When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Priya,
We love Canada and would love to live there.
I was born in Southern California and have never lived outside the sunshine state.
I’ve been spoiled living in our climate and this area.
Its one of the few places in the world you can snow ski Saturday , waterski Sunday and get a little surfing in before you go back to work on Monday.
I don’t do too much cold weather and If I lived in your climate, I think my toes would curl up and my nails would freeze off.
Priya,
We love Canada and would love to live there.
I was born in Southern California and have never lived outside the sunshine state.
I’ve been spoiled living in our climate and this area.
Its one of the few places in the world you can snow ski Saturday , waterski Sunday and get a little surfing in before you go back to work on Monday.
I don’t do too much cold weather and If I lived in your climate, I think my toes would curl up and my nails would freeze off.
It's a little different when all you've known for your whole life is bitterly cold winters. People who move here from warm climates usually find the winters to be a bit of a shock.
We did some hiking near Whistler British Columbia a couple of years ago.
Even in the summer, it was bone freezing cold in the higher elevations.
Of course we brought shorts and lightweight jackets.
Total Tourists.
I write my posts for the beginner thinking about taking on such a project in case you already know what I'm posting.
I had a surprisingly good day on the Corvette yesterday. I started out debating whether or not to add another layer of vette panel adhesive/filler across the the rear deck. Before I added any filler to the rear deck I could feel that the area where I joined the 79 and the 70-73 ACI rear clip was not level but I couldn't tell where the dip was and where the high area was. For whatever reason, after I had mostly sanded down the third layer of fill I could tell by feel where the the high and low areas were.
As I mentioned earlier (see below picture) I was concerned about the difficulty in knowing how to shape the area in the blue oval. The area between the green lines is a convex surface or bulge that follows the rear window shape and between the purple lines is a slight convex, or trough shape. The blue oval shows where the trough and the bulge merge with the flatter area next to the ducktail:
The deck felt like the right shape to me except for a valley in the blue oval in the picture below where the vette panel adhesive/filler (black arrow) meets the bare SMC (green arrow). Prior to taking this photo I saw some of the filler there was over top of the original paint and so I sanded away the filler where the two met until the filler and the paint underneath were gone. Now I had quite a deep ridge between the filler and the bare SMC I thought about just filling that small area but in the past I've gotten a bit of a dip surrounding the new filler after I've tried to sand it to level with the older filler. I really didn't want to cover the entire panel in fill again, so I figured I'd again try just adding fill to this small area like I had in the past:
In the picture below you can see the new fill I added to that low spot plus two spots of fresh fill on the driver's side quarter panel. There were some pinholes there and rather than sanding away enough material to get rid of them (and then having to add enough filler to reshape) I opened them up a bit with the sharp edge of a utility knife and very firmly pressed the soft filler over the pinholes, leaving the pinholes covered but only a very thin skin of fresh filler around them. A bit of blocking with 120 grit on those two spots and I was very pleased to see the pin holes gone.
I sanded down the new spot of filler on the left side of the deck until it felt smooth and then wished I could spray it with water to see how even it was. When I tried spraying the water on the rear deck last time it pooled there and was too thick to show the uneveness. Then I had this great idea:
With the rear deck tilted significantly towards the passenger side I was able to spray water on the deck and have it flow away fast enough that the layer was thin enough for me to see the highs and lows. I didn't actually do too bad just by feel, but once I could see what I had I knew I sure wouldn't have been happy with it if I left it at that stage.
When you mist a dry panel with water it just beads on the surface. I then take my hand and wipe the beads all over the panel. At that point the panel is all wet but the water is smeared and uneven and you can't see much. Once the panel is entirely wet I gently mist water all over it, wait a few seconds for it to thin out and then its nice and shiny so you can see what you've got once your head is at the correct angle to the panel.
Once you dry the panel off again for sanding you can no longer see the high spots (or at least I couldn't) and have to position your sanding based on memory. This didn't work out so well so I found what I had to do was mist the panel with water and where I saw a high spot put my finger on it. Then with my other hand I wipe the panel with a cloth to get most of the water off and then pick up the air hose and blow the rest of the water off all the time keeping my finger on the high spot. Then with sanding block in my right hand I lift the finger of my left hand, keep my eyes pinned on the spot and start sanding. After several strokes with the 120 grit, I check again and repeat. Maybe an hour and a half of this and the driver's side of the rear deck is looking very nicely blended and correct.
It turned out I didn't much use my round jar for sanding in the confluence of the areas with convex, concave, and flat surfaces (shown in the blue oval on the passenger side in first picture of this post). Instead I mostly used a 6" flat rubber block often without the block flush with the panel but just pulling the tip of it across the high area.
Here's the small spot I added filler to after the refining sanding:
The blue arrows are the bare factory SMC, the purple arrow is the new fill after it's been completely blended in. To my surprise there's no dip or ripple surrounding the new fill as I've had in the past, somehow I managed to avoid that. There is still a slight valley from driver's side to passenger side where the brown paint meets the vette panel adhesive/filler with a bit of bare SMC separating the two. Assuming I don't have to add any more filler on the passenger side of the rear deck I'll block out the valley where the filler and brown paint meet with 120 grit and hopefully get it level enough the high build primer will cover it without me removing too much more material from the factory SMC. On the red convertible rear clip I started with, some of the fiberglass was like maybe 1/32 inch thick. That was part of the reason why I threw that rear clip away, it was just so thin all over and with many breaks packed in thick with body fill. I'm not happy that Western Corvette told me it was a good rear clip when I bought it, but I didn't want to drive the 400 miles to go look at it in person.
