Another new/old corvette owner

[jammer123]

Hello all,
Ive used this forum before for my other vehicles and what a great resource it is! Thanks for the help.
Just bought my first corvette, a 79, and its in pretty rough shape mechanically and cosmetically. I can handle probably all the mechanical, but the cosmetic has me scratching my chin. Looks like someone caught the right front on something and broke the fender directly in front of the wheel all the way to the orange marker light.
Can anyone recommend a good tech guide for body repair? Is this something I can tackle in the 2 car garage? Any idea what it would cost if I just took it to someone? I saw one repair where they repaired a minor front crunch with cutting the fender in the middle then cutting between the headlights and splicing in the new piece. Why would they do that?
thanks again for all the help.

[BloodRedVette]

It all depends how skilled you are - there are lifts for under $3,000.00 that fit in a residential garage.

[Blue Bowtie]

That is a glass area of the fender, not the RIM/urethane facia, right? If it's glass and resin, it would be easy to grind, lay in cloth, and resin the repair area once the panel is brought back into the correct form/shape. The remaining surface can be built up to the correct level with fiberglass filled polyester body filler (fiberglass bondo) and glazing compound, just like any other body repair. If the fender is cracked, you almost can't do anything to make it worse which can't be undone if it doesn't go well, so long as you take care to bring the panel lines into the proper form/shape before bonding it. You may have to remove some more material in order to regain the shape before repair.

Heavily frayed or irregular cracks are often cut out and patched in with repair panels since it is far easier to maintain a good line and shape from a clean, straight edge without overfilling the repair.

[BloodRedVette]

Here is a tutorial that has given me some food for thought http://www.glassmandan.com/tutorials/001.html

Hope this helps!

A couple things that seem to be relevant is that the material used changes after a 1972 body.

Also - mat and sheet fiberglass are used in different application.

One has an irregular pattern which offers a stronger repair.

Some people are very impressed with the use of a boat repair product called Marine Tex

Marine Tex® epoxy systems, adhesives, silicone greases and engine treatment repair, bond, fill and protect fiberglass, aluminum, plastics such as PVC, ABS

I believe the key point in repairing fiberglass (after having the correct material) is access to both sides.

It needs to be ground on the underside first (after you mount something to keep both sides from moving during the repair)

Lay you mat. While it is wet work it with the roller to get all the bubbles out. Let it dry ... and do the same (basically) on the top side.

There are still a lot of question needing to be figured out on my project ... but hope this helps!