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So, I bought my car last year, and noticed this while getting a quote to have the car painted. The idiot that previously owned the car replaced the oil pressure sensor by cutting the fiberglass of the firewall in order to fit a socket and extension down there. So my question to y'all would be how do I repair this? I've never worked with fiberglass. Is it hard to learn? Is this even workable? Suggestions? Ideas? I'm not replacing the body. Thanks.
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It not as an uncommon way to get to and repair the oil pressure sensor as you may think. While not something I would want to do to my car (cut the fiberglass), when someone does that they can fabricate a block off plate or just carefully cut the fiberglass, save it, and use some silicone or duct tape to keep it in place. Then should you need to replace the sensor again, you just take the plate back off. As for the piece with the mesh on it, that is just a cowl cover and you can get a used one in good shape from one of the forum used parts vendors.
If you want to know more about the procedure that was done to get to the sensor by cutting the cowl, PM me your e-mail address and I can send you a file on it. It's too big to make as an attachment here on the forum.
It not as an uncommon way to get to and repair the oil pressure sensor as you may think. While not something I would want to do to my car (cut the fiberglass), when someone does that they can fabricate a block off plate or just carefully cut the fiberglass, save it, and use some silicone or duct tape to keep it in place. Then should you need to replace the sensor again, you just take the plate back off. As for the piece with the mesh on it, that is just a cowl cover and you can get a used one in good shape from one of the forum used parts vendors.
If you want to know more about the procedure that was done to get to the sensor by cutting the cowl, PM me your e-mail address and I can send you a file on it. It's too big to make as an attachment here on the forum.
pm'd ya. I'm more so worried about how the fiberglass is fraying. I'm not sure how to fix/stop it from doing that.
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could you not just get a new wiper cowl and trim the frayed ends of the fiberglass and just leave it be?... with the cowl in place you can't really see the cut fiberglass underneath
I suggest you not attempt this. Only because the potential to make it worse is there. The hole is already there, . You may need that access again. If it were me, I would clean up the fray with a file or dremel. I would then go to home depot or lowes to find a piece of right angle plastic... you need to use your imagination.. a piece of plastic molding, or a plastic flower box.. Cut out a piece tat will "fit cleanly. Then secure it with some silicone rtv... just enough to secure it but not so much that you can't remove it, in the event you need access. Once fitted and painted, it should look like a factory access panel. . You have to have the vision and creative skills to do this.. For me, this would be a welcome challenge to make it look like it came from the factory that way.
Good luck
Bill aka ET
Ok, thank you all for the input. From what I'm gathering, it's not as big an issue as the paint shop made it seem. I was worried that since its part of the body, cutting it made it weaker and loss of its structural integrity. But from what y'all said, apparently people do this a lot so I guess it can't be that bad. Thank you
But from what y'all said, apparently people do this a lot so I guess it can't be that bad. Thank you
But not like that. The way to get to the sensor from the top is to first remove the visible panel that covers the wiper mechanism, then go through the bottom of HVAC plenum to get to the sensor. Then when the sensor has been changed, fiberglass the piece you cut out back into place, give it a quick coat of black spray and replace the panel you removed.
You may well need a small puller, like a battery terminal puller, to get the wipers off. Chevy did not put any anti seize on them at assembly time, so after many tears, they really do not want to come off.
To fix this, you need a replacement for that panel, and also to rebuild any other bodywork cuts with fiberglass.
If you are new to glassing, start by going to an auto parts store and buy a kit with resin, hardener and fiberglass mat, and experiment a little. The only semi tricky thing to learn is how much hardener goes with how much resin, too little and it does not harden, too much and it hardens before you can use it. But the kits are cheap, so experiment away until you are confident before you do your repair.
Last edited by jackthelad; 07-20-2017 at 12:05 PM.
07-19-2017, 11:28 PM
Fiberglass Firewall Damage
