Fiber glass wave

[Calvin C.]

I do not want to start any arguments because I have asked this in other venues and never really recieved a good answer and did start an argument. I just want information to suport my hobby. I have 5 corvettes and drive two daily, one modified and two in restoration. I have checked archieves and have not found a good answer. My question is this. I have seen cars with wonderful paint jobs only to get marked off for lack of wave in the fiberglass. The awswer of course is they came from the factory with waves. Did they really have waves, or did the waves ocure from the paint and materials shrinking after they came from the facory? The reason I ask is I had a perfect (strait ) body paint job only to have it begin to wave after several years. Many friends who have purchased first and second generation cars new swear they were strait for many years before waving. Can this be partly true? It would be nice to have a strait body and no deductioins. Or is giving an inch setting the stage for more changes.
Thank you for any help, someday I will have my cars judged.
cal

[Dick W.]

Re: Fiber glass wave

Cal, I purchased a '61 in 1962 and remember being very disappointed in the quality of the body work on that car. I looked like that both side had been torn off and a high school vocational school body shop did the repair. I was as wavy as could be. I remember seeing new '68 and '69 cars that had very wavy body panels. I really believe this is one of the major reasons you could not get a black car for several years. I cannot speak for mid years as my first mid year was 15 years old when I purchased it. During the mid year era all my new cars had a Pentastar on the front fenders

[Roy B.]

Re: Fiber glass wave

Most C1 and C2 where the fire wall bulk head attach to the front middle fender you'll see a bulge or line in the outer glass, C2 you will in time see the bonded body filler lines , and rear fenders waves comes from stressing the body to frame (shimming).Later C1's front middle fender start to bulge (front shim stress)Only doors are mostly straight having no waves and no stress or waving . If you put a black color Corvette "trailer queen" next to a unrestored Corvette you would think the unrestored Corvette had been dropped from a plane and put back together. It's just human nature to over restore a Corvette not bad but not original. If you found a perfect never drive Corvette stored away some place many people would first think the body was a mess to look at.Stress and time gives you waves!!

[Calvin C.]

Re: Fiber glass wave

Did any of the old pictures show the waves. Maybe my buddies memories are not as good as they think. I think I will go back and check some of my old car magazine tests.

cal

[Stephen B.]

Re: Fiber glass wave

I remember when my father purchased an 1986 Pace Car new, the body was virtually perfect. Now I have the car, and the body, doors, plastic mouldings, etc. do show lines and waves where shrinkage has occurred.

[Wayne P.]

Re: Fiber glass wave

I agree that the bodies get some shrikage with time and inner reinforcements begin to show, however; the early cars especially were NOT straight. I have an example in my garage. A 62 I purchased from the original owner in 1984. It has never been blocked. As Dick & others said, it looks like it has been wrecked, especilly when parked next to my other 62 that has been repainted.

[Kenneth B.]

Re: Fiber glass wave

I have a 1970 LT-1 19000 mi. origional paint. Glass is very stright. It has no shrinkage. No rivet pops etc. Had a 63 origional red paint conv. & it was fairly streight. The paint on restored cars are much better than factory. I had a 78 Pace Car 4 mi. The doors & fender bottoms had big drips & silver overspray on the hood. Remember these cars went down a assembly line & cost less than a paint job today. KEN 7808

[Gene B.]

Re: Fiber glass wave

Gives new meaing to "Save the Wave".