Too bad you can't position a second mirror to catch the reflection on the first mirror.

 

Yes, I hope this isn't too big a problem.

 

I got my body mount repair done. I know its not a proper repair but I'm confident its going to last for my lifetime and probably beyond. It took me a couple of hours to lay thing out in advance to be ready to do the laminating. I wanted to get it all done in one shot so I didn't have to come back and re-sand to get adhesion plus this way with wet fiberglass on both sides of the hole the two sides have a chemical bond rather than just a mechanical bond. I didn't take the whole interior carpet out so I laid down a tarp. To the best of my knowledge I didn't get any resin anywhere it shouldn't be:




So, the damage went from this:




To this:







And from this:




To this:





All I have left to do is reattach this interior trim bracket:





If I can get pop-rivets big enough I'll pop-rivet it back in place. I can tell where the original holes are by shining a light through from the interior:

 

I think it looks perfectly fine. Job well done.

 

Why thank you very much!

 

THat looks great Priya...Great job!!

 

Thanks Roger! It was a bit of a struggle to do because laying on that rear ledge inside the car overworked various back and torso muscles and bruised my ribs. At times it was really painful to get up or cough but I seem to be mostly over it now.

 

I think you just caught Corvette-19. Its main causes are leaning over that divider into the back of the car, crawling up under the dash for extended periods of time, trying to get your arms up behind the headlights from underneath the nose, trying install fuel lines on the fuel pump while its on the motor and anytime you have to crawl under our cars. Good luck!!!!

 

Corvette-19, that must be it!

 

Nice work.
And now that you are positive for Corvette-19, you need to self quarantine in the garage for 14 days.

 

Thanks OldCarBum! I'm quarantining in the garage

 

STOUT beats pretty in a location like that...nice and strong and CLEAN!

 

Yes, Priya, you do great work and I enjoy seeing all you accomplish! My '76 Vette has been on the two post for two weeks and I have done one small item of work on it but the bulk of what needs done is still waiting on me to "get with it"! When I moved into my new garage, I know I put a case of "motivation" in there but for some damn reason, I can't find it anywhere!! LOL!!

I have to put new heater hoses on the Vette and bleed the brakes & then I can then take it back out to a few shows before the leaves will have all fallen. Then, my 1972 Cutlass 442 goes up on the two post and hopefully I can get things done, get it painted (by me) and put back together so my little brother & I can go out and terrorize these local Honda ricers in our area....Ha Ha! It may not be as fast as their new age computer controlled cars but they will look in awe at the sound of a 455 cu. inched, massive torque motor and the distinct and undeniable sound of a vintage 8 track tape player through 6X9 speakers! Grand Funk lives!!

Take care and keep up the good work you're doing! It's always a pleasure to see your progress!
OLE442

 

Thanks for the encouragement doorgunner!

A Corvette and a 72 442, your cup runneth over! Thanks OLE442 and good luck with 76, I hope you find that case of motivation

 

I decided while the gas tank is out the next job I'm going to do is to install the Hyperco 200 lb Easy Ride fiberglass spring I bought years ago and replace the U-joints on the half shafts. I was unclear on the spring removal/installation so I got some advice here:

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...tallation.html

I had at the rear sway bar and it must have been on there since '79 as it put up quite a fight. I got one bolt to come out the way it should, one I had to cut off and four that broke when I tried to remove them. The little plate in the picture below didn't want to come out of the housing for the spring bolt after the two bolts broke off so I had to use a cut-off wheel on the front stub of the broken bolt and then managed to wiggle it out. Along the way I smashed one of my fingers pretty good and its swelling up now - it hurts to type!




I don't think I'm going to re-install the rear sway bar and I will probably remove the front one too as I'm looking for the softest ride I can get.

 

My Sweety put new U-joints in my half shafts for me and I've got one side re-installed. We decided to change them because the car sometimes made this "sproing" or "snap" sound when going around corners as though something was under tension and suddenly let loose. Ward couldn't see any obvious problems with the rear suspension so I thought maybe it was the U-joints on the half shafts. When I removed the half shafts, the cup on one of the U-joints turned a little roughly so probably was time to change them.

I bought spring cups, rubber bushings, and washers from Western Corvette but they didn't have the spring bolts and said I could get them locally. I went to Bolt Supply House and got two 1/2" diameter 8" grade 8 bolts and then was told it should be 9/16" diameter. The local Bolt Supply House didn't have any so they checked if they could order in the 9/16 diameter bolts. It turns out there is only one 9/16 X 8" bolt in Canada and they said they could get two out of the States but it would be $80 for the pair. I told Ward we could buy them from Willcox for about $25 U.S. for the pair. He said that'll be $50 CDN by the time we get them and he didn't want to spend the money, he said we can use the 1/2" diameter grade 8 bolts and it will be fine.

He's the mechanic but I'm a little uneasy with using the smaller diameter spring bolts but then the ones that are in the car now are 1/2" diameter although the nut and head on them is bigger than the ones on the 1/2" diameter bolts I got from Bolt Supply House, and they also have castellated nuts which suggests factory. Ward says he'll make 4 spacers for the 1/2" diameter spring bolts and I should go get ones 8 & 1/2 inches long. I suppose beggars can't be choosers so that's the way we'll go.

 

I think it should be fine.
out of curiosity, how much were the 2 bolts that you bought?

 

They were $11 and some change with the two nyloc nuts.

 

Sounds good to me. Sometimes I will go one size larger on bolt-diameters, even if I have to drill the boltholes larger.

You can also install the bolts you bought...then drill a 1/16" cotter pin hole thru each bolt under each nut to prevent them from "backing off".
I installed the bolts upside-down for a cleaner look.......

 

I do not know how hard it will be to drill a hole in a grade 8 bolt. I would not trust the nylok nuts alone. They can strip out. You really should have a hardened nut on the bolts. I wish you guys had a Corvette parts supplier in Canada. I did not know how expensive stuff is to ship to Canada. Lou.