58 hood prop fiberglass crack

[Ty T.]

I've got my 58 in for paint touch up and while it's there I'm having the fiberglass repaired by the hood prop. There is a crack along the front and also along the outside edge of the hood prop where it is bolted to the fender. Any thing special I should have the body shop do. The body shop owner does have a good fiberglass guy who works for him but asked me for suggestions or any special instructions. I checked with my local chapter but no ideas there other than fix it and make it look like it did originally, which I passed on to the body shop. I searched the archives thinking I might find something, but no luck. The car was this way when I bought it and I thought it might be a common problem, but maybe not. My best guess is maybe the previous owner had the hood up and a gust of wind got it.
Thanks!
Ty

[Doug F.]

Re: 58 hood prop fiberglass crack

in later years they installed a metal brace to the metal radiator extension, that eliminates the cracking issue, available repo, if you want to keep it original, just repair and add extra material and then be really careful when you use it

[Loren L.]

Re: 58 hood prop fiberglass crack

'62s (& ???) used a #3772621 reinforcement that bolted to the bracket that is attached to the radiator support. I would think that it should be possible to attach it to the '58 set-up and perhaps still be able to remove it on judging days.

[Richard M.]

Re: 58 hood prop fiberglass crack

Ty,

My '59 has some cracks in the same area. Many do. This is not uncommon. Bondo will not have strength by itself. Your shop needs to make the repair strong. The later reinforcement brace is a good idea, but you still need to fix those cracks.

The only long term solution to fix cracks like this is to grind out the area to clean glass and bevel the edges. Then use chopped fiberglass mat and resin to build up the area. This can be done in several applications until the area is built up enough above the surface. This process will bond the original glass together again for maximum strength. After grinding flat, apply a little finishing filler to make it smooth. Then your touch-up paint.

You can also grind the area underneath(where the hood support hardware nuts locate) and add several layers of mat/resin there for additional strength.

Below are a few photos, on a larger scale, but shows what I'm describing. These are seams on the upper cowl of a '59 where I replaced the nose with a aftermarket hand-laid one-piece. (For the record I hate it and I'll never do another one!) I fabricated a bonding strip which was glued under the joint. As you can see the body seams were beveled to accept the chopped glass/resin mixture. Several layers were built up above the surface then ground flat. I then used a finishing filler to fill minor flaws. This is a very strong joint.

Rich
p.s. The last pic is a edge view of the repair showing the bevels.


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[Erich C.]

Re: 58 hood prop fiberglass crack

Here are some photos of the brace on my '62. The middle photo shows some cracking even with the brace installed ( wrong bolts ). The brace is available from CC ( pt #461115 ) or Paragon ( pt. #442 ).
Erich

[Ty T.]

Re: 58 hood prop fiberglass crack

Thanks for the input guys. I really appreciate it. I'm meeting with the body man today and I will instruct him to make the repair to the crack keeping strength and appearance in mind. He has 17 years experience working with fiberglass on boats and cars and he repaired my 93 coupe last fall after a deer hit and did a great job. I am also going to get one of the after market braces for added strength, which I will remove that if I have the car judged. Thanks again for your help!

Ty

[Pat H.]

Re: 58 hood prop fiberglass crack

you may as well leave the support bracket on as if the judge see the extra holes, you may have a duduct anyway. My 59 was cracked and repaired 2twice and I finally added the brace and no further cracking