Body work help...

Looks really good.

At this stage, I would clean and fill the mold you made, being very carefull to feather perfectly where you fill. Use a sanding block to feather it, so as not to create waves etc. Then polish again etc.

The better way, if you wanted to make numerous pieces also, would be to
Smooth this mold out as best possible,
Make a new positive piece from this with thick gelcoat (for sanding purposes),
Block and polish the new logo to perfection (a lot easier since the logo is recessed and you can block the complete surface to perfection),
Make a new mold, that's perfect,
Make final part.
You can keep re-doing this process until satisfied.

Next time, rather than stapling the piece, always try to keep the surface as original and as big as possible. I probably would have epoxied, with epoxy paste, the original to the board and then laid another board on top to sandwich with weight on it. It would have been good enough for at least 1 popoff for a mold.

I think the final product will look great.

Maybe you can get together with DB or Stinger12 and add it to their internet forum Corvette product line.
:clobbered: :nuts: :bomb: :suicide::banghead: :lol::lol::devil:
 
Looks really good.

At this stage, I would clean and fill the mold you made, being very carefull to feather perfectly where you fill. Use a sanding block to feather it, so as not to create waves etc. Then polish again etc.

The better way, if you wanted to make numerous pieces also, would be to
Smooth this mold out as best possible,
Make a new positive piece from this with thick gelcoat (for sanding purposes),
Block and polish the new logo to perfection (a lot easier since the logo is recessed and you can block the complete surface to perfection),
Make a new mold, that's perfect,
Make final part.
You can keep re-doing this process until satisfied.

Next time, rather than stapling the piece, always try to keep the surface as original and as big as possible. I probably would have epoxied, with epoxy paste, the original to the board and then laid another board on top to sandwich with weight on it. It would have been good enough for at least 1 popoff for a mold.

I think the final product will look great.

Maybe you can get together with DB or Stinger12 and add it to their internet forum Corvette product line.
:clobbered: :nuts: :bomb: :suicide::banghead: :lol::lol::devil:

I can see what you're on about with re-doing it a couple of times until perfect but I reckon I'll be happy with this one. I could even leave the staple marks there and just rub them all out once it's part of my rear bumper but I thought that doing it now would be a bit easier. Should I use body filler or a little bit of gel coat?

Hmmm.... an internet forum Corvette product line. I like the sound of that... :lol: :smash:
 
I finally managed to get a good mold today. A few days ago, I laid up the first attempt but it left quite a few small areas of gel coat behind on the plug when I popped it out. I cleaned the plug and started waxing it again but had to go back to the boat builders and get some more gel coat. I asked them if they could mix up black but the best they could do was make a dark grey. I took this home, put on the first layer of gel coat and, 2 hours later when it still hadn't started to go off, washed it ll off again with acetone! I thought I might not have put enough MEKP in so I tried again the next day with more MEKP. After 3 1/2 hours, it finally started to gel - mind you, I'd already washed it off the plug again by then. I think the little man at the boat builder's had put in far too much colour because when I went back and got plain white, and used it last night, it worked a treat!
Popped it out this morning:
35498210aa7d626.jpg

I then spent a few hours putting it into the rear bumper:
35498210aeb0a5a.jpg

I'm pretty happy with the way it's turned out so far :thumbs:
 
So this is what you are up too,why didn't you just say so to begin with :tomato:

:rofl::rofl:
Ha, thanks Kev - that's what I've been up to mate. Sorry, I should have said! :hunter:

How's yours coming, or have you been too busy wining and dining?

No more yankee my wankee the Donger needs sleep :rofl:

No mate no wining and dining,just waiting for the weather to warm up a bit so i can get the car outside and wash it off and prep the garage. we are supposed to wame up quite nicely the next couple of days so i should be able to make some progress.
the 40's is like heat wave,made 41* today :yahoo:
 
I'll also need a filler that I can use once I graft some early Vette (GRP) repair pieces into my 82. I'll be using the 3M 8115 to actually graft the pieces into the car but need to know what filler I can use to take care of the joins/seams from the ourside.

Not much good telling me actual product names as more than likely, they're not available here. A product type and/or description would be more beneficial please...

If you do a clean job of piecing the two parts together the 8115 can be used
as your filler. It will sand smooth and can be topped with a glazing putty if the
need be ... or prime the 8115 and then apply the putty to correct any imperfections.

OR

After the panels are bonded together and ready for filler....you can simply
epoxy prime the area and use what filler you have.:twitch:

Remember the filler is now on the primer.....NOT on the glass.
Just be sure your product is compatible to this method. (PPGs DP line is)
 
Thanks for the info John. At the moment, I need to fill the join line where I've grafted the C5 Corvette script into my rear bumper and put a little bit of filler in some low points. I have some PPG IVIPLAST 66 Flexible Polyester Putty body filler that I was "assured" would be ok over fiberglass. Is this the case? I'd rather use that than start into my limited supply of 8115 that I'll need to fill the bumper join lines etc. Also, if that body filler's ok, why can't I go straight over the fiberglass with it? When doing body work years ago, I always used body filler over bare metal, not over any sort of paint and thought the same would apply to putting body filler over fiberglass?? I don't have any spray gear out here and wasn't really planning on getting any!
 