Now assuming I don't run into any trouble refining the passenger side of the rear deck I'm pretty close to having it ready for primer. The passenger side was the better looking of the two after I had sanded the third layer of filler just by feel so I don't expect any significant difficulties getting it nicely blended in too. So I went to bed last night feeling really pleased and encouraged with where I'm at. I still have about a 4" oval just below the gas tank opening where the fiberglass is showing through the vette panel adhesive/filler but covering that would require applying filler across the entire rear deck again and I don't want to do it. I figure the high build primer will probably cover it, but if the oval shows through after primer I'll cover it with glazing putty.
The past 2 & 1/2 months it seems like week after week I'm applying filler and sanding it down and not really getting anywhere. When I went out to the garage yesterday I was thinking the rear deck is probably still a long way away from ready for primer and that it was beyond my ability to get it nice and now it looks like it's almost there. What a pleasant surprise
Taking pictures of the high-low areas and writing down meaxurements also helps to keep your memory fresh.
My car had measurements everywhere.....
notes/arrows pointing to the spot that needed attention written on the fiberglass .
I started out writing things on masking tape u til members warned me that theadhesive on the tape would contaminate the bare fiberglass.
On the areas with old paint I still use masking tape to write notes and measurements on.
THE I TAKE PICS OF EVERYTHING JUST IN CASE
I wonder if the blue, safe-release painter's tape would leave a problematic residue?
D.D. I tried it. It may decide to stick where you applied it to a quarter panel ......or the next day it might decide to stick to the garage floor (sometimes it just auto-releases and falls off.....kinda' like my hair ).
Tha's when members talked me into using marking pens and cameras.
Meanwhile.....Priya has been leaving me in her sanding-dust snow.
Meanwhile.....Priya has been leaving me in her sanding-dust snow.
Not even close. You've done so many other things on your car that I haven't like body mounts, the convertible lid, gas tank and luggage compartment modifications. You've done way more on your car than I have on mine.
Priya, You really should buy some thermol underware to wear in the cold. It really helps. I have never liked the cold and that is what I wear to work in cold weather. It really helps to keep in your body heat. Lou.
Priya,
My cell phone has a measurement and level app on it.
I can check anything to see if it is level.
When I check say a picture frame on the wall it gives me a reading of how many degrees off level the item is.
I’m sitting here eating some pizza for breakfast and reading your post and was wondering if you had a leveling app on your phone, and if you could line it up across the plain of the areas where you feel the valleys and if the app would tell you if there were any variations of degrees of slope in those areas?
Another idea would be to take some silly putty and apply to the area and make a mold, then lift the silly putty, flip it over so you could see the reverse of the different contours of the valleys you are feeling?
Or maybe lay a sheet of wax paper across the area and apply a 1/4” layer of wall joint compound onto the wax paper, let the compound set up and lift the wax paper flip it over and see what you have on the reverse side.
These may be dumb ideas, but it seems like you should be able to make some type of mold that would set up and allow you to lift it, flip it over so you can actually see what you have rather than doing it by feel.
Priya, You really should buy some thermol underware to wear in the cold. It really helps. I have never liked the cold and that is what I wear to work in cold weather. It really helps to keep in your body heat. Lou.
I'll give some thought to that.
Originally Posted by OldCarBum
Priya,
My cell phone has a measurement and level app on it.
I can check anything to see if it is level.
When I check say a picture frame on the wall it gives me a reading of how many degrees off level the item is.
I’m sitting here eating some pizza for breakfast and reading your post and was wondering if you had a leveling app on your phone, and if you could line it up across the plain of the areas where you feel the valleys and if the app would tell you if there were any variations of degrees of slope in those areas?
Another idea would be to take some silly putty and apply to the area and make a mold, then lift the silly putty, flip it over so you could see the reverse of the different contours of the valleys you are feeling?
Or maybe lay a sheet of wax paper across the area and apply a 1/4” layer of wall joint compound onto the wax paper, let the compound set up and lift the wax paper flip it over and see what you have on the reverse side.
These may be dumb ideas, but it seems like you should be able to make some type of mold that would set up and allow you to lift it, flip it over so you can actually see what you have rather than doing it by feel.
I’m going back to my pizza, good luck
OldCarBum, I don't have a cell phone, let alone a leveling app. I don't think making a mold helps because I can't see it any better than I can see the orignial surface on the car. But thanks for the suggestions
I haven't been able to motivate myself to go out to the garage yet this week. This is such a depressing time of year for me, the christmas presents are opened and the feasting done and now it's just bleak and cold January with nothing to look forward to until spring. When hubby left for work this morning he said "hopefully you don't have to go outside today, so that's my excuse for not working.. -29 C high today, -29C high tomorrow. Friday's forecasted high is -21 but I have to go to see the doctor when I'm normally working on the car, so that's out. Forecasted high for Monday is only -13 C and -5 C Tuesday - that'll be a good week to get back into it.
29 C high today, -29C high tomorrow. Friday's forecasted high is -21 but I have to go to see the doctor when I'm normally working on the car, so that's out. Forecasted high for Monday is only -13 C and -5 C Tuesday - that'll be a good week to get back into it.
yeah but you get lots of time to work the glass without worrying about it setting up too soon...
That's true. I try to get the garage up to 70 F before I get out there. Even then if I mix the West systems epoxy and hardener per recommendations I've got for sure 20 minutes and more likely 1/2 hour to work it.
Priya,
My mother in law lives with us and if your feeling blue after Christmas, try doing what she does,
Watch the Hallmark channel, they have Christmas movies all year long.
There’s nothing like hearing jingle bells and Christmas Caroling coming from the living room in July when it’s 100 degrees outside.
And trust me you can here it “ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE”!
LOL
).
