Filling body seams
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From: Williams Bay, WI
Filling body seams Any opinions on this? I've been thinking of having the body seams on my C5 filled. Rear bumper cover to quarter panel, quarter panel to rocker panel, nose cone to fenders.
Cool idea until you get into a wreck or need a body panel replaced due to damage. Those seams are there to allow body pieces to be separated easily for replacement. Fill them in and you got a nightmare. Would look good though.
I agree with the above about the cracking/wreck etc.
I would think a better idea would be to have them finished/edged to be extremely tight fitting. That way while there is still a seam, you could barely see it because they fit so close together.
I would think a better idea would be to have them finished/edged to be extremely tight fitting. That way while there is still a seam, you could barely see it because they fit so close together.
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Joined: Sep 2005
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From: Albuquerque
I would have to agree with those above. It takes work, but you can add material and get the bumpers aligned so the seem is very small and it will look clean.
It all depends on what you're going for.
It all depends on what you're going for.
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with a c5, you have a slight advantage over the fbodies with the fiberglass body.
See, aside from servicability or individual panels, a problem with the fbodies is trying to get a filler material that is compatible with the sheet metal, and the urethane flexible parts you are trying to blend together. Nothing out there is going to give a 100% bond, and it will tend to crack and separate over time.
now, with the c5, if you wanted to do this, the best way would be to take a mold of the rear bumper panel, which is urethane I assume, and use that mold to make a duplicate part out of fiberglass. You will want to use the same SMC style resin used on the corvette body. Now, install the new rear bumper, and grind down the seam area's , so you can glass them together using the same resin and mat material, finish with a skim coat of filler.
ton of work, yes.. and you killed the ability to service individual parts, but it would much less prone to cracking.
See, aside from servicability or individual panels, a problem with the fbodies is trying to get a filler material that is compatible with the sheet metal, and the urethane flexible parts you are trying to blend together. Nothing out there is going to give a 100% bond, and it will tend to crack and separate over time.
now, with the c5, if you wanted to do this, the best way would be to take a mold of the rear bumper panel, which is urethane I assume, and use that mold to make a duplicate part out of fiberglass. You will want to use the same SMC style resin used on the corvette body. Now, install the new rear bumper, and grind down the seam area's , so you can glass them together using the same resin and mat material, finish with a skim coat of filler.
ton of work, yes.. and you killed the ability to service individual parts, but it would much less prone to cracking.
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Verdad Gallardo I would have to respectfully disagree. Dynatron makes a great filler called Dyna-de-lite that will bond to pretty much anything including metal and fiberglass and SMC or whatever these panels are made off and it quite flexible unlike Bondo. A rough fill with that and then several skim coats with Metal Glaze(which also bonds to anything) and lines are filled. I do however agree that fiberglassing over the seams is probably a better way to go.
