68 Fiberglass body and interior

[Erik S.]

Work on the body off of my 68 L71 is progressing slowly but what the heck - I am only 35 so probably will finish this before I retire. I have a query - removed all the carpet and the photo's are showing the appearance of the fiberglass (both driver side and passenger) - any thoughts on what may have happened? I guess this is not original or has anybody seen anything like this before on an original car?

Greetz from a thundering Amsterdam
Erik

[Richard F.]

Re: 68 Fiberglass body and interior

Weak floor panels were just one of the many failures of the 68 Corvette. This one has obviously been repaired. GM did not use fiberglass cloth; they used mat which does not have a woven pattern. What does it look like from underneath the car? The carpet cover it on the inside. Are you simply concerned about strength, or must it look correct from underneath?

[Dale O.]

Re: 68 Fiberglass body and interior

Looks like someone was in a hurry to do the repair an did not take the time to use the correct materials. I have seen problems like this when the floor or storage areas are caved in by road debris or rocks. It appears from the photo that there are round holes. If thats true maybe someone had a gunfight with the floor!! Examination of the underside would help tell the story.

[Chuck S.]

Re: 68 Fiberglass body and interior

Erik, it's a poor repair with fiberglass cloth as Richard said. Fiberglass cloth was only used on very early C1s. Fiberglass cloth is stronger, but the problem is the woven cloth pattern can show through the paint on exterior panels. The cloth would give you a stronger repair if it isn't visible from the bottom, but I wouldn't intentionally use it in restoration.

It looks like the passenger side floor must have been heavily cracked under the seat...the original paint is still visible through the laminated cloth. The cloth is a little dry on the edges...whoever did the repair was miserly with the resin. I can't tell much about the floor...you may be able to see if pieces are missing from the bottom. At first I thought someone had stored a leaking battery on the passenger floor, but now it appears to be a cloth and mat repair (or two) with too little resin, not supported well, and not rolled out properly.

You may be better off to find a donor or repro floor panel and simply replace all that mess. If you are careful with the seams, you can finish it to near invisibility.

[Jim T.]

Re: 68 Fiberglass body and interior

Erick what are the two bolts retaining that are in the vertical footwell area?

[Dick W.]

Re: 68 Fiberglass body and interior

Possibly heavy collision damage. Look for evidence of frame straighting in the front area.

[Erik S.]

Re: 68 Fiberglass body and interior

Thanks guys - not so much concerned about strength (so far) but it is an ugly job so want to correct it now I am there - I will expect the underbody when the car is on a lift but that may take a while as I am still working on engine compartment and interior. I will follow up on that when I get there. To be honest I have never seen this when I was under the car, so it may be just a very poor repair of a crack (and yes, it is a very poor repair); the car looks rather good on the front end (or was repaired with more care) as original look is apparent - if anybody knows a donor piece keep me posted on that. Not sure what the bolts are but they may hold the heat insulation panels.

This is the back of the seats - is this glue pattern typical? - amount of glue looks rather heavy to me.



And this is the TTop bar - still the green undercoat (I thought this was correct) but there is some black paint near the front windshield which looks again like a fix.



Erik

[Chuck S.]

Re: 68 Fiberglass body and interior

...Not sure what the bolts are but they may hold the heat insulation panels...

Yes, but the bolts appear to be a functional modification by a previous owner. The shields on later cars are retained by studs that are riveted to the foot well with aluminum body rivets...the stud plate is riveted to the inside of the floor and protrudes through the footwell.

Check for smaller holes on each side of the bolt head...if the smaller holes are there, the car originally had riveted stud plates. They look the same as the battery cable retaining studs in the tunnel.

...This is the back of the seats - is this glue pattern typical? - amount of glue looks rather heavy to me.

No, looks pretty typical except they weren't getting much spray pattern in 68...more of a squirting action. By 70, they must have increased the air pressure or changed the nozzle for better spray dispersion.

The glue secures the carpet underlayment, and it's everywhere forward of that bulkhead...transmission tunnel, sides of the floor pans, etc, but not so much in the rear compartment. You should have had to tear the old carpet underlayment away from glue unless the carpet had been changed.

...And this is the TTop bar - still the green undercoat (I thought this was correct) but there is some black paint near the front windshield which looks again like a fix...

The green paint is original zinc chromate primer.

The black near the front windshield is probably NOT A REPAIR...it is from the blackout operation. The windshield frame area was blacked out to obscure the green primer, and give the area behind the interior trim a nice finished look. Do you plan to remove the windshield?...you'll want to take a good look at the pinch weld area directly underneath the glass and the frame area around the windshield...these are areas of high rust probability on C3s.

[Joel K.]

Re: 68 Fiberglass body and interior

Erik,

Nothing more to add to what others have already said about your floor repairs, etc., but I am getting close to wrapping up a '68 L71 restoration, so would be happy to share any information I can about the process as I've experienced it.