Pain in the fiberglASS

[Ron B.]

Perhaps someone can offer me a viable suggestion for this problem. I have a freshly painted '57, now completely assembled. Lately, I've heard a cracking sound coming from the front driver's side edge of the hood when I open it. There was no problem for over a year of opening and closing. Suddenly this sound is there each time I open it. Upon close inspection, the fiberglass seems to be separating at the point where the hinge bolts into the hood, on the underside, at the very front edge.

The hood was brand new before paint. How do I repair the damage and or keep it from worsening, without completely disassembling the hood or wrecking the paint job? The sound is scary! Thanks for your help and suggestions

[mike mccagh]

Re: Pain in the fiberglASS

fracturing of hood in vicinity of hinge mounting plate common on the 53 to 57 vette hoods.when lifting hoods on these babies, i've always placed my left hand in the center of rear edge of hood so as to create equal forces on both left and right hinge. doubt you'll be able to fix your fracture short of acquiring and painting a new hood. sorry. mike

[Ralph Harlan]

Re: Pain in the fiberglASS

It sounds like you have a good delamination started caused by the forces on the hinge mount when you are opening the hood.

I will not stick my neck out far enough to guarantee this will work, but over the years I've repaired damage to fiberglass hatch lids and other boat parts that were split similar to your description.

You will have to be able to access the delamination easily and fully, which may mean you will have to remove the hood. CAREFULLY spread the split using CLEAN wood or plastic wedges. Don't force the wedges in far enough to further split the laminate; just enough to be able to "trowel" a thin mixture of WEST (tm) epoxy and CABOSIL (tm) into the split after the split has been pre-wetted with the properly mixed WEST (tm) epoxy. The mixture should only be thickened enough with the CABOSIL (tm) to form a "slurry" stiff enough be able to work it easily. Something a little more viscous than, say, 90 weight. Sometimes toothpicks have been big and stiff enough and still narrow enough to allow working in the slurry. You will only have to force in a thin line of the slurry, so don't pack in a lot. Be sure to remove the wedges and carefully clamp the delamination back together after forcing the slurry into the split. You will find all excess slurry being forced back out so wipe the excess as clean as possible after clamping. If you mask carefully with plastic film so that ONLY the edge of the hood - and the split in the laminate - are exposed, you should barely know the repair was completed. You may use acteone to carefully clean the area, but be careful with the paint if you used lacquer or uncatalyzed enamels.

The WEST (tm) epoxy will have a higher laminate strength after fully curing than the original polyester resins, and will likely hold unless there has been contamination of the split with oil or similar liquids (or wax/silicone if you have polished that area since the delamination started). If you cannot locate a small amount of CABOSIL (tm) to use with your WEST (tm) epoxy, you could probably get away substituting talcum powder (suitable for your "baby" - right?).

After the repair has cured fully - something like 72 hours at room temps - touch up the paint if necessary and reinstall the hood.

Once the hood is reinstalled, I'd follow the suggestion from Mr. McCagh: " . . . when lifting hoods on these babies, i've always placed my left hand in the center of rear edge of hood so as to create equal forces on both left and right hinge."

Good luck with it, let us know how you attack the problem, and how it works out.

[Ron B.]

Re: Pain in the fiberglASS

Mike, Ralph, thanks for your help. I appreciate your time. Has anyone had any experience with a SEM product called "Weld-Bond Adhesive"? Could this be a product used to solve the problem? Thanks again.

[Terry F.]

Re: Pain in the fiberglASS

I am not familiar with it. I think if you go down to a auto paint supplier you will find a product like Duramix, I think that is what it is called. Comes with different degrees of flexability.

Most importantly will be the prep that takes place before you do the repair. Don't try to wing it. Do it right or don't do it at all is what I am trying to say. I read that preveous post and it gave an excellent discription of getting in there and cleaning it out.

I have had similar situations in the past. Lucky for me the area was fairly stable and not subject to repeat flexing. I would suggest the following. Pry it appart in the middle and watch where the crack runs too. If you need to enlarge the crack to do the job right, I would. There is a limit as to how good a job you can do in some small cracks without enlarging them. I am mainly talking about splitting a bonding seam. Once you pull the center of the crack up, try to clamp it on each end of the crack to prevent spreading. They like to spread. When you glue it, don't over clamp it and squeeze all the glue out. That is a common mistake. The new car people actually use products that have little glass spheres that prevent the two surfaces from coming all the way together. I use belt sander belts and cut them in half and then into strips. If I can, I run them through the crack and pull them back and forth. I let the crack fall back on itself so that tension is applied to the back of the belt sanding material. Sometimes, you might have to squeeze it lightly to create more friction. I use the coarse stuff and make sure I get into the meat of the pannel. Try to remove all/most of the old bonding material. I would blow it out with compressed air but make sure the air is clean (no oil in it). I like using the belt technique because I can grind the surfaces good without prying them apart and cracking the poop out of everything.

As I recall, you have fresh paint on the car. Tough situation...but things will get a lot lot worse if you don't fix it right. Nothing like trying to find a nice used hood for your car.

Lord fusor also makes good products. I am not sure if that is how you spell their name but it is something like that. Might be Lord's Inc. Someone on the board would now.

If the problem is simply a delamination, it will fix fairly easy. If the integrety of the fiberglass is degraded, the fix may only be so so regardless.

Good luck, Terry