I am getting ready to install a complete Ecklers nose on my 79. I have the Ecklers fiberglass manual, which is fairly detailed, and I have a fairly extensive autobody background,(Although not on vettes). Any tips out there, horror stories, advice, etc.? I know this is a one shot deal, and would prefer to get it right the first time. Any thougts would be appreciated.

 

Good luck, I am going to be doing the same in the future. try this site, they have a lot of helpful articles....... http://www.corvettefaq.com/exterior.asp

 

Much thanks to lason, there are some good sites on that link, lot's of info. Anyone else? I am looking for some personal experiences with this installation, stuff the books can't tell you.

 

Installed complete front end on my 79 about 3 months ago. Purchased front end and front bumper from ACI. A few tips; be sure and grind adhesion areas (plenum, door area and inner fenders) well for clean surface of new adhesive. I used Ecklers? adhesive material and applied with a cake frosting decorator and disposable bags. You need to work fairly quickly (material begins to set in about 10 minutes). Bond only the firewall (plenum and upper dash panel) and area at the front doors first. You can bond the inner fenders anytime. Make very sure that everything fits prior to bonding. When dry fitting the front end, rough cut the fender to door gap, being sure not cut too much. After bonding the fenders you can scribe curvature of door to fender maintaining correct gap (0.180") and finish with file or dremell tool. Cut cross bar that attaches to upper firewall so that width adjustments can be made to achieve flush body lines and curvatures at doors. I drilled 3/16" hole on L and R fender and used aluminum sheet metal screws to secure the fenders to the plenum during the bonding. Check the front bumper area for appropriate height from top of front bar assembly and frame extension (3.70" from top of frame extension to center line of nose, page 14Zsheet 1 of assembly manual). Dry fit bumper to make any adjustments. Dry fit inner fenders and ensure appropriate bonding surfaces. I used spring clamps to hold inner fenders in place for dry fitting. Make sure that fan shroud has appropriate clearance for the fan if frame extension has been moved. Dry fit lower valence panel to fender and check for appropriate fit. Finally, install hood and check for correct height and alignment. At this point I drilled holes for front bumper, front fender reinforcement brackets, splash shields, side marker lights and emblems. I installed (riveted) front bumper and lower valence reinforcement brackets and cable and bracket for fender at the upper rear (in the wiper bay area) of the fender. Make several marks for quick reference during the bonding. Remove hood, all clamps and screws in fenders. At this point I was able to pull out fenders approximately 8 in. secure them in order to apply the adhesive. I applied a bead of adhesive to a height of about 1/2 in on all mating surfaces of the plenum, and door areas one side at the time. Once adhesive was applied I removed securing block and let the fender fall into place and inserted screw into perviously drilled hole, making sure of appropriate fit using the screw and reference marks as adhesive began to harden. Then performed the same task on the other side. And then I bonded the upper dash panel to cross bar and a couple of days later bonded the inner fenders making sure of appropriate fit prior to applying adhesive. For the inner fender bonding, I used a 1"x2" board placed across the hood opening and secured with spring clamps to ensure that I did not alter the distance from fender to fender. This measurement and board was made during the dry fit and I also immediately installed the lower valence panel as I was bonding the front of the inner fenders to insure appropriate dimensions for the front bumper. After bonding all areas, the fit on the front bumper was excellent without any grinding or filling. Scribing and carefully grinding fender to doors resulted in a perfect door/fender gap. Hood fit was excellent. Finally, I rough blocked using 120 grit and sealed with DP and blocked 3 times with K36 as described Lars. It was a lot of work but the dry fit and preparations prior to bonding was the key to a good final finish. I haven't yet painted; after all of this work I had to remove body in order to complete the frame and suspension restoration. I am in this process now and plan to have mine together for painting in early summer. Hope this helps in your installation and I would be lost if it wasn't for this forum and all the people that contribute to it.

 

Phil's 79,

Thanks for the great info. I knew someone on this forum must have done this. I'm going to start this weekend, and will probably spend at least the whole first day dry fitting. It will be a challenge as my 79 was COMPLETLY apart when got it. It's got new Inners, different doors, new rad support, etc. Basically going together from scratch. Not worried about fan shroud, as it has an LT-1 with electric fans, but the new Ecklers inners seem to be shaped slightly different from stock. Oh well, Patience will be the key. Thanks again, this will be a great help. :seeya

 

79yellowlt1, forgot one thing. On dry fit make sure rocker mouldings fit . Hope this helps

 

A couple things I didn't see mentioned, making sure the car is level, and that everything gets located with the hood on the car.
When I did mine I leveled the car by supporting the car on 4 jackstands on the shock mounts and then shimming them until the frame was sguare in all directions to a bubble level. Now you can use the same bubble level across the fenders when it is being located on the car to a known point of reference.

 

Anyone know the correct procedure for determining the number of shims on the body mounts? I can't find any measurements for this. I did my dry fit on the front end, and it seems that the nose is tilted slightly forward. The frame extension and rad support are both maxed out in the upward travel, and the rocker does not line up. I'm thinking of shimming the rear of the body slightly higher, but have no data to go on. Any thoughts? :confused: