I just received 71 vette from parents in florida. It has been sitting at least 12 years in the humid salty air. Mostly a lot of rusted suspension parts. My main concern is when looking at the car from the side. There are several "bumps" between the lights and hood that seem to be coming from under the paint/fiberglass. I am assuming, as there are many rusted parts under car, whatever is under body there must be rusting... so the question is whats is under there???

Not fully sure about this, but if the bumps you're referring to go along the seperation between fron bumper and main body, my understanding is that these are caused by the original rivets(?) rusting. I've heard it before and those members more involved in restoration do know how to make them dissapear/what they mean.

Scot

Those are the original aluminum rivets that hold the fiberglass body skin to the metal header support. They are beginning to corrode, and that causes the circular bumps you can notice.

Hey, thanks for the info, but does that mean i have to remove body from frame to fix??

I have read from others who have tackled this problem, two ways to remedy. One is to dish the area of fiberglass by grinding and fill area back up to level. Other is two remove body from rivets and re-bond with adhesive material in lieu of rivets. I personally have left the bumps as this indicates that the body has never been altered from factory (including paint in my case) assembly. Many of these older 1st generation sharks (1968-1972) also have the bonding seams showing thru the paint on each of the 4 fenders (also an indication of originality).

The other alternative is to live with it and enjoy your chrome bumper beauty. I see lots of Corvettes with this problem and it seems that most of us live with it. Kind of like wrinkles when you get older - you earned them.


Gary

I had the chance to work on the paint on a 72 that had this problem also. As stated above it is corrosion on the rivets that hold the glass to the body. If you grind it down and re-glass it, it should come back because you haven't treated the corrosion. I used a 3M Imperial Hand Glase on the paint and it didn't stand out as much when the car was finished. The color of the car was gold. When the owner picked it up, he decided not to have it fixed (he was going to have the front clip replaced). He was that happy with the difference that it made. Keep this in mind, if you know Corvettes, this is something that just happens. It is like acne when you are a teen.

As the others have replied these are the rivets rusting and pushing up and deforming the fiberglass... IT IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM.... start looking at C3's and you will see these "bumps" on a lot of them...

I did this "fix" on my 76 5-6 years ago...It involved removing the entire metal brace and replacing it with a
new brace... then installing the new brace. then doing the body work to the nose of the car to remove the bumps...

The replacement brace itself was purchased new for under 50 bucks. not a problem... BUT removing the original brace is a royal pain..slow work because the original is glued on..

which means you have to take a chisel and gently un-glue it from the fiberglass... I ended up making a few 18 inch or so chisels out of bar stock to allow me to reach the brace in some areas... Replacing the brace is just a matter of appling glue and bolting it in before the glue sets... lol) I did not use any damn rivets however !

Anyway.... it was not difficult...only a slow process
the expense came with the body work on the nose then repainting... which was something I was planning to do anyway...


Hope this helps a little

Bob Griffiths

I am restoring my '69 right now and ran into the same dilemma. My painter has done several of these in the past. Basically a section of 'glass is removed to expose the rivet heads. The rivets are drilled out. All metal components prepped and cleaned up. New rivets installed and fiberglass rebonded into place.

not the best close up shot but you get the idea.

My 68 has the same scenario, I asked the head-curator at the Vette Museum what he thought about hoesawing each one out and putting in steel rivets, as the originals are aluminum and he said any NCRS judge would automatically deduct points for a non-original front clip. Not that that matters to me, because it does look out-of-place. The problem is the front body support is steel and the original rivets are aluminum, and what happens over the year is called galvanic corrision. Dissimilar metals react to the salt, moisture, etc. and the reaction is what causes the dimples along the front upper support. Ever try to get an aluminum rim off from a steel rotor or brake drum? I'm leaving mine alone as proof of the original front-clip. Good luck Phil