp it, you should clamp it accordingly to set it at the proper depth/alignment. this may not be too much of a factor depending on where the separation has occurred...hope this explanation makes sense?

Sunstroked

You will want to clean the disbonded surfaces really good.
Here is my experience with this problem. 72 corvette, fairly rust free desert car. Passenger door skin was disbonded in 2 areas. I first reattached using a hi strength epoxy made for bonding, evercoat maxim.
While adjusting the door fit on the body, 1 area again became disbonded. At this point I resigned myself to a full investigation. I removed the skin from the door. Found a 6" section where surface rust had formed andl prevented a good bond. In my opinion there was no other way to adequately repair my problem without complete skin removal. I probably could have re used the skin, but I am now waiting for delivery of a new panel.
I sand blasted the rust, cleaned and epoxy primed the entire door structure. I'm doing a body off restoration so paint match etc is not a problem. Just really look hard at your area of concern.

bbrown450

If you have the exceptionally vibrating door there is a service bulliten out, not sure what the number is b ur just had this taken care of by the dealer..problem gone

Easy Mike

I'm confused. This thread is four years old and any service bulletin for a C3 is thirty five years old or older.

RJ1AZ

Alcohol and Corvette Forum surfing don't mix?

midigike

Duntov and Shinoda came out with a revision last year

bj1k

Then glue and clamp overnight .