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Tomorrow I'll cut another inch off my ACI rear clip and hold it up to the 79 and see how it fits.
Oooh , be careful doing that , I have done similar (not re-ending a body like your doing )on smaller projects and just "cutting a bit more" can end badly.
I like DUB,s idea with the clamping , maybe just clamp across the top ,at least you wont be trying to line up 3 faces , Better to measure a thousand times than to cut it too short IMO
Oooh , be careful doing that , I have done similar (not re-ending a body like your doing )on smaller projects and just "cutting a bit more" can end badly.
I like DUB,s idea with the clamping , maybe just clamp across the top ,at least you wont be trying to line up 3 faces , Better to measure a thousand times than to cut it too short IMO
I used the aluminumized duct tape/ducting isle at Lowe's.....it holds for weeks without slipping. I taped the tail light clip onto the rear of the car before any cuts were made/I allowed 2 inches of extra length ON THE CAR and 2 inches of wxtra length on the tail light clip because any change in angles "uses up" extra length FAST (see my thread index on page 1......... https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...post1590630203
There are more pics in later posts.
Last edited by doorgunner; Mar 15, 2017 at 11:32 PM.
Thanks Doorgunner, I thought that was ordinary duct tape you used. I'll be sure to pick up some of that aluminized tape. I've spent a lot of time over the past couple of days reviewing your thread where you put on the 69 rear tail light panel.
Thanks Doorgunner, I thought that was ordinary duct tape you used. I'll be sure to pick up some of that aluminized tape. I've spent a lot of time over the past couple of days reviewing your thread where you put on the 69 rear tail light panel.
I probably had 8 hours total invested in cutting/fitting.......a couple hours at a time......I used the edge of the seam at the door lock pillar as my reference to the tip/top of the spoiler and gradually trimmed enough extra fiberglass off the car and the tail light clip as needed to remove the "downward curve" of the original body lines.
I also remember how the "lower sides" of the quarter panel were causing problems...the difference seems to "Lessen" as you fit the clip to the body...........body filler will solve the slight "dip" in those areas.
I like you, like how you took this on and the plan, i havent posted much in this thread as you have great minds helping and a cat who did it before, i had zero to add,
But now its worth it to me to risk pissing you off me to tell you what im thinking, i dont wanna offend and hope i dont,
I have to disagree with things like going longer than stock parameters, it will show, and likely not in a good way.
The beauty of the stock duck tail rear is gm got the length and duck tail angle and shape just right, ( and im a modder saying that ) its why i dont like conversions that change the look, change them and its off and not the 68-73 rear look, if you change the rear from stock enough to see you will notice, i believe it will eat at you and fear turn you against the whole car,
If you have to step back, take a break, fiberglass cant outsmart you no matter how hard it tries, sleep on it, think about it do some more fitting, measuring mocking up and listen to don, his conversion went through this...this is just a hurdle i know you will conquer it, just dont settle in a way you will regret.
I'm not offended Bats, I'm happy to have people give their opinions. I can always cut the ACI rear clip shorter than I'm planning, I'm not firm on what I'm going to do at this point in time, I'm just going to cut a little more off it, see how it fits and go from there.
I'm not offended Bats, I'm happy to have people give their opinions. I can always cut the ACI rear clip shorter than I'm planning, I'm not firm on what I'm going to do at this point in time, I'm just going to cut a little more off it, see how it fits and go from there.
Not a bad idea Priya, sort of creep up on it slowly until you get the fit you are looking for. I know when I made my rear quarter mold of the donor car I was ready to just put the whole thing on the car. Dub suggested cutting it down and sort of using as little of the molded piece as possible. This would retain most of the original car. Anyway, sounds like a plan. Good luck we are all watching.
RVZIO
Hi P,
You've got things set up for there to be a single complete straight cut.
Is it POSSIBLE that to give the best result the 'seam' on the deck wants to be one place, but the 'seams' on the fenders want to be to the front or rear of that?
I guess what I'm thinking is that the most advantageous location for the seam (s) may NOT be at just one place. There will be an off set.
Now for the crazy part….. originally the area of the rear clip you're working on was made up of the deck, the fenders, the taillight panel, the valance, and bonding strips.
Should your aftermarket piece be cut apart to mimic those pieces and then resembled using bonding strips to hold it all together, and to the existing body. That would give you the ability to move EVERYTHING around individually to get it to the best position. Does this offer you the flexibility you need to make a smoother transition from the existing body to the aftermarket piece????
Can't believe I just suggested that!!
If nothing else it'll give you a good laugh!
Regards,
Alan
You know, Alan has a pretty good idea that I will have to remember. Instead of trying to force a one piece section, disassemble it all and apply and adjust each piece going back on. More time consuming but hey not a bad idea and maybe a much better fit. Good thought Alan!
