Dave's Turbo-T Restoration Trend

I look forward to it. Hows the one i painted for you doing?

Tony, about filling the hole on the header panel. Filled mine with 3m resin. Now 3 months later the hole is showing through. We supported the fill from the back side the best we could. Is there a trick to filling the hole or is the 3m stuff just not compatible? Its the same stuff my body guy uses on big rigs and has had great results with it. We used it on other parts of the header panel and they seemed to turn out fine. I plan on replacing the header panel if I ever find a nice one worthy of painting and I'd like to correct this problem 2nd time around.

If it's the factory one then it will not work very well for holes because it's SMC fiberglass. The real trick is to taper the edges back on a 45 degree angle ,top and bottom, and go out about three times the size of the hole in order to compensate for the expansion and contraction when it gets hot. You will loose the header body line for sure and you will have to make that later after the repair is complete. Even the new reproduction ones are pressure moleded and need to have only SMC mat and resin. Most of the big rig stuff is hand layed fiberglass after the mold is complete. The resin by evercoat SMC is best for both hand laid and all SMC products and takes the guess work out of weather or not your right or wrong, they all look alot alike. It cost around $ 32 to $39 per Qt depending on where you get it. I did a ton of research on this in order to do it correctly the first time. Not everyone knows that there is a difference between the two evercoat resins. Also on the back side you would have needed to grind down the raised part where the holes were in order to have it the same thickness as the panel was. It's a big pain in the butt to have to do it, not to mention having to do it twice. I will post some more info in the next post for you to read. I would also like to add that if the area was epoxied primed first it might have helped. And if you/they did not use a fiberglass mat they will show for sure down the line.

I've copied these description from the Zip Corvette site. Their information is Corvette-related but I think it applies to your part as well. Here's the link: http://www.corvettepartsblog.com/cor...p-body-panels/

SMC Panels – 1973-1982 Corvettes were assembled of panels made from a sheet molded composite (“SMC”). SMC panels are formed by a high-pressure mold compressing a mix of fiberglass, resin, catalyst and release agent. SMC pieces are smoother than press molded fiberglass panels and have a marbled appearance – typically gray in color. Note SMC panels require special adhesives for bonding.

Press Molded Panels – 1968-1972 factory fiberglass panels were produced in molds that created an exceptionally strong part that were smooth on both sides. Original panels are black in color and do not have a gelcoat surface.

Hand Laid Panels – Replacement fiberglass panels are built by layering fiberglass mat and resin into a single mold. Construction of each piece begins with the spraying of gelcoat into a female mold; once cured, alternating layers of fiberglass matting and resin are hand rolled to eliminate air pockets and ensure an overall uniform thickness. Once “popped” from the mold, panels are hand trimmed and ground to final shape. Hand laid panels have a smooth exterior and a rough fiberglass/resin underside.

So in order to do the repair correctly you practically need to rebuild that entire area in order to make the repair correct? Sounds like a ton of work. Are aftermarket GN header panels that bad that it's worth the time to fill the hole on an original? (sorry, don't to be jacking this thread)

If done right it will only take a few hours to complete. It sounds alot harder then it really is. But i could see where it may take someone with less experience a little longer.

Progress pictures. The header is just in epoxy primer. Man when you hand block a car that you think is pretty straight....you really find out that's there a lot of tiny low spots. This process will make the car laser straight for sure. Time consuming but worth it in the long run.

Man I wish my car would have been this straight to start with. I can't wait to see pics of this one when you get it done Tony. My we4 probably looks like a spray bomb job compared to what this is gonna turn out. Next time you do a header panel could you do a thread on it for the "how to" section?

Good idea! I will do that for sure. The mat and resin fix on top was close enough with two layers of mat and resin that i was able to make the header body line without having to do any more work to it. Now i will just block the header out and apply 2-3 coat of 2K primer and it should be goood to go for base coat.

More progress pictures. Car is completly hand blocked and all body work is complete. Thursday i will spot epoxy the body work areas and then fill prime the car. I also fitted the rear filler.

More progress pictures today. SPI 2K fill primer is applied, now the car will be taken apart next week Tuesday to work the inside of the doors, and then block the car out for base coat.

You do amazing work man. Can't wait to see how it turns out

Progress pictures of the doors. Sand blasted, prepped and epoxy primed. Next i will seam seal the lap seams on the doors again, then epoxy prime them again. Then prep and paint the jams and install the doors. Long day doing doors!

Thanks!

Progress progress progress! Per our discussion today we probably should just buy new hinges for both sides. I saw your texts about the ones at Gbody and I'll check a few other sites.

Are you putting the doors back on just to get everything lined back up and they you'll pull them again when you go to paint? We've gone over so many things it hard to keep it all straight, haha.

I will be painting the door jams with the doors off and the part of the door jam frame that you can't paint very well with the doors installed first. There is a seam i can paint to so you won't notice a tape line.Then i will be installing the doors for the base coat. I will mask all the painted areas after the doors are installed, so they don't get oversprayed during the overall. The reason i do this is beacause i don't want to take the chance of chipping the door or fender with fresh paint because the doors are such a pain in the ass to install most of the time, they weigh a ton with all the hardware still installed.
I'm glad to see you want to go with new OEM GM hinges. I feel it's the best outcome in the finish product. Just need to do it asap in order to keep things going as planned. Thanks

Progress pictures of door jams painted today.First i sanded them and seam sealed, then re-epoxied them and painted them black base color. Then did three coats of clear. Just have to wait for the new hinges to show up to paint part of the jam, then install the doors for good.

Car is in it's place until it's painted.

Want to paint a car from SC? : )

If you can get it here...then yes! Let me know if you want to get serious about it. I won't have an opening until late April early May. Or a fall project