80 Corvette front bumper.

5

540goat

I molded in the front bumper on my 80 vette. I used a flex fiberglass bumper. I wasn't going to mold it in but the fit was so poor that after cutting it up to fit I had no choice. I bolted it on and then used the correct resin for the car. Rage filer and then painted. Put the car into the sun and one small 3 inch section shrinks and you can see the seam. The rest of the bumper dosen't do it just the small section. I have done the area over 3 time and just got finished again today and each time it shrunk in. I am using all quality corvette materials.. This time I used evercoat vette adhesive and filler instead of the rage. This time I didn't paint it. I wanted to see if it did it first. And it did it.
 
There's just an expansion rate difference there, it could be material related or it could also be a thickness difference.
 
Why did it happen in one small part when the whole bumper is done the same way and how do I fix it.
 
I have used one of these bumpers one time and I had about 30 labor hours making it fit.
First thing you do with this bumper before any work is done, is put it in full sun for seven days so it cures out.
If there is no paint on it, now would work and it may change your repair, then block and recoat.
Just a thought.

Mine was called a flex fit or something like that.
 
Barry;n73600 said:
I have used one of these bumpers one time and I had about 30 labor hours making it fit.
First thing you do with this bumper before any work is done, is put it in full sun for seven days so it cures out.
If there is no paint on it, now would work and it may change your repair, then block and recoat.
Just a thought.

Mine was called a flex fit or something like that.
Click to expand...

The bumpers were worse to work with than the rigid glass ones. Unfortunatly the bumper is all molded in and painted except for the part I ground down to do this repair. The last time I "fixed" it I left a heat lamp on it for hours. It seemed to work but as soon as it was painted it got the shrinkage back into it. It's only a small section that shows up.
 
Not knocking your bumper but they are not made of top notch material for sure.
If you fill anything you must exaggerate the V-Groove so the line don't show, in other words say you have a 1/4inch split, when you V-groove it, it may now be 2-3 inches across with a very gradual taper.

Also heat lamp is not much help, its the expansion in the sun that will cause the problem.

Another note I used vette panel adhesive 870 on mine like the seams of fender and quarters, because it has more strength to fight the expansion and contraction.
Mine was cut in 7 places.
 
Barry said:
Not knocking your bumper but they are not made of top notch material for sure.
If you fill anything you must exaggerate the V-Groove so the line don't show, in other words say you have a 1/4inch split, when you V-groove it, it may now be 2-3 inches across with a very gradual taper.

Also heat lamp is not much help, its the expansion in the sun that will cause the problem.

Another note I used vette panel adhesive 870 on mine like the seams of fender and quarters, because it has more strength to fight the expansion and contraction.
Mine was cut in 7 places.
Click to expand...
Some photos might shed some more light on the problem
 
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