OK...so I do not get my backside handed to me...like often happens when I comment and it comes across as "its my way or the highway" sorta thing....WELL... this is not. Its your car...so it is your choice.

Bonding strips can be used or not used. It all depends. BUT...keep this in mind...if bonding strips are NOT going to be used...then the set-up time to get all parts fitted can be GREATLY increased. I mean greatly increased.

SO...I do not know if I need to comment on bonding strips or not at this point. Because there are 'tricks' to either using factory bonding strips or custom laminating up your own bonding strips....like I have done numerous times on some custom jobs.

I do agree that when a full clip is being installed it is much more of a pain than actually installing panels and using bonding strips due to the ability to move the panels where they need to go and not take what is given to you in a laminated rear clip or front clip.

The same holds true when signalling a rigid fiberglass bumper also. I created a thread about his and I showed how I had to cut a bumper to get it to fit because what was given to me was not going to go right in like some may think it is supposed to do.

SO...I would not think twice about cutting the quarters if needed to get them to relax and get them to go where I need them to go. BUT....THAT ACTION is a last resort due to once you cut it...it takes the rigidity out of the part and if you find you messed up....then you have to laminate it back again to give it the strength that you need in an area. I know that in itself is not a big deal...but me working on these for a living..any set-back is not good.

So...using Alan suggestion of cutting the panels so you can get them to go in like the factory did ...one by one...is a good idea. I also would make that a last resortsorta thing.....even though I have had to do stuff just like that because I had no other option and I was wasting time trying to figure out what I knew was inevitable.

I have to AGREE with what 'Bats' gave you has his view on this subject. It was very good sound perspective. There IS a specific 'look' that these Corvettes have...and not gettign the flow of the lines right...can stand out like a sore thumb. Adding an inch in length to panels can show up rather drastically and catch peoples eye and leave them trying to figure out what is wrong ( in their opinion). BUT....I also know this is YOUR CAR...and you do it to what makes you happy . And if you love it...that is all that matters.

Many people are here to aid you when you need it an I am one of them. And if you strictly want to laminate in the seams....I would be more than glad to let you know what you need to be aware of so you do not have a problem. If you want to make your own custom bonding strips..I can let you know how to do that also.

Please take your time...not 'saying' that you are not doing so. But this is the time when the set-up and checking things is so important. Which I know you know.

DUB

 

No problem Dub, I'm taking my time and thinking carefully about how I'm going to do this.

 

I completed some rust repairs on my 68 front bumper crossmember today.

This is after I cut out one of the rusted areas



Here's the repair piece I made. Hubby said he was impressed I didn't use any heat to get it into shape:



Not a perfect fit, but good enough for something like this.


And here it is all finished. I also replaced part of the edge in the upper right side of the picture:

 

Nice work Priya.
Did you weld those pieces together? Hard to tell.
Txs
Dennis

 

I recognize the symptoms.......you jumped to the other end of the car to have some time to think...............





Notice Bubba's custom steel plate crossmember that I cut loose

 

Yes, I welded them together. The horizontal line just in from the edge is welded in, it just looks like it isn't welded there because when I ground the weld that part of the repair was below the level of the surrounding metal as I didn't bend the patch perfectly.

Perhaps this picture shows better:

 

That's really something Doorgunner. You're really going above the call of duty to restore that one.

 

That rear clip piece you are working on had me thinking, which is a unique phenomenon in itself. Anyway, to bad you couldn't make a mold of the 68/69 section of the quarter and massage that. Like maybe from the center of the rear wheel well back. Then trim it down to lap over onto the rear clip. Any way we are all thinking here. Similar to what I did to repair my damage.
More coffee does that!!

RVZIO

 

maybe these will help a little in the mock up

 

That sure looks sweet dtamustang!

Now I just have to try to imagine how it would look 2 inches longer.

 

Yes, in looking back its unfortunate that the 69 rear clip I got was so damaged and thin. Even with that in retrospect I think it would have been easier than what I've run into with the ACI rear clip. So I spent another $1000 to make the job harder for myself. I've been kicking myself for that decision ever since I ran into all those fitment problems with the exhaust filler panel and license plate bezel. My husband was really against me scrapping the factory 69 rear clip and buying the ACI 70-73 rear clip. I should have listened to him.

