Hot Rod Forum banner

Fiberglas lessons you never want to experience!

5K views 43 replies 12 participants last post by  71corvette 
#1 ·
After all these years of working on vettes, I'm on my somewhere between 77-80th one and just shot myself in the foot with stupidity, so hopefully you can learn from my bad actions.

Normally I can do a restro in about six months, this vette was a C-3 never painted, one owner and never saw rain, 27,000 miles lost his license due to age and insisted I buy it and keep it. Sounded good as I never have had a vette, I kept before and never drove one for more then 30 or so miles to make sure everything worked.

In the first two weeks I had the frame done and body back on and within a month had paint all stripped and ready to go, well bought three other vettes in meantime and like any painter your car gets pushed aside.

So 3-4 years later I go to basement yesterday to get the hood that had been stripped and blocked out years ago and I had stored it leaning against the wall, duh, duh and many more duhs.
Put that hood on and my perfect gaps were gone as the hood had a slight twist to it.

Being totally dumbfounded, I called Shine, he confirmed my suspicions about the storage and had his own tale to tell.

All I can do now is let it set flat in sun for a week and hope for best that it has memory or pop for an $800 new one.

You never to old to learn!
 
See less See more
#30 ·
yes sir. i use the gray and don't need a guide coat. try that with dplf . god i hate that crap.

i think i could save it brian. i've done worse . over the years i;ve done a lot of damaged vettes. there were no repop parts back then. i have even went to the crash site and picked up all the missing pieces before.

we learned in the 70's to keep chemstrip away from them. but you cant tell some guys, they just read all the hype and think it is gospel . months later same guys whining about bubbles.
 

Attachments

#31 ·
Every time I look at one of those strippers that says it can be used on fiberglass I cringe. I don't care what it says that goes against my grain so much I could never find myself doing it even thougth it says it can. Just seems that it would get into that glass, what is to stop it?

Brian
 
#32 ·
shine said:
yes sir. i use the gray and don't need a guide coat. try that with dplf . god i hate that crap..
Amen to that

shine said:
i but you cant tell some guys, they just read all the hype and think it is gospel . months later same guys whining about bubbles.
Like all the dorks that buy "Aircraft Stripper" at Auto Zombie or Oreilley's and think there really getting aircraft stripper. :rolleyes:

Vince
 
#35 ·
shine said:
kleenstrip aircraft stripper says right on the can " do not use on aircraft " :rolleyes:
Kleen strip is what I've used for 35 yrs (on steel cars) I've yet to find anything better and I can strip two cars a day with it.....if I get an early start...
The reason it says not for aircrafts is because it will eat aluminum...and fiberglass...and plastic ....it'll even soften up two inch thick bondo to where it'll pop right off with a stiff putty knife...

its really simple to use but does take a little common sence on the users part, so its not for everybody.

we had a 32 that a customer had acid dipped and it looked great but I wouldnt use acid dip on a vette either. Well there a few out there that should try it...

I had a spray gun I rode hard and put away wet one night and forgot about.when I went to use it again it was set up tighter than a rats as,so I used some stripper to clean it ....Big mistake ,eat the finish right off it and the gun never worked right again....
 
#36 ·
shine said:
much of the time the attitude comes from being hosed by some wannabe that charged 3 times his ability. i am talking with one now that the painter had the car for almost a year. sanded the base and reshot because it looked like hell. told the customer it was to make it flat . when the customer pulled it it was piss poor. orange peel so bad it looked like solvent pop . half *** sanded and half *** buffed. and this was spi clear ! easiest clear there is to polish. he was just lazy and wanted it gone since he had drawn most of the money. another mistake , NEVER give a painter money up front ! guy should stick to lot cars and leave high end work alone. every painter thinks they can do it but few ever finish the job. chem strip - wrong , washed with lacquer thinner - wrong , 2k primer -wrong and the list goes on. there is a reason corvette work cost more. more work and higher expectations . myself i am done with rusted up beat all to hell junk. i will stick to the early vettes . i know them well and get pretty good results .pays better , goes faster and far closer to fun than beating on a piece of field art all day.
why no 2K primer on a corvette? mine is a 71
 
#38 ·
shine said:
epoxy is the best to seal glass. 2k urethane primer is useless except in collision work. it shrinks and swells . i use nothing but epoxy on corvettes.


I spoke to you several years ago about my paint nightmare on my 71, I stripped 90% of the paint off and where the old laquer was left it reacted with urethane sealer and paint. the strong solvents caused the old laquer to cause solvent pop problems so it needs to be taken all the way down again. this is the reason it has sat for several years. anyway whenever i get back to it should i just use epoxy as my high build for blocking
 
#39 ·
at least use 2 coats of spi epoxy . i do one heavy double coat at a time. block and repeat until i'm satisfied then one reduced coat and start painting. many use polyester primer also. your choice. but urethane primer is for collision work.
 
#40 ·
the only thing i use on glass is polyester,but i have never tried SPI epoxys.

i re-did a family memebers 63 vette many years ago and didn't really have any guidance made it look nice.

mistake i used Dupont Euro 2k on the job and a lot of it blocking and priming.


6 months later it shrunk so bad you could see when it got warm the actual weave in the glass.

total nightmare,ending stripping all back off and re-doing all body work and using polyester primer this go around,sanded like a ***** but worked,after that any thing glass i touch has polyester on it.



for some reason i thought Epoxys were non-sanding,and mainly a corrosion preventive step.


what makes SPI so different?

thanks for any input,and glad i could share my horror story,Travis :D
 
#41 ·
Hotbo said:
for some reason i thought Epoxys were non-sanding,and mainly a corrosion preventive step.


what makes SPI so different?

thanks for any input,and glad i could share my horror story,Travis :D
SPI epoxy is unlike any of the top (expensive) name crap. It is without a doubt the most durable, easy to use, and relatively cheap compared to PPG or DuPont. It sands beautifully. If you have never used it do yourself a favor and order some, you will never go back to the big name epoxies.

Vince
 
#42 ·
302 Z28 said:
SPI epoxy is unlike any of the top (expensive) name crap. It is without a doubt the most durable, easy to use, and relatively cheap compared to PPG or DuPont. It sands beautifully. If you have never used it do yourself a favor and order some, you will never go back to the big name epoxies.

Vince

thanks,i have just ordered other products from SPI.guess ill have to order a batch of the epoxy next go around :thumbup:
 
#43 ·
Hotbo said:
for some reason i thought Epoxys were non-sanding,and mainly a corrosion preventive step.


what makes SPI so different?

thanks for any input,and glad i could share my horror story,Travis :D
Thats because it was true..... epoxys were always good for a base over metal but sanded like concrete...
funny thing is I was using SPI for a couple years because it sanded easier I never even tried to do a full sanding I just 80 grit sanded and applied the 2k ..Thats what I always did but when I joined HR they said it could be built up and sanded like a 2k ,When I tried it I couldnt believe it.Thats why I post about it so much .....Its that impressive.....One of very few GREAT products I've found,and its realitively inexpensive too....I'll never switch....
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top