Not a bad idea Priya, sort of creep up on it slowly until you get the fit you are looking for. I know when I made my rear quarter mold of the donor car I was ready to just put the whole thing on the car. Dub suggested cutting it down and sort of using as little of the molded piece as possible. This would retain most of the original car. Anyway, sounds like a plan. Good luck we are all watching.
RVZIO
Hi P,
You've got things set up for there to be a single complete straight cut.
Is it POSSIBLE that to give the best result the 'seam' on the deck wants to be one place, but the 'seams' on the fenders want to be to the front or rear of that?
I guess what I'm thinking is that the most advantageous location for the seam (s) may NOT be at just one place. There will be an off set.
Maybe I'm not following you correctly but I am putting the seam on the deck in a different place than the seam on the quarter panels. I'm going to use 6 to 8 & 1/2 inches (haven't decided yet) of the rear deck but approximately ten to 15 inches of the quarter panel area. My plan is to use as much of the ACI rear quarter panel as possible to minimize how much shaping of the quarters I need to do as the 79 quarters are slightly different than the 70-73 quarters.
Originally Posted by Alan 71
Now for the crazy part….. originally the area of the rear clip you're working on was made up of the deck, the fenders, the taillight panel, the valance, and bonding strips.
Should your aftermarket piece be cut apart to mimic those pieces and then resembled using bonding strips to hold it all together, and to the existing body. That would give you the ability to move EVERYTHING around individually to get it to the best position. Does this offer you the flexibility you need to make a smoother transition from the existing body to the aftermarket piece????
Can't believe I just suggested that!!
If nothing else it'll give you a good laugh!
Regards,
Alan
I'll see how it looks as I trim down the rear deck area. If that isn't close to what I need I'll consider doing that. So far I can't tell what the fit is like on the rear quarters as I've been holding up the ACI rear clip to the car by myself and I can't see the quarter panels. I'll need my husband to hold it for me so I can see the quarters - perhaps this weekend.
Priya,
With all those seams what will you be using for "bonding strips"...???
I realize that there are stock ones for those years but they fit into set positions.
Yours will be custom positions.
I will be tackling this same issue in a couple of months and might as well procure the necessary strips asap.
Thanks
And keep up the great work and details.
Much appreciated
Dennis (Bman)....
Last edited by bmans vette; Mar 17, 2017 at 11:45 AM.
Reason: typo
Hi,
"With all those seems what will you be using for "bonding strips"...???"
This is why I made my suggestion… if the aftermarket clip had been cut apart at the normal bond locations a combination of 68-73 and late strips could be used.
I think this is why many Corvette body men don't like one piece clips…. there's no 'wiggle' room. Anyway you move the clip to achieve a fit at a one point moves the clip out of position at another point?!?
I think c1n is past this point though…. I was just thinking out loud.
Regards,
Alan
Dennis, I wasn't planning on using any bonding strips, just using glass mat and resin to join the seams together. I know when Josh did his 82 he used scrap strips he cut off of his 82 body as bonding strips to join the 82 and 69 bodies. Doorgunner used cloth and resin to directly bond the tail section on his 68.
In rereading Josh's project thread (its been some time since I last did), he says he measured the width of the 82 rear at the rubber bumper flange and found where the width matched on the 69 rear and made his join there. That's what I was originally planning on doing and I'm leaning that direction now. What I don't understand is how he appears to have about 6 inches of the 69 rear clip whereas my 70-73 rear clip matches widths with the 79 at the 8 & 1/4 inch mark. Perhaps its the same and in Josh's picture it just looks shorter?
Priya, I am a little slow so is that a picture of your car or Josh's? The first picture lines up pretty good with the top edge. The bottom looks like it will lengthen the rear quarter just a little. Help me out here!
RVZIO
That's Josh's car. I should hope to have mine line up as well. Certainly my cut along the rear deck is much more ragged/uneven, so its not going to be as good as that. I hope to do better on the mating of the quarter panels though.
I did cut another inch or so off the 70-73 ACI rear clip yesterday, leaving the ACI rear clip at 8 & 1/4 " inches from the cut on the upper deck to the back of the ductail. While holding it up against the 79 it appears to be about ideal width to match. As I'm standing at the gas filler opening I couldn't get much of a look at the fit on the quarter panels but I shifted to the side as much as I could and still hold the ACI rear clip in place and it looked like the upper part of the quarter panels above the mid panel character line matched pretty well also. I couldn't see below that character line how the lower quarter panels matched up.
This weekend I'll have hubby hold up the ACI rear clip for me and see how things fit and where I'm going to go from there.
