Fiberglass damage
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 119
Likes: 4
From: Sherwood Arkansas
Fiberglass damage
My wife ran her C5 over a curb and scuffed up the driver's rocker panel pretty good. The scuffing is thru the paint and into the gelcoat. It starts from just behind the fromt wheel to the rear edge of the driver's door. You can't see it unless you bend down and look under the car. The scuff is long but very narrow ( seems to be in the radius of the panel).
My question is, what is the best way to fix it and do I need to get it fixed right away or can it wait? I don't know if the exposed glass fibres will soak up water or if there are other hazards to leaving it exposed.
Thanks for any comments
Larry
My question is, what is the best way to fix it and do I need to get it fixed right away or can it wait? I don't know if the exposed glass fibres will soak up water or if there are other hazards to leaving it exposed.
Thanks for any comments
Larry
Racer
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 327
Likes: 0
From: McKinney Tx
Small world. I pulled that same maneuver a while back (turned into a business lot and up over a curb ('island') I went. Fortunately, my scuffs were contained to the underside flat surface of the rocker, also. I went to Walmart and picked up a 'Scratch Fix 2in1 Premium Touch-Up Repair Kit' (by DupliColor). Small box with bottle of primer-filler, clear sealer and wet/dry sandpaper.
As for the repair: I cleaned off the area, then filled the scratches (mine were into the fiberglass as well) with the primer-filler (about three coats to build it up).
TIP: If you decide go this route, know that this primer-filler stuff sets up REALLY hard. Had I known that beforehand, I would have run over the scuffs with the edge of a credit card or stiff piece of plastic to 'knock-down' the buildup, then wipe off any excess from around the scratches with some lacquer thinner, then let it cure. Tried sanding on it some but did'nt get anywhere (stuff was too hard and did'nt have heavy enough grit sandpaper to cut into it and did'nt really care to scuff up the area around the scratches with sandpaper markings), so I just ended up just leaving it as was.
Applied two coats of GM touch-up paint and that's how it is today. Figure I'll have a proper repair done to it later if (when) get some other nicks on the car.
FWIW: I as well wondered about moisture getting into the fiberglass, but once I found how hard the primer-filler cured, I worried no longer.
Ordered a set of A&A rocker rails.
As for the repair: I cleaned off the area, then filled the scratches (mine were into the fiberglass as well) with the primer-filler (about three coats to build it up).
TIP: If you decide go this route, know that this primer-filler stuff sets up REALLY hard. Had I known that beforehand, I would have run over the scuffs with the edge of a credit card or stiff piece of plastic to 'knock-down' the buildup, then wipe off any excess from around the scratches with some lacquer thinner, then let it cure. Tried sanding on it some but did'nt get anywhere (stuff was too hard and did'nt have heavy enough grit sandpaper to cut into it and did'nt really care to scuff up the area around the scratches with sandpaper markings), so I just ended up just leaving it as was.
Applied two coats of GM touch-up paint and that's how it is today. Figure I'll have a proper repair done to it later if (when) get some other nicks on the car.
FWIW: I as well wondered about moisture getting into the fiberglass, but once I found how hard the primer-filler cured, I worried no longer.
Ordered a set of A&A rocker rails.
Last edited by elemon; Mar 10, 2006 at 11:05 PM.
