hello guys, im getting ready to paint my 79 after a woman playing with her radio ran into me...also, visited the corvette expo and purchased fiberglass front and rear bumpers, and a l88 hood. Dont worry, all the original parts will be saved.

anyways, i am thinking of glassing the bumpers to the car. Has anyone accomplished this? how did the seams do? how and what did you use?

my dad is a veteran bodyman, and he is going to help me, but your opinions are welcomed.

also, what is going to be the easiest way to get the bumpers off? im sure the rust from 24 years of driving is murder on the parts.

i am going to start the fitting of the bumpers tuesday.

also, any other suggestions would be appreciated.

im going to document the whole process

thanks guys

 

when painting the whole car, take everything you can off-doors, hood, etc. i know its a PITA, but its worth it in the end especially if your going to a color change. make sure you know what to do...how to work with the seams and fiberglass in general. if your painting it yourself...i'd recommend buying one of those how to paint a vette books...really helpful...or have a professional do it. good luck :thumbs:

 

In my opinion I would NOT glass the new bumpers to the car. The stress cracks will surely develop at those seems. If you do glass them in I would also suggest that you create the appearance of a seam to allow stress crack to occur in that seam. Leaving them un-bonded would also allow for repairs to be made to bumpers in future whether replacement or damage repair.
A 1/4 drive socket set with extensions and swivel and some penetrating oil should get those old bumpers off. Be prepared to replace attachment rings since several fasteners will probably break off. Ecklers is my first choice for fit and finish on fiberglass parts. Many others have numerous pinholes and require more prep. work. Ecklers is #1 in my book when it comes to fiberglass components although they do source out some pieces but not many. Good luck on your project....been there ...done that.
Jim

 

To glass the covers to the body, you'll need to use bonding adhesive, same stuff that you'd use to replace a quarter panel to bond the panel to the strap. Bevel the edge of the front clip and the edge of the cover over 2" wide on each part. After the nose is mounted, lay succesively wider strips of matt in the bevel building the area up to the finish height of the adjacent parts. 4 layers would be the best, more if you need it to fill the depression. Grind the fiberglass down and add a thin layer of fiberglass filler as neeeded. Be very careful to avoid any air pockets as you place each layer of matt.

If you treat the seam like a replacement of a fender, you won't have any problems down the road. I'm going this route as well, but keep in mind if the car will be a daily driver, one 5mph bump and you may be rebuilding more than just the nose.

I replaced urethane cover on the rear of an 80 Mustang with a custom fiberglass unit that I made and glassed it to the car. Since my replcament was actually in contact with the rear bumper, the bollard I backed into (really hard) one time didn't do hardly any damage to the fiberglass. It cracked a small piece of the rear skirt and put a couple of cracks in the cover. It wasn't hard to repair. Where the cover was glassed to the body (metal) there was no damage and I was very surprised.

 

thanks for the input guys, anyone else?