Fender flares, Vette suspension, 275/315
 

Out of the paint shop!! New pictures posted in the gallery.

Jim

glass work
 

Good evening!!
I can't help but admire the glass work you did on the fenders. Verrry nice.
I am going to start my own glass work project. A piece of tire rubber caught up in my wheel well, tearing out a chunk of the rear fender lower lip and cracking the top radius of the fender. Close to the trunk edge. There are several cracks just under the paint.
Can you give me any tips or advice on the finer points of glass repair? Do I need to drill the cracks to relieve pressure before I repair?
I am an old body man from way back, so the work doesn't scare me, but haven't touched glass in years.
Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Mark

Jim -
That really looks nice. My EM is very similar to yours, but it has the monospring in the front. Tell me a little about your coil over setup.

I can tell you what I did; I can't tell you about fracture damage because I have not repaired that problem. I also have not driven mine yet to see if the work I did will hold up to the stresses of driving. I did cut through some of my work as I did some cut outs and found good adhesion. I also picked up 1/2 the body, 200 pounds, by lifting up on one fender after the glassing.

First I ground down the top and bottom surfaces, about 1/2 of the thickness. I glassed the bottom side first; it was the hardest; I wanted to get the worst done before I lost patience. I did 4 layers of glass on each side; I used a marine epoxy, WEST system, a product that I had used on a boat with good success.

Random thoughts: Getting the bubbles out is difficult and very important; grind off all the top side gel coat, it cracks easily, it has no glass in it; the new epoxy will form a wax surface on it as it cures; the instructions say water will remove it, true but the next layer needs scratches, grind as you add glass or body filler (as a body guy you know this better than me).

8 layers of glass is likely over kill but I wanted a high level of confidence. I laid down 4 layers on one side in one session; I found that disposable paint brushes worked best to get the bubbles out; disposable shirts worked best on me when working upside down; too much epoxy and the glass falls off; too little, too many air bubbles.


Let me know if you want more "sharing".

Jim

I have Konis on the front from Doug Rippie with small diameter springs; I have the pre '88 front suspension; if you have '88 or later, you have better flexibility.

On the rear I have Afco. You can use the bottom stud you have or Brett at EM can provide prints for a different bottom mount; I did this.

Let me know if you want more.

Jim