I noticed the picture below from Leigh in Argos' LT-1 resurrection thread. I didn't want to hijack it so here's a new thread based on what I saw there.

When I put my car on my lift, the gap between the fender and door on the driver's side separates some. Actually quite a bit. I would assume that gap is being "worked" for every little bump I go over.

This is new. Previously there wasn't anything like what I see now going on.

I had assumed the bonding there had broken loose but from this it appears that the surround is a little more complicated than that. To rivet it in place, it seems like there might be some metal embedded in the surround. Is that the case?

Did the surround come with some sort of tab bonded into it from the factory? By way of inspection it would be a lot easier to look at the passenger side and see what's there. That picture isn't very revealing and I should check the AIM maybe?

My car had some significant fiberglass damage from a crash that couldn't easily be fixed. The shop that did the work back in the 90's said they located one of the last factory surrounds and were going to replace my damaged fiberglass with a new factory piece. I know they didn't take my dash apart so I am guessing there wasn't anything much else done in this area but bonding everything in place.


So ...... the rivets would have to be inserted from inside the car with the dash removed, wouldn't they? I am completely conjecturing here but what would the process be to correctly fix this?

 

The surround did not have any embedded metal near the cowl. There is a bonding strip that is riveted to the birdcage to which the surround is bonded to.

 

That would make a lot more sense in securing the surround (well the whole fender really) from the weight of the front end.

After some search I found this:



I'd have to guess that bond has come undone. A repair, maybe not "the repair" would be to take the door off and somehow inject some bonding agent in there and the squeeze the fender back into position. Not that trivial an undertaking but compared to my conjecture a bit easier. But I'm not confident that would be adequate. That's one hell of a strong bond to resist the flex of the car.

I think the way the crash repair was done was to bond in a new surround. Guessing that wasn't done well enough.

thanks 69L88/Kevin

 

I’ve done a couple of repairs of this type. You may or may not need to remove the door but you need to MacGyver up a “sanding stick” which could be as simple as a paint mixing stick with some 80 grit wrapped around to get in as deep as possible to clean the bond mating surfaces. Assuming you are indoors, you can jury rig up a means to press the surround against the bonding strip while the adhesive cures. Maybe something as simple as a 2x4 between your ceiling and the surround.

I would use 3M 08115 Bonding Adhesive but know that does require purchasing a 08117 applicator gun.

 

This is starting to sound like something I can handle. I opened the hood and can see some of the bonding strip. I guess I'll read up on the 3M compound and see what the application notes say.

I have some car tie down straps that I think I could wrap around the car to snug up the repair while the adhesive sets. And it's not that hard to take the door off. I have to get in there anyway to adjust the lock.

Thanks for setting me straight.