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Well, I was asked by some to share my fibreglass project and I thought, I haven't seen one yet. So here it goes. I am definately an amateur when it comes to glass work but I have got some advice from a pro as to products to use...etc. I was dealing with a rear quarter that was cracked pretty bad in two places, I could mud it up but it just wouldn't be right. In the one picture you can see BUBBA used some aluminum bondo attached with rivets , the other spot on the fender had the same patch. So here it goes. Don't be afraid to add your two cents . More pics to come when I get the camera back from the vehicle...wedding last night...NO....not mine.
I ended up buying a heat gun that I used to scrap off the bonding adhesive. Heated up it broke off/scraped off quite easily. Just like breaking away hard chocolate.The old fender came off quite easily and I just broke it away at the bonding strip. Here's a few pics to show the progress.
You can see the bonding strip with residual fibreglass on it that will be cleaned off for installation of the new fender. I'm splicing the new fender in just before the marker light, it's not ideal but it works.
So what made you decide to splice the fender instead of replacing the whole thing? Just curious
had already been cut. It's off the old body I had sitting here. It was cut before I thought I would need it. The old body was suppose to be gone, good thing I kept it otherwise I would have to BUBBA the fender that is still on the car. I'm stipping the replacement fender before I put it on right now.
So I might as well be the test monkey for a fibreglass repair thread. I'll get back at it tomorrow. Hope to have it glued on tomorrow. Apparently I'm told you should put a little heat to the Fusor when your gluing the panels together. Works better and is stronger .
This product is used by NASCAR to bond the panels on there cars. It too is a 2 part chemical that works good with heat. 24 hour cure time with a 90 minute set up period to really focus on fit. Heat would merely make it a faster job.
This product is used by NASCAR to bond the panels on there cars. It too is a 2 part chemical that works good with heat. 24 hour cure time with a 90 minute set up period to really focus on fit. Heat would merely make it a faster job.
Where is a good place to get that 3M stuff? Order it online? None of my local places have it.
I just got back to work on this thing, I will show how the fusor worked and how the panel went on. The fusor glued the panel good, the stuff is rock hard. Pics to come.
I just got back to work on this thing, I will show how the fusor worked and how the panel went on. The fusor glued the panel good, the stuff is rock hard. Pics to come.
Well, got the old fender and all the glue off, the heat gun worked great on the GM bonding adhesive. It cleaned up pretty nice and the new(old) fender fit great. I applied the Fusor to the body after scuffing it up with 40 grit and cleaning it with acetone. Better to put too much because you can always sand it or wipe it off. Once the panel was in place I used a heat gun. I forgot to mention, I used screws to keep it in place. I know some people disagree with that but it's just me and I only have two hands. They held it pretty good. I kept the heat gun to it on and off for about a half hour to speed the curing and to get it to flow better in the joints. Here's some progress so for. Also note that in one of the pics I scraped all the undercoating off. Heat gun helped with that.
This is right at the door jamb.
This is the body with all the glue scraped off.
The new panel thats going on
Here's a better view of the body cleaned up. I'm glueing it to the original bonding strip.
Thanks for posting this step by step. I'm facing this on all four fenders sometime shortly. It sure makes this brave new world (fiberglass work) a little easier to stomach by watching someone else battle their way through it.
And Ironcross is right about the 3M 8115. I used this to glue a new lower battery box into my '74 and there is no way that it's going to come out. Great stuff, but expensive.