Replacement Front End Bonding Strip Question

[Jim H.]

I would appreciate your opinions on whether placing bonding strips on a one-piece replacement front end of my 66 is worth the time, trouble, and expense. My 66 427 has a one piece replacement front end installed by the PO. It's a good installation and has no problems other than it lacks bonding strips. I'm doing a body-off restoration of the car and intend to have it NCRS flight judged. I've read on this BB negative sentiment about installing bonding strips on replacement front ends. Sermersheim has all the parts I need at about $1,000 plus shipping. This is a fairly major investment and I'm wondering if it's worth it. Can these front ends w/bonding strips pass muster w/NCRS judges, do I pick up any points, or it is a total waste of time? Sermersheim has assembled front ends at about $5000 plus shipping. I'd rather put this money into other areas of the car. Are there cheaper alternatives? Thanks for your responses.

Jim Hughes

[Timothy B.]

Re: Replacement Front End Bonding Strip Question

Jim,

IMO, it's a waste of time and $$$ and will not fool anyone. If you are that serious about the fiberglass presentation bite the bullet and get a complete front with the panels and start over.

[Jeff M.]

Re: Replacement Front End Bonding Strip Question

As far as the points for flight judging, yes you only lose 50% of the originality points if the judges determine it IS a one piece front end and the bonding strips are in place. If the bonding strips are not in place and it is a one piece front end you automatically lose 80% of the originality points. Jeff

[Jim H.]

Re: Replacement Front End Bonding Strip Question

Thank you, guys. If I saw bonding strips on a one piece front end, I might look for cheating on other parts of the car and that is NOT how I will build it. The front end is what it is. I either take it all apart and replace it correctly (which from everything I read on this BB is a major job to get right) or leave it as it is and accept the consequences.

[Don H.]

Re: Replacement Front End Bonding Strip Question

Jim
if the one piece front end with Bonding strips is detected the standard deduction is 32 points. If there are no bonding strips and the one piece is detected the standard deduction is 52 points. I guess the biggest benefit of bonding strips might be that the one piece may go undetected in some judging scenarios.

[Richard M.]

Re: Replacement Front End Bonding Strip Question

I don't think it's worth the effort and cost to simply add the bonding strips. The backside of the fiberglass will still show it's "chopper gun" appearance and would be easily detected. Yes, you could sand the backside smooth, probably a man week or two of effort, but it would still be "green" and detectable as the wrong color, especially the backsides of the fender gills where you have minimal blackout. Adding strips to the front upper valence would in itself be a major task. Sanding the backside smooth there would be a chore.

Advantage.......You wouldn't have to paint the car.

I would either leave it alone and take the deducts, or go all-in with a PM press molded nose, of which is a very costly adventure in itself. THen paint costs added to the equation.

Advantage.......If your '66 needs paint, then you could solve that issue simultaneously.

If you want to get it judged for the judging experience, and have some fun with it(don't forget that's the main objective), then I would leave it as is and take the deducts. If it's a nice car with other assets to help you gain points, I'd leave it alone and get it judged as is. You could always decide after that to go the PM route.