 

Thanks Priya , it took a lot of work getting it looking like that , so i feel your pain and can appreciate what you are going through. someone on here must be good with photoshop and can stretch the right part of the picture to see what it would look like . I have to say though , when i was doing this one it didn't take much deviation for it to start looking exaggerated and almost cartoonish

 

It turns out I do have such a photoshop. I originally posted this on page 4. It struck me as pretty good looking at the time and was what originally convinced me to do this:

 

Scratch that. The above picture of the silver C3 wasn't made by photoshopping a chrome rear on a bubble back car, it was created by photoshopping a bubble back rear window onto a picture of a 70. Although the rear looks longer in the picture the quarter panels are the same length as factory, it just looks longer due to the way the rear window was photoshopped in. Perhaps it does give a bit of an indication how the car would look with 8 & 1/4 inches of the rear deck to ducktail grafted on but its hard to say.

 

Hi dtam,
Since the bumpers on your car are lower, relative to the body contours, I'm curious what you did with the taillight location and the license bezel location?
Regards,
Alan

 

Alan , here is a shot of the rear. the bumpers are at the same location as a chrome car. the shape and lay out of the rear was a 71 donor rear end. the only significant change from a chrome car is the lower corners where the rubber cars narrow up quite a bit. the bumpers on my car are significantly shorter than the original steel bumpers on the side due to the marker light being higher on the rubber cars. i hope that helps

 

Hi dtam,
Thanks!
Car looks good from that angle!!!!
Regards,
Alan

 

Yeah...so this is a disaster...

Apparently Josh is magic because this fit he got of a 69 rear on his 80 makes it look pretty straightforward. Unfortunately mine doesn't fit remotely that well



Here's the "fit" on mine:










I think being a couple of inches longer than a factory 68-72 is the least of my worries. For starters I cut too much off the lower quarters on the 79 although that perhaps doesn't matter as the lower quarter on the 79 is so much narrower than the 70-73 rear clip lower quarter I'll have to fabricate the entire lower quarter panel from the flare on the 79 back and perhaps redo the lower quarter on the ACI 70-73 rear clip as well. And the deck area matches poorly as well. It isn't readily apparent in the pictures, but when the corners where the quarter panels meet the deck on the 70-73 rear clip are matched up with the corners on the 79 the rear deck on the 70-73 rear clip is about 1/2 inch higher at the fuel filler opening. Although these aren't very good pictures to judge with, based on them I don't think the couple of extra inches of length matters to the appearance.

Its going to take a lot of thinking to come up with an approach to this. This is going to take waaaaayyyyy more work than I thought to get this done.

 

Priya, I hope that you are aware that a 1968 front crossmember is different than a 69-76 (?) one? You really should have not gotten a 68 one! The 69-up crossmember has two holes to hold the much needed radiator support! The 68's had almost everything carried over from a 67, in design. The 68 radiator support looks like a 63-67 support, and was held by the front frame horns. You might be able to put the holes in your 68, but it would have been much easier to use the correct, later crossmember. 68's Didn't cool well and GM changed the radiator support design, making the opening larger to accommodate a larger radiator. Lou.

 

Yes, I found that out recently. The 68 crossmember was given to me for the cost of shipping. The previous owner thought it was for a 69. If I need to drill four holes in it to make it work I'm okay with doing that to save the money of buying a 69 crossmember I've already spent quite a few hours on it, I suppose if it won't work I can give it to someone who needs a 68 crossmember and isn't too concerned about its appearance. Its a real bear to drill big holes in that thick metal. When I was doing the rust repairs I tried to put a 5/16 inch drill bit through it to make plug welds and it just wouldn't cut. Eventually I went to a smaller than 1/8 inch drill bit, drilled a hole, then drilled it with the 1/8th inch drill bet and then went up a couple sizes at a time until I got to 5/16. It was very slow going for the 10 or so holes I had to drill.