Hope someone knows the answer, or close to it. On the fiberglass front end, there is a metal frame work it attaches to. There are 6, 4"x4" metal pads that rivet to the fiberglass. The owner of the car wants to attach just the header panel pads (2) with kitty hair instead of rivets for a cleaner look. I know riveting would be the strongest way to go, but do you think the hair would hold up? Would it even be as strong as cloth & resin fiberglassing? We have the long strand kitty hair. This is the 68 race car I'm going to paint. It's a good estimation this car will run in the 8's so I don't have to tell you about body flex. I did sucessfully find the body seam between glass quarter panel & roof line. I think that repair went good. So what do you body experts think. http://www.camaros.net/forum/smile.gif

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Steve
67 SS 396,4-sp
67 RS 327,4-sp
72 RS 350/350
69 4X4 suburban 350,4-sp
73 3/4 ton 454/400
http://www.geocities.com/stevocamaro

IMO, I would go the glass route. Kitty hair is ment to be a water resistant filler for rust repair, where you would get more strength out of the glass(thats what the mat is for).

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67 Camaro SS Conv.
70 Challenger R/T Conv.

I Agree, fiberglass mat w/resin is much stronger than "kitty hair" make sure you do multiple layers.
Austin

Yea, that's what I figured. I talked him into the cloth & resin method. Here's a different paint related question. On the 57 I sprayed acrylic enamel, and everything looked good. I cut some of the orange peel out to buff. I used 1500 wet, being extremly careful about keeping the paper & water clean. It has scratches all over it after buffing. It looks like the compound isn't taking alot of the 1500 grit scratches out. I'm miffed. I also did notice some scratches that looked like they were under the paint. I don't understand how that happens when I build with surfacer, block, build, block, build & block again. Using 500 grit, everything looks super smooth, then shot a sealer, everything still looks good & smooth, then shoot the paint and see scratches? I couldn't see any problems at all until I cut to buff. Now I'm bummed out entirely. http://www.camaros.net/forum/confused.gif What am I doing wrong?

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Steve
67 SS 396,4-sp
67 RS 327,4-sp
72 RS 350/350
69 4X4 suburban 350,4-sp
73 3/4 ton 454/400
http://www.geocities.com/stevocamaro

What kind of scratches, in-line or circular? You say they are there after buffing(circular), these are swirl marks. You need to go buy a new pad, and keep it clean, spurring more often. Also, you say your using compound? Ditch it and try some 3M 05973(I think is the #)its a chemical alot like burnishing compound, works great. Then go back over it(after all the scratches are gone)with 3M 05975(I think thats the #)its a foam pad glaze.......What kind of primer are you using? Lacquer or a 2K? It sounds like everything isnt cured up enough if you keep sucking up sand scratches. Is the 57 a metallic? What grit paper was the body work finished off in? It doesnt matter what paper you finish the primer off with cause a urethane sealer will take care of that, if the body work was finished off with 80g and you used a lacquer primer over it, you will probably end up re-doing it cause you will have burnt thru it or your film build will be so transparent that you will be able to see thru it, and thats not good. http://www.camaros.net/forum/frown.gif

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67 Camaro SS Conv.
70 Challenger R/T Conv.

Also make sure you give enough flash time between coats of primer. Even a very good primer will let you down if you try to "pile" it on without good flash time between coats. Get your bodywork as straight as possible before priming, primer should not be used as a straightening tool. I once used a "mar resistant" catalist in my clear took me 4 hours to sand and buff a hood!
Austin

Regarding the bonding of the metal pads to the glass: This is potentially a good application for one of those automotive structural adhesives. I've attached metal to fiberglass on off road vehicles and also fiberglass fender flares to metal on cars. It's a tough job to get the two to stick together under loads - especially twisting loads encoutered when lifting a full front end. I've had the best success by using one of the structural epoxy products AND rivets. You can easily countersink the rivets in the top and fill the area with a little resin and chopped cloth to hide them. I would guess that if you use resin and cloth alone the area will crack over time and potentially fail.

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Scott
'69 400SB, Richmond 5-speed; '99 HD Road King Classic
www.geocities.com/sdenning1 (http://www.geocities.com/sdenning1)

Ragtop, I'll have to look again at the primer I used. I'll also look at the catylist used. I sprayed a single stage acrylic enamel. I'll get more details for you.
Scott, counter sinking the rivet heads sounds even better. How? The holes for the rivets have already been drilled. On the bottom pads they've used large head rivets, with the heads on the outside.

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Steve
67 SS 396,4-sp
67 RS 327,4-sp
72 RS 350/350
69 4X4 suburban 350,4-sp
73 3/4 ton 454/400
http://www.geocities.com/stevocamaro

Steve - I used a wood countersink drill bit and just opened up the holes a bit. How deep you can go depends on the thickness of the fiberglass but you should be able to get them down below the surface enough to get a decent layer of glass & resin over them.

On one project the shop that did the work set them flush with the surface, roughed the area up with some 36 grit paper on a DA and laid a layer of glass cloth over the entire area. After it hardened they ground the area smooth and topcoated it with a thin layer of bondo. Never had a problem at all.

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Scott
'69 400SB, Richmond 5-speed; '99 HD Road King Classic
www.geocities.com/sdenning1 (http://www.geocities.com/sdenning1)