That's a neat idea. I thought about grafting 1st gen Firebird lights to my bumper... (Obviously replacing the round ones)
 
Yeah, something different. Ages ago I saw someone else stick the stainless C5 script onto the back of their C3 and I thought it looked pretty smart then it occurred to me to graft in the actual bumper piece. I should have it finished in a couple of days.

The other main mod will be egg crate grilles...
 
Thanks for the info John. At the moment, I need to fill the join line where I've grafted the C5 Corvette script into my rear bumper and put a little bit of filler in some low points. I have some PPG IVIPLAST 66 Flexible Polyester Putty body filler that I was "assured" would be ok over fiberglass. Is this the case? I'd rather use that than start into my limited supply of 8115 that I'll need to fill the bumper join lines etc. Also, if that body filler's ok, why can't I go straight over the fiberglass with it? When doing body work years ago, I always used body filler over bare metal, not over any sort of paint and thought the same would apply to putting body filler over fiberglass?? I don't have any spray gear out here and wasn't really planning on getting any!

I have never used any IVIPAST 66 so I had to do a little searching.
http://www.hex.co.uk/tds/ppgcar/A242A652A722A655A656A659A661Stopper.pdf

According to PPGs link above the 66 is NOT to be used directly over fiberglass.
It is a plastics only filler (like in bumper covers.....I assume) the chart does not
get real specific as to the type of plastic....but does list fiberglass separately.

I agree with you on the 8115....it is a little pricey to use as filler.

I suggested the epoxy primer because your '72 grilles are FRP while your body
is SMC. If the fillers you have available to you are not compatible with both...
the primer would enable you to get around this issue.

YES.....body filler can be applied directly to the glass as long as it is compatible with that type of glass.
 
I have never used any IVIPAST 66 so I had to do a little searching.
http://www.hex.co.uk/tds/ppgcar/A242A652A722A655A656A659A661Stopper.pdf

According to PPGs link above the 66 is NOT to be used directly over fiberglass.
It is a plastics only filler (like in bumper covers.....I assume) the chart does not
get real specific as to the type of plastic....but does list fiberglass separately.

I agree with you on the 8115....it is a little pricey to use as filler.

I suggested the epoxy primer because your '72 grilles are FRP while your body
is SMC. If the fillers you have available to you are not compatible with both...
the primer would enable you to get around this issue.

YES.....body filler can be applied directly to the glass as long as it is compatible with that type of glass.
Thanks for the pdf file John, I couldn't find anything like that on the net, mind you, I didn't look real hard after the local panel beater recommended that filler to me for use over fiberglass AND the guy in the shop that sells the damn stuff. I phoned the shop boss today and told him that one of his people had sold me the wrong stuff and he said he'd swap it over for me. Too bad I already laid a layer of it on my bumper!! Digging it out will keep me busy tomorrow I guess...

Gotcha on the primer for the grilles, although I'll probably use my 8115 for there - I think I bought myself enough to fill the join lines on the front and rear bumpers and to graft in the egg crates and repair the rear quarters. If I have to use some epoxy primer over the panels, will ordinary body filler be ok to use then?
 
If I have to use some epoxy primer over the panels, will ordinary body filler be ok to use then?

I don't see any reason why you can't......But then I can't speak for "every"
epoxy primer out there......especially what you may have at your disposal
there in Sandland. Always check with the manufacturer.....as far as PPGs DP
line it is a defiant....YES.
 
If I have to use some epoxy primer over the panels, will ordinary body filler be ok to use then?

I don't see any reason why you can't......But then I can't speak for "every"
epoxy primer out there......especially what you may have at your disposal
there in Sandland. Always check with the manufacturer.....as far as PPGs DP
line it is a defiant....YES.
I went back into the shop yesterday John and I met their "chief paint technician" and he is damn good, he actually knows his stuff. I asked him about their epoxy primer and told him that I would be going over SMC and FRP and that I would be putting body filler over the top etc and he knew what I was talking about. They have a full range of PPG stuff in there and he handed over a couple of charts about primers and their uses. He also gave me the chart that you posted as that pdf file about the fillers!
 
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Looking ok so far...

I got the filler knocked back today. It still needs spray and spot putty but I gave it a quick rattle can squirt of flat black just to see how it was looking. I reckon it looks ok so far...

35498b04c94f592.jpg

35498b04ca8c60a.jpg

35498b04cc320ea.jpg
 
Very nice job. When you started this I was curious how it would turn out. It looks like it could have come from the factory like that. To me that is the only way to do a mod. :drink:
 
Thanks guys. In all probability, no one will even notice that on the back of my Vette, but that's sort of what I was going for - to make it look factory and "nothing special" :thumbs:
 
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