Hi all,
I just joined the group. After 40 years of wanting a C3 Vette, I finally pulled the trigger!  I love driving my 81, outfitted with a 383 Stroker, 700R4 tranny and Gymkhnana suspension. The primitive, throbbing engine and feel of the vehicle really appeals to me. My wife's 2016 C7 Stingray feels like a family sedan in comparison... :-)

I purchased the car from a neighbor who purchased it new... as a teenager... The car is now in for repaint. I was planning to repaint the original factory job all along as there were defects in the paint, and it was tired looking. I also want to touch up stuff on the frame and get the vehicle ready for its next 35 years of life.

The surprise came when the paint was sanded off. We found that the body parts were bonded together with auto body filler. The paint defects essentially followed the filler. Here is a link to a picture:
http://www.ceravolo.com/miscimages/seams.jpg

My auto body guy has worked exotic cars and a few other vettes, he’s never seen a car come out of the factory with this kind of work. The previous owner swears up and down the car has never been to a body shop. We figure the vehicle was probably damaged during delivery and the dealer handed it over to an inexperienced body shop to fix.

Anyone have any other ideas?

We’re going to carve out the stuff and replace it with fiberglass.

Welcome to the forum.

When I picked mine up, the driver's door was several shades darker.  Dealer claimed no knowledge. After I got the zone office to get another dealer to repaint it I never thought about it again.  About 13 years later when I was stripping the door, I discovered that the dark shade was on top of the original factory paint. There was no evidence of damage repair. It was then that I recalled my wife telling that she had seen a car hauler with a load of Corvettes laying on its side on the shoulder of the road.  She couldn't confirm mine was on it but I'm guessing that while it wasn't damaged, the door must have been scratched and that necessitated a repaint.

As far as yours goes, after visiting the factory in St. Louis I wouldn't rule out anything.

The passenger door on my wonderful Vette has had three coats of paint on it! There are other quality issues with the rest of the body finish, including the hood, that makes you shake your head... but at least they are easily dealt with. The basic frame and everything else is sound. Doing a VIN check I see that my Vette was among of the last built in St. Louis.

When they came from factory the seems were bonded together just like on your picture. You can see where they are bonded together on original paint. 

Here is a factory photo. Hope it opens.

Thanks much for the response. I suspected that this could be factory because all the joints used that pink compound, not likely to happen with a repair. The question now is what to do with the stuff as it seems to affect the paint finish.

|UPDATED|12/5/2016 2:53:46 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

Your body is VERY normal. They are the bonding lines for assembly of the body panels. ALL C-3 bodies are assembled the same way, Clean up the joints and seal them and paint to your approval. They will last about 7-8 years and show up again, as the glue is very brittle and will crack unless you do a VERY deep and through job of repair.

I know squat about this stuff, but that's my body guys attitude as well; dig out the filler completely and replace with a fiberglass for a permanent fix. There are a few other less than ideal aspects of the factory body work to fix; there is a significant gap between the body and the rear bumper, it's always been there.

I'm not sure if there is such a thing as a long term facelift for C3's, but I gunna try. I've bonded with the car ;-), I'm willing to pay the bucks to not have to think about body work again for a very long time.

 I have heard that the permanent fix is to break the bonding strips loose on the backside of the seams and redo all of the body panel joints.