Bonding Strips - R&R?
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 167
Likes: 0
From: Dover NH
Bonding Strips - R&R?
I currently have a thread going regarding whether to chemically strip or to use plastice media blasting. In that thread, one of the members referred me to his website. While looking at Rich's pictures on his site, he mentions having a fiberglass seam in the fender.
That reminded me that I have heard of "bonding strips" on all four corners that join the top to the bottom of the fenders. Is this the seam he is referring to? Should they be replaced during a full strip and repaint?
That reminded me that I have heard of "bonding strips" on all four corners that join the top to the bottom of the fenders. Is this the seam he is referring to? Should they be replaced during a full strip and repaint?
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 2,845
Likes: 2
From: Apex NC
Re: Bonding Strips - R&R? (JME)
You can't really replace them without unbonding the body panels from each other. The bonding strips provide the backing for the area where the 2 panels come together. They are on the backside of the panels. When you strip the car you'll see the areas of factory bonding material along the seams. If you want to smooth that over to eliminate any ridges or waves in the fiberglass, that would be the time to do it.
Shannon
Shannon
Safety Car
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 4,456
Likes: 6
From: Spicewood, Texas, USA TX-Texas
Re: Bonding Strips - R&R? (JME)
As Shannon said, you really can't replace the bonding strips without tearing the body apart: Bonding strips are the 1 1/2 to 2 inch wide strips of fiberglass that lap the seam on the backside of the fender joints.
Some old-timers recommend "glassing the seams" before doing a repaint on a 30-40 year old Corvette. Some of the seams were never perfectly smooth, and over the decades, others have become visible because of shrinkage. It depends on what you want; NCRS considers the "sunken" seams originality, but after this much time the seams may have cracks which have to be repaired. It is a LOT of work, and I wouldn't mess with them unless I suspected problems.
"Glassing the seams" consists of grinding the seam area down slightly below the surface, then laminating three layers of resin and fiberglass mat over the seam. Once the fiberglass is cured, the seam area is ground and sanded back to the original contour. If the seam area is still below contour or imperfect, filler is used to build it up to contour.
Some old-timers recommend "glassing the seams" before doing a repaint on a 30-40 year old Corvette. Some of the seams were never perfectly smooth, and over the decades, others have become visible because of shrinkage. It depends on what you want; NCRS considers the "sunken" seams originality, but after this much time the seams may have cracks which have to be repaired. It is a LOT of work, and I wouldn't mess with them unless I suspected problems.
"Glassing the seams" consists of grinding the seam area down slightly below the surface, then laminating three layers of resin and fiberglass mat over the seam. Once the fiberglass is cured, the seam area is ground and sanded back to the original contour. If the seam area is still below contour or imperfect, filler is used to build it up to contour.
