NOT directed at you DUB...your advice is not just some opinion. I recognize your expertise and will be picking your brain in my own build once I get to the fiberglass.
I am talking about the guys who want to argue while Priya is on the sidelines.
If they want to argue....take it to PM.

That is my opinion.

Thank you sir!

 

I have been using wax and grease remover to check my work for a very long time without a problem.

 

Like I wrote, it will be bouncing all over the place if you "DRIVE' the car without the bumpers supports bracing the body. No change, I "feel" the same.


I never said anything about removing All other brackets from the front clip only the core support. So you no longer feel the same about what qualifies as a support? If the body doesn't drop removing a part it's not a body support?

I gave other examples of supports that can be removed without the "body dropping". I was using your definition of what qualifies as a body support and obviously it is faulty reasoning.

 

It would be more reasonable to suggest that if input from other members is not welcome on a OPEN PUBLIC FORUM thread, that the members not wanting the unwelcome input from people that you feel are not qualified to reply and offer advice take it private. DUB could easily ignore opinions and advice he dislikes which is a lot and choose not to engage.

A lot can be learned from good arguments and that will inevitably help anyone interested in similar projects.

As far as I see it, Priya went from dismissing the importance of the substructure to appreciating the importance of bringing the exterior and substructure to completion simultaneously. A very important and crucial step towards success. I will let you decide who made that happen.

 

So.........Priya..........how's the fitment working out?

let's be glad they're not arguing the pros and cons of Charmin !

 

The bumpers are sorted out, welded up and sitting flush. I've got the two little innermost brackets that go to the license plate area bent to fit, I just have to drill holes in the frame for them.

 

UNDERSTOOD.

100%...but this needs to be clarified even though you did write in your recent post that you apply it on primer.
.
I also use wax and grease remover for my final checking of the body AFTER it has been primed or gelcoated and primed. In my opinion....I have found nothing better than wax and grease remover for aiding in finding the most minute glitches and flaws before a car is painted......but it is being applied on primer...and NOT on bare fiberglass, SMC or even raw urethane.

Do you agree that it is to be applied on a primer and NOT on bare fiberglass, SMC or raw urethane??? If not.... that is fine...but leaving it not clearly explained can cause for someone to not read into it correctly and really screw something up.

*** REAL WORLD OBSERVATION***

I local guy called me up and wanted me to stop by and look at something for him on his car that he was repairing himself. When I walked up to his garage...he had take a gallon of the cheapest 'bondo' and literally poured some of it out on the hood...then he squeezed out a bunch of the hardner and began to mix it up ON THE HOOD and spread it out. I asked him why he was doing it that way and he said there is not difference if he did it on a mixing board or the panel and it is faster becasue he does not have to apply it because it is already on the panel. BUT..then he asked me why when he is blocking the other panels he did the same process to...why his 'bondo' was peeling off when he blocked it an he could not get a good feather edge. So...it is common sense on why he was having problems. I know this is NOT relative to Priya's thread...but it does have everything to do with proper procedures and not leaving important steps out or critical information out.

'momo608'

If you want to start a thread discussing the issues of supports and your views on it...feel free. Send me a PM to the link and I will be more than glad to get in on it. But I am done here on Priya thread about it. I am more concerned about her success and moving ahead on her project.

DUB

 

Thanks for your reply.
I am not interested in arguments as a source of information for me personally.
I just saw Priya getting run over by other comments.....and was concerned that she would back off completely.
I was trying to just bring the discussion back to Priya's expressed needs and not others impression of her needs.
Many of us are watching this thread as we attempt something similar.
I have seen threads shut down due to outsider banter.


I have PMed Priya and will go back to my seat in the bleachers and take notes.
Peace to you sir....

 

Sounds good! Sometimes I find I need to NOT think about a problem for a couple days.......THEN.....an idea comes to me/or I blend several ideas from Forum members together and get the answer I need.

 

I think we are all trying to help in our own way and the more sound advice to pick through the better. Keep in mind there are lots of guys out there that are skilled craftsman in their own right, they all do not have the time or inclination to take up residence on websites. Always beware of those that are incapable of admitting when they are wrong, that stubbornness has surely effected their ability to improve themselves.

 

Hi P,
I'm concerned about this:

"The bumpers are sorted out, welded up and sitting flush."

I'm not sure how you could accomplish this without knowing the finished position of the rear fiberglass.
While you've adjusted the fit of the bumpers to the fiberglass, aren't you opening up the possibility that the bumpers won't be parallel to the ground because of just how the fiberglass is finally located?

