1972 Front clip repair

[Glen C.]

I'm working towards getting the body and paint done on my 1972 this winter. When I talked with the owner of the car back in 1977 he told me that he damaged the front body swerving to miss a dog. The repair was really pretty good as I didn't spot it until I knew what to look for. I can see 2 faint lines at the top of the front wheel wells where the replacement fron end was put on. From underneath a bonding stip was used on the seam.

My debate is that I know it's there and it is probably going to bug the living daylights out of me if I don't replace it but since the car is a weekend driver and it's been stable all these years is there any reason to be concerned if I were just to leave it and go forward with the paint? I'd hate to paint over it if there was potential for issues down the road.

Thanks,

Glen

[Leif A.]

Re: 1972 Front clip repair

Glen,

Are you going to be painting the car yourself?? If not, I would have the shop that is going to do the work look at the previous repair for stability. If you're going to be doing the work yourself, as you stated, the current repair has been there for many years and appears to be stable. Weekend driver...never going to be judged...IMHO, paint it and drive it and most importantly, enjoy it. There are VERY few 37 year old cars out there that haven' seen some type of mishap.

[Paul Y.]

Re: 1972 Front clip repair

If the bonding strip is in a non factory position I would remove it and V out the area of mating and Fiberglas in the back side for a strong bond that will be undetectable once sanded(ground) down to the same level as the other surface. If done proper it does not need a bonding strip on the back side and may have been installed just to get the front done and then left there instead of finishing like the above description.

[Russ S.]

Re: 1972 Front clip repair

Agree with Paul except you need to go a little farther. After removing under side bonding strip and v ing out, you should do the same thing with the top side. Heat and cool the repaired area a number of times and/or leave out in the hot sun to cure for a couple months.