'72: Seam popped loose-how to fix?

[Patricia Brown]

My '72's floor-to-firewall seam is seperated on the driver's side. I plan to repair with Fusor epoxy. My concern is that the reading I've done, related to adhesive repairs on fiberglass, says to grind away all remaining old adhesive before applying new. The trouble is, this seam is formed by the two panels overlapping, such that I cannot get in there to grind.

If I simply squirt some epoxy in the seam and hope for the best, is it going to come loose easily in the future? Any advice for a sound repair? Will the epoxy be happy in there with old, factory glue, or would I be better off using polyester, factory-type adhesive?

Thank you,
Patricia Brown

[Harmon C.]

Re: '72: Seam popped loose-how to fix?

Patricia

I would open the seam on each end with a screwdriver or a wedge. I would use 36 grit D-A sandpaper folded over so it is glued together and work it in the seam to rough it up. If their is no grease or oil the Fusor should fix it. I have used it on door bottoms this way metal to fiberglass.

Lyle

[Patricia Brown]

Re: '72: Seam popped loose-how to fix?

Lyle,

Thank you. I will attempt to work some sand paper in there.

Patricia

[Chuck S.]

Re: '72: Seam popped loose-how to fix?

If you can't get sandpaper in the space, use a hack saw blade to cut out as much of the old bonding adhesive as possible. Don't try to use the hacksaw handle, just the blade with heavy gloves.

The Lord Fusor material is compatible with either polyester and SMC, so it will give you a very strong bond. It won't be as "as-original", but nobody is going to see it there anyway...just tidy up any "runs" or "globs" on the firewall side to be sure.

[Warren L.]

Re: '72: Seam popped loose-how to fix?

you can cut one of those round burgandy coloured discs you use on a grinder into a pie shaped piece. They cut well with metal snips though probably dull the snips.

With a pie shape it will get into tight spaces. They are made out of a very heavy material so they are ridged and they stay sharp better than any other sandpapers.

Warren

[Patricia Brown]

Re: '72: Seam popped loose-how to fix?

I'm glad to have a couple tricks available; there are plenty of hard-to-reach little spots, and I intend to do a proper repair.

Just out of curiosity, what is so bad if some of the old adhesive were to stay in there? It sounds like the Fusor should bond fine with it, right?

[Harmon C.]

Re: '72: Seam popped loose-how to fix?

With fusor I did not get all the old adhesive out and it worked fine.

Lyle

[Patricia Brown]

Re: '72: Seam popped loose-how to fix?

Lyle,

That's good to know. I guess the main idea is to rough it up and remove what I can of the old adhesive and not worry about any bits remaining.