73 Hood Repair
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 891
Likes: 165
From: Oswego IL
Re: 73 Hood Repair (73 Vet)
I had a small crack on the bottom of the hood on my 74. I used a dremel tool to rough up the area about 2 inches around the area to be repaired and then used a small sanding wheel attachment with the Dremel tool to make a groove out of the cracked line. You do not want to sand all the way through, but enough to make a kind of v shape to hold some fiberglass and resin. I then bought a fiberglass kit with the glass fibers, resin, etc. Soak the fiberglass in the resin, spread over the damaged area, and press out any air bubbles with a body filler plastic spreader. You will want to build this up with a few layers and an extra layer or two directly above the portions that were V'd out. Be sure to press out any air bubbles. Allow the fiberglass to cure and then sand smooth. My repair turned out great and absolutely seamless. I then gave it shot of black primer followed by some semi flat paint.
Ron
Ron
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 891
Likes: 165
From: Oswego IL
Re: 73 Hood Repair (73 Vet)
This method will definitely work. Make sure that you rough up the surface, and make a v on the full line of the crack. If you get the Speed channel, they have been running a series showing a full restoration of a C3 and they used the same method. Grind out any of the loose strands, replace with several layers of fiberglass mat (Don't confuse the mat with the fibeglass cloth). You can easily see the difference when comparing the two. One is just like the original material and very fiberous, whereas the other pretty much looks like a woven cloth.
If you get done sanding and you still have some spots that are rather low, simply rough up the surface and apply some more mat and resin and be sure to press out the air bubbles and you should be all set.
If you get done sanding and you still have some spots that are rather low, simply rough up the surface and apply some more mat and resin and be sure to press out the air bubbles and you should be all set.