I'd think BOTH the fiberglass and the 'ground' would need to be taken into account when repositioning the bumper mounts.
???
Regards,
Alan

 

I opined basically the same thing earlier. Minimal glass work to hold the rear clip in hopefully its final position while completing the bumper fitment to see how things were shaping up as a whole. I thought it was a mistake cutting into the bumper brackets on the bumpers or any other bumper bracket before final mock-up took place. For one thing, building up the areas where the bumpers meet the body with fiberglass and sanding them to fit the bumpers is better than cutting on the actual chrome bumpers. I had to fit mine in a similar way and it worked out quite well because I could carefully sand the body and check fitment quickly to achieve solid and flat contact with the bumper brackets.

 

Hi Pryia, one of the good and bad things I found on the forum are various amount of opinions you get on trying to accomplish whatever it is one is doing. When I first started my project I would get so many opinions some the same, some different and me standing in my garage wondering which one to pick or take a little of each opinion. Realized I went no where fast and it became very confusing. I found that if I narrowed the field and stuck with 1 or 2 opinions I would be more productive. Well one person bailed on me and we know who that was but one has stuck around for my entire project. We know who that is. Expertise really counts and opinions don't so much. You started this project and you want this ride to be what you envisioned. I know who I would follow and I 'am saddened that your build is getting hijacked by to many opinions. This is a big reason for me to be dropping off the forum once it expires this year. That I know will make one person very happy.
Good luck with your build!
RVZIO

 

I wanted to leave the fitting of the bumpers until the rear clip was in place but realized I needed the bumpers sitting flush to the rear clip in order to figure out how to modify a couple of the rear bumper brackets and I need to be able to remove the rear clip to do the bumper bracket modifications so there was no way that I could think of to glass in the rear clip and then modify the bumper brackets to what they needed to be.

I thought of building up the fiberglass on the rear clip to allow the bumpers to sit flush but realized this would make it so that the inner and outer surfaces of the rear clip at the mounting point would no longer be parallel to each other and I figured that would result in uneven pressure on the clip when the bolts were installed and tightened so I felt that was a less desirable option than modifying the bumpers themselves.

As far as the bumpers sitting parallel to the ground goes, there really is very little adjustment possible between the rear clip and the bumper before the bumpers don't line up very well with the body lines on the rear clip, the bumpers kind of have to go in a certain position on the rear clip regardless. So, if the rear clip isn't lined up well on the car one is left choosing between having the bumpers parallel to the ground and being misaligned on the rear clip or having the bumpers aligned on the rear clip but not parallel to the ground.

I can tell if the rear clip is at the proper angle to the 79 by looking at the openings of the rear side marker lights and seeing that those are parallel to the ground and by seeing that the horizontal mid quarter panel character line on the 70-73 ACI rear clip aligns with the same line on the 79 where it meets the wheel opening. As far as having the left and right sides of the rear clip the same distance from the ground there really is no way to vary the distances as the rear decks and the corners where the quarter panels meet the upper deck have to be lined up and the wooden clamps hold them very precisely in alignment.

Could the fitment of the rear clip vary between mock ups on the car and when I finally fiberglass it into place? Yes but I'm confident there is very little change from one mock up to the next as I've had the rear clip mocked up several times and there just isn't much room for it to vary from one mock up to the next due to the way the wood clamps hold the rear decks in near perfect alignment with each other. I am confident I know the finished position of the rear fiberglass to a close enough degree that I'm not worried about how its going to fit in relation to the car and the ground.

I used the measurements Alan and another Forum member gave me for the distance between the bumpers and the tail light openings to line up the bumpers with the rear clip and I am confident that the bumpers are lined up well with the tail light openings.

In order to modify the last two bumper brackets I will need to bolt the bumpers in position with the rear clip mocked up into place but not glassed in. I can then see how the bumpers align with the ground and if any changes are desirable which I think is reasonably unlikely.

 

Hi P,
I think it's the bracket that's shaped like a 'rod' that has the most influence in determining how level the bumper is to the ground…. since it has the ability to 'tip' the bumper.

It's really the pure 'side-view' that shows if the bumper is level or not.

Fortunately since there are 2 separate bumpers you can adjust them individually. They're not like the front bumper where what you do to one end affects the other end too.

I just wanted to make sure you had carefully thought out the moving of the brackets on the bumpers.
Regards,
Alan

 

That inner bracket that's rod-shaped is the one I need the bumper in place in order to figure out how to modify it to work with my rear frame crossmember.

