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Belgian1979vette

Belgian1979vette

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 4, 2008
Messages
1,707
Location
Koersel/Belgium
Well I found to worst location on a vette to be working on and I remembered the pain when I took it apart 12 years ago. I had to put the nut on the bolt that mounts the front bumper cover in the outside corners...the ones right behind the headlight frame....:clobbered::clobbered::clobbered::clobbered:Just ran out of curse words for it.
 
I did my front bumper cover about a year ago. It took two days and a lot of cursing to get everything back together, then it didn't line up right :suicide: and I had to take it all apart and enlarge the mounting holes to get it to fit. You also must be sadistic, a magician and a contortionist to complete the job.
 
My first vette was a '60, used car in '66 and so lost it in a wreck.....

next vette was a '87, years later and used once more, and so let's just say I learned a few tricks, one of them was those rubber bumpers, like all other cars just deformed and shed paint like KRAZY mad....there was basically NO fixing them.....so I shopping for another vette and found the last of the chrome bumper cars.....

not that plastic is the easiest to work over for the last 18 years or so....

:suicide:
 
Oh right, forgot that one : when tightening one of those bolts, the plastic flexed so much it got a tiny crack in the fresh paint job. :suicide:

Anyway, I did a lot of fitting before painting, so it lined up quite well although I had to do some massaging (note that the pre-fitting was without all the g...damn hardware in there...

I must have set a record I think. I spend four complete evenings and it's still not fully complete. Not to mention I forgot to chase the threads on those freaking retainer bolts. they were all cloged up with paint and caused hell when getting the nut on. Well at least that part is over.
Still need to put the front 79 spoiler on. That must be fun as well I guess.
 
clutchdust said:
I'll have to take your word for it, but I would think the fuse box would run a very close second.
Click to expand...

Actually that one went fine for me. But in all honesty I did it when the body was off the frame and the brake booster and dash and such were not in there. I suppose it's pretty much impossible when everything is mounted.

Anyway, when doing getting that piece of plastic on the front I could help constantly thinking how in God's name did the factory ever did this job. They must have had some pretty good tools.
 
Belgian1979vette said:
clutchdust said:
I'll have to take your word for it, but I would think the fuse box would run a very close second.
Click to expand...

Actually that one went fine for me. But in all honesty I did it when the body was off the frame and the brake booster and dash and such were not in there. I suppose it's pretty much impossible when everything is mounted.

Anyway, when doing getting that piece of plastic on the front I could help constantly thinking how in God's name did the factory ever did this job. They must have had some pretty good tools.
Click to expand...


I had to employ a helper. Between the rising frustration levels and my slightly too big fingers I figured letting someone else do it was in my best interest and the cars' too. I remember using a 1/4" drive ratchet, universal joints, extensions and both deep and shallow sockets to get at the little buggers. It was a real fight but in the end I won. I usually do!

I obviously don't have as much patience as you regarding fitting the bumpers. I bonded and glassed my bumpers to the body for the seamless look.
 
SuperBuickGuy said:
patients are for hospitals.... it's not a hobby unless you can throw something :sos::trumpet:
Click to expand...

Years ago, I got SO pissed I tossed a combo wrench, and the tine of the open end put a hole in the fender,......

I BET I could have tossed that wrench a million times and maybe dented the fender, but not actually pierced the metal......WTF?????

:smash::surrender:
 
mrvette said:
SuperBuickGuy said:
patients are for hospitals.... it's not a hobby unless you can throw something :sos::trumpet:
Click to expand...

Years ago, I got SO pissed I tossed a combo wrench, and the tine of the open end put a hole in the fender,......

I BET I could have tossed that wrench a million times and maybe dented the fender, but not actually pierced the metal......WTF?????

:smash::surrender:
Click to expand...

Actually Gene I had that happening as well. I was using a wrench with socket on the end and I got so pissed once, I pulled the socket a little to hard. It fell out of my hands, dropped on the floor, bounced against a freshly painted door and put a dent in it. I could sink through the floor at that point.

For those doing the fitting of the flexible bumpers to the front : it is a bitch but can be done. There are some advocates that swear by a polyester unit, but I found out that they are harder to fit around the bumper bar than the flexible ones making things even more complicated.
If you want it to fit right, you have to mount it on the car as best as you can which involves a lot of pushing, pulling and what not. The little differences in the fit (mostly around the corners ) I made up while fitting a new right front fender and with some bondo on either bumper (mostly) and front end. To note is not all bondo sticks well to the plastic. I've found out the epoxy bondo is best here.
 
Belgian1979vette said:
mrvette said:
SuperBuickGuy said:
patients are for hospitals.... it's not a hobby unless you can throw something :sos::trumpet:
Click to expand...

Years ago, I got SO pissed I tossed a combo wrench, and the tine of the open end put a hole in the fender,......

I BET I could have tossed that wrench a million times and maybe dented the fender, but not actually pierced the metal......WTF?????

:smash::surrender:
Click to expand...

Actually Gene I had that happening as well. I was using a wrench with socket on the end and I got so pissed once, I pulled the socket a little to hard. It fell out of my hands, dropped on the floor, bounced against a freshly painted door and put a dent in it. I could sink through the floor at that point.
.
Click to expand...

Must be at least ten million mechanics in the world, tossing several wrenches/day at least figger on a million tools tossed per day......

sooner or later the math sez one lands really badly.....:smash::surrender:
 
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