Americani

First post here. I just bought my dad's C3 not too long ago. I wanted to keep it in the family since we had it all through my childhood. It's also the car I learned to drive stick in. It definitely needs some work though. Probably the most glaring problem is some body damage over the driver's side rear wheel. The wheel fell off about a year ago while my dad was out driving and the result was what you would expect. My question: Is this something that can be fixed without replacing the entire rear panel? I've been looking around and all of the fiberglass repair tutorials I've found only involve fixing cracks and as you can see from the pics this is a little more than that. We have all the pieces, they just need to be put back into place.

Honestly I'm pretty handy and would like to take a shot at doing this myself, so any advice or ideally tutorials would be greatly appreciated!

doorgunner

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/paint-body-138/

Click on the link above...it takes you to the Paint and Body Forum.
Even tough I am a rookie I have begun doing small fiberglass repairs to my project car. I think you can learn much info which will help you repair the fender damage shown in your picture.

And WELCOME to the Forum!

mrvette

Offhand it looks like minor damage..... I have done fill in on the back vents, just behind the top hatch, and filled in the headlight openings, years ago....if I can do it, you can too......read up on the techniques, take your time, buy some good cloth and resins from a boating supply house NOT a car parts joint......use common sense, and glue it up again.....

derekderek

Not terrible, but replacing with bigger piece sa you can cut back from the damage will be an easier repair. So this 300 bucks might be well spent. https://m.ebay.com/itm/Corvette-OEM-...MAAOSwZkJUUSmF you will probably be able to find part car to cut pieces out of near you. Where are you located?

international blue

That is an option, however the original rear fender can be saved by a simple “splice” and then sanding after repair with a “chunk” partial panel. There is no need to change the whole fender, and besides, that the fender that the car was born with. Why not just repair it for a lot less money and work? You will need to find a lower fender repair section, and you probably can do so at many of the Corvette parts and repair houses.

CA-Legal-Vette

I think you could repair it with just fiberglass mesh and resin but it would take much longer than it's worth. Splicing in a replacement section from a donor would be much easier and quicker, especially since the damage includes the fender flare and the bottom edge. Too many curves and contours to fool with.

bazza77

be a good idea to take the chrome bumper off to see just how far the damage went .

Do you have the bottom of the inner panel ? (that glues up behind the wheel ) that part helps determine the shape and is pretty important to have it back in the right spot

Greg

Welcome aboard Americani and congratulations on scoring your first Corvette!
Can you tell us a little more about the car and share a few more pics?
Greg

tak82

That is definitely fixable but like others, if you post that in paint and body DUB will chime in, he has great advice and years of experience. My guess is since you asked if it's fixable you're new to doing body work. Couple things, as stated remove the bumper so you can see exactly how far the damage is and second, also as stated, you're gonna need some sort of patch piece unless you have the piece that was broke off. To recreate the exact shape without a patch piece is capable but only for real experienced body men. The easiest fix is buy a patch panel and splice it in. Wish you the best on your repair and enjoy the Vette !

Johnnycyclone

Here is a page on my build thread where I had to replace a few sections of fiberglass due to fire damage to the front fenders. Scroll down to about the middle of the page that's where the repairs start. One piece was quite large so I know it can be done. You certainly don't need to replace the whole panel, you can piece in the missing pieces pretty easy.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-build-10.html

JBL Specialty

It can be repaired but quarter panels are easy to replace. If you install it like Chevy did it will be a lot less work than fixing. I can install those panels in about 4 hours and have it ready for primer. A new quarter is about $300.00 from Corvette Image. If its done at a shop labor to install and have ready for primer should be around $300.00. You can do this repair at home with no problem. JBL

STINGRAY1WORD

Welcome aboard!!!! Whatever repair you decide remember to drill the ends of all cracks to avoid future headaches.

20mercury

My suggestion in addition to the excellent advice above is go buy the Glas Ra CD's on how to do C3 fiberglass repair. Volume 3, I want to remember is for the front and vol 4 is the rear. Ecklers and others have them plus likely on ebay too. A bit pricey, but very educational and actually cheap given the overall cost of all of this.

Hope this helps and good luck! Never ventured, nothing gained!

(BTW, I think the vol 4 has a "how to" on a rear splice like this plus you can find the needed splice pieces on ebay if you look awhile.)

lvmyvt76

find a corvette junk yard and buy the piece needed to fill out the fender and get er done.

Americani

Thanks for all of the replies guys, really appreciate the help. I'll put this in the paint forum as well and see what kinds of responses it gets. Looks like the choices are what I expected, either do the patch work or buy a new part. Honestly $300 isn't too bad, kinda surprised that's all it costs. Let me see if I can get to all of the other questions:

Near Raleigh. Speaking of which if anyone knows a good shop in that area for Corvette's I'd also appreciate it. I've yet to find one.

I think I have pretty much everything.

Don't 100% follow? Drill the ends of the cracks?

Americani

And since some people asked for pics:

JBL Specialty

I looked up the price of a quarter panel at Corvette Image, Their list price is $435.00. You can get a discount if you have a shop order for you. It is press molded like original so it looks factory from behind. JBL

bazza77

the theory behind drilling the hole at the end of the crack is to stop or relieve the stress from starting to crack the GLASS again .

At least that's how I understand it . I always do with a crack in metal before welding.

I never bother to with glass ,as by the time you remove all the delamination and grind the remaining good glass back on a bevel edge , you always past the end of the crack anyway and now it honestly looks worse than when you started

but that's the fun part of working with the fibreglass , its messy (I use those disposable examination gloves ) , smells so good , I love the smell of glasswork in the morning ! and once you get the hang of it , you can do some pretty cool stuff with it .

with your damage , I think your better off trying to get ONE new piece back on there ,at the wheel arch , rather than rebuilding from the original pieces , with multiple pieces its too easy for it to get too big(or small) as you prep each join line , too easy to get lost especially on the big curve area with no features (the flared edge ) to use as a guide . I would highly recommend getting a NOS part that's press moulded as the original was and cut your patch shape from that .Maybe treat the cracked area as a second repair ,we would need to see it with the bumper off

Just how many pieces and what sizes are the bits you saved ?

Americani

It's a few pieces. My dad still has those so I'm just guessing, but probably like 5-10.