Repairing nose gap

[Joe R.]

My car was hit in the front in the early 70s. It was repaired (not real well) and repainted at that time. I have a factory type hood that I got at Carlisle a few years ago. Most of the hood to body gaps are good. But the nose is not very straight (it has some raw Bondo on it) and the radius of one corner is not so good. One local chapter member suggested I might be able to repair it with Bondo. Does that sound acceptable? Was Bondo around in the 60s? If not, how best to proceed? I don't have any pictures at the moment, but would be happy to take some over the weekend if that would be helpful.

Thanks!
Joe

[Edward J.]

Re: Repairing nose gap

Joe, Bondo was around in the 60's and 70's as was the use of lead.( not for fiberglass) A lot of repairs and gaps can be made with Bondo. just do not do thick repairs as it will crack over time. I think You'll find about 99 percent of the corvettes have some sort of repairs made with it. filling the seams was very common with corvettes.

[Joe R.]

Re: Repairing nose gap

Hi Ed,

Thanks for the info! How thick is too thick for Bondo?

Joe

[Edward J.]

Re: Repairing nose gap

Joe, there really are no rules as how thick but a 1/8 to 3/16 is ideal , I would tell you to have a fiberglass body expert look at and get a opinion. There maybe no choice but to major surgery or just repair and re-paint.

[Phillip M.]

Re: Repairing nose gap

Hi Joe,
If you are going to use a body filler, I would recommend "Vette Panel Adhesive/Filler" by Evercoat (purchase at auto body repair supply retailers). I have had excellent results using this product as both an adhesive and filler on my C2. I build filler thickness over a few coats, and try to limit total thickness to less than 1/8 inch. By the way, Bondo will absorb moisture with time and expand if not totally sealed with paint (both sides). A much better method of filling gaps is to use polyester resin mixed with 1/4" chopped fiberglass as a filler.
Phil M.

[Gene M.]

Re: Repairing nose gap

Hi Joe,
If you are going to use a body filler, I would recommend "Vette Panel Adhesive/Filler" by Evercoat (purchase at auto body repair supply retailers). I have had excellent results using this product as both an adhesive and filler on my C2. I build filler thickness over a few coats, and try to limit total thickness to less than 1/8 inch. By the way, Bondo will absorb moisture with time and expand if not totally sealed with paint (both sides). A much better method of filling gaps is to use polyester resin mixed with 1/4" chopped fiberglass as a filler.
Phil M.

Good advice here. There is also a vinyl ester used on boats. This is very stable as far as shrink over time. But remember anything laid over the original fiberglass is going to be different no matter what it is. Time is king in this case everything else is second at best.

[Bill H.]

Re: Repairing nose gap

Hi Joe, you didn't mention how much you want to reduce the gap. Hopefully it's not that big. The 1970's body shop that did my 67's front end left the front hood gap with a 3/8ths difference from one side to the other. I ended up cutting the fender off and doing it correctly.
I'm with Phillip, use resin and glass. Then use good filler, certainly not the Bondo brand. use the Vette Panel, Evercoat Rage or U-Pol Gold. Personally , my limit on body filler is 1/32ond, anything thicker is done with glass, but that's just me.

[Paul J.]

Re: Repairing nose gap

Joe, just an opinion here, and I'm certainly no expert. If I'm filling an edge (or gap), I use Phil's idea of polyester resin and glass. An edge is going to have stress on it at some time (like someone leaning on it to reach the wheels on the headlights). Resin is harder than Bondo and will take the stress better on a fiberglass body. I will use Bondo when I'm filling imperfections on a panel or trying to "raise" a surface in panel matching. I also try to stay under 1/8".

Here's what happens if you get too thick. I also have seen a couple of Rolls' with the same problem. It tends to shrink in the middle and break free underneath.

IMG_0935.jpgIMG_0936.jpg

Paul

[Gary F.]

Re: Repairing nose gap

I had an issue with the gap on my left door on my 63. Matte & resin were used on BOTH sides of the door to extend it a little, so that the gap could be achieved. It's the harder way, but as far as I'm concerned, the only right way. Bondo was never an option with this particular issue.

[Bill H.]

Re: Repairing nose gap

I had an issue with the gap on my left door on my 63. Matte & resin were used on BOTH sides of the door to extend it a little, so that the gap could be achieved. It's the harder way, but as far as I'm concerned, the only right way. Bondo was never an option with this particular issue.

Exactly Gary, bondo for pin holes . After I finished fixing my hood gaps, the door gaps were next (with glass & resin).

[Joe R.]

Re: Repairing nose gap

Hi Ed,

I'm back after a little hiatus. The repairs around the hood are up to 1/16 " thick. Maybe Bondo will do the trick after all.

Joe

[Georges C.]

Re: Repairing nose gap

Marine-tex is forever.

[Joe R.]

Re: Repairing nose gap

All,

A friend at work used to own a body shop. He says absolutely no Bondo on fiberglas. He has volunteered to help me with the body work. Woo hoo!

Joe

[Domenic T.]

Re: Repairing nose gap

Joe,
I use JB weld for cracks and also I used it on my hood and front radius. I have seen all the other hard repairs materials used and found them to crack or shrink even when they say non shrink.
The JB has been on my car for years and no problems.
Many think it is only for other repairs but I think it is the strongest you can get on a properly prepared small repair on a vette especially in areas where you can only repair from the top.
I had some small cracks around my 67 coupe rear window and used a Dremmel to V them out and they never came back.
I had a friend that worked at Sika Corp that made the Epoxy glue that holds the lane reflectors down on the roads and they said it is a similar to JB Weld. Those reflectors take a lot of punishment and the epoxy holds them till they need to be removed. I bought a boat with the resin repair that is sold at boat shops and it was cracked from being to thick.
I only use the JB slow cure which should cure for at least 12 hrs. I let it cure longer.

DOM