 

So, I have the 70-73 rear clip mocked up into place on the 79. I noticed the left side appears quite a bit lower than the right side. I did some measuring and the left side of the car is a little over 1/2 inch lower than the right side. I put a scissors jack under the left side of the car and brought the two sides to the same distance (from the surface of the scissors hoist). Its better but it still looks like its sitting lower on the left side than the right side.

I measured the scissors lift surfaces and they're level. I measured the 70-73 ACI rear clip and its level. The distance between the 70-73 ACI rear clip and the surface of the scissors hoist is the same from left to right side and yet visually it looks like the left side of the ACI rear clip is lower than the right

I guess I have to go with what my measurements are telling me and not my eyes, right?

 

Hi P,
I believe that our 'eye' typically determines 'level' by comparing the particular 'object' it's looking at to it's surroundings.

You have to be able to differentiate between 'level' and 'parallel'. Your rear Corvette letters were an example of 'parallel'…. your eye perceived them to not be parallel to the top of the license plate recess.

I think you have to be VERY careful what you use to judge 'level' by when positioning the cap.
Regards,
Alan

 

I placed the level on the two areas shown by the yellow lines below:




I measured as well from the surface of the lift to the side marker lights, the side bulge where the bumper goes, and the upper edge of the openings for the exhaust bezels.

I'll go over it with my husband this evening and see what he thinks.

 

Priya,

Take this advice to heart or leave it.

NO NEED for you to bond or glass in your rear clip temporarily. The way you have it joined is well enough for what you are needing to do here. The 'trick' will be is making sure that when you do go for your FINAL bonding and fiberglassing in of the rear clip...you get it back to very close to where you have it now. This is where your measurement you take or you marks you put on the panels will aid you.

DO NOT get all caught up in measurements. If you do..it will drive you insane and honestly...in most cases no one including a judge can pick up in any differences. PERIOD---FACT!

PERFECT EXAMPLE!

On your front end...in the 12 o'clock position of your wheel well opening. Take thread and pinch it with your fingers using your fingernails to hold it. Take you fingernails and put it on the bottom of the 12 o'clock position of your wheel well opening lip ( that 1/2"-3/4' wide section you can see).....then run the straight up to the TOP fender body line. Pinch the string there. THEN...walk over to the other side of your car and while holding the string...put your fingernail where they need to be and see if they are EXACT!!! Chances are...you might find they are NOT the same. I know this because I have seen it for decades. BUT YET...your eye can not see that it is that far off.

Keep in mind that if you are going to be using a level...you should make sure that your tires are the same air pressure and also what the distance from the ground to the bottom edge of your quarter panels at the 12 o'clock position...and then do the string test on the quarter like you did on your front fenders and see what you have going om.

I DO take measurements VERY SERIOUSLY...so please do not be confused that I disregard them entirely...but I also know that if you get CONSUMED by them..I will soon be visiting you in the mental institution. DO what looks good by your EYE! Make sure you step far away to get a good view...because begin right up on the car does not work when checking some things. When I do bumpers ..I am at least 30 feet away.

In my opinion you doing what you did for your rear bumpers is SPOT-ON. DO NOT doubt if you are doing is right or not. If you were doing this at my shop I would let you know you are on track...for what ever that is worth to you. Getting the mounting surfaces of the bumpers MUST be achieved either by what you did or doing fiberglass work. As long as your rear clip is solidly mounted....that is all that matters. And those who can not see that and want to dispute it...obviously do not have the ability to...how was it put:...are incapable of admitting when they are wrong, that stubbornness has surely effected their ability to improve themselves.

The bumpers...when installed are basically going to be flat in regards to the top surface BECAUSE the side mount area right above your side marker light are in the quarter panel is going to control that more so...than the rod. Knowing that you cut your bumper mounts...now you can get the bumper to sit as it needs to be and then modify the rod to get it to work.

NOW...because you bonded in your exhaust filler panel you possibly took away some adjustability in your bumpers. This is because.....the bumper brackets that go behind your taillight panel near your license plate area originally allowed the panel to be slightly pushed out or pulled in if needed to get the 'wrap-around' of the bumper to be correct and install 'better'.

Priya. For whatever it is worth. When you have an issue like in the post of you showing the license plate area with the yellow lines. If you take the photo from a good distance so I (we) can see what it looks like from far away would greatly help.

DUB