Topic: Use of autobody filler - paint defects
in Forum: C3 Body

Moderator
MANY new Corvettes were touched up at the factory before shipping, and many more were touched up at the dealership before delivery. At one time, there was a certain place on the assembly line that just about every stinkin one of the cars were being damaged as the line took a u-turn, and all of those cars had to be repaired.
These cars were never intended to be on the road after this many years....never meant to be "show cars" 20 years down the road....they were only meant to look good for a few years. GM's expectation was that you would replace the car with a new one every 2-3 years.

Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56
My Link
(click for Texas-sized view!) NCRS
"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"
The other body company in my small town worked on an early C3 and would not touch another one, for any money...
My body guy has worked on a 69 Corvette, the 81 is apparently different in that it uses SMC or sheet molded compound - fiber glass reinforced plastic... right? So the feedback y'all offered on the seems was very helpful.
The factory body work on this vehicle is less than stellar, waves, gaps and the seems were visible because of aggressive sanding and inadequate seem smoothing. The rear panels have no epoxy primer between the filler and the seem which he says caused problems in the finish later on. He recommends bringing the seems up to modern standards by removing the old filler and using SMC compatible filler to eliminate the potential for cracks forming. Here are a couple of links:
http://www.ceravolo.com/miscimages/filler_removal.jpg
http://www.ceravolo.com/miscimages/filler_removal2.jpg
Joel the filler is quite thick... is this normal?

Moderator

Once the Bowling Green factory started up, the process may have changed.
Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56
My Link
(click for Texas-sized view!) NCRS
"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"
1973 L-82 4 spd
Body work is proceeding well. All the non-structural and poorly
applied factory filler has been ground out and replaced with Kevlar reinforced
and SMC compatible filler. Cloth was overlaid with a SMC compatible resin,
sanded, filled and sanded again. The joints should now be stronger than the body panels!
http://www.ceravolo.com/miscimages/Filler_resin.JPG
http://www.ceravolo.com/miscimages/carved_out_filler.jpg
http://www.ceravolo.com/miscimages/SMC_filler.jpg
http://www.ceravolo.com/miscimages/cloth_and_SMC_resin.jpg
http://www.ceravolo.com/miscimages/filler.JPG
1973 L-82 4 spd