Mark_Milner

I'm going to help a friend put on a front end on a '63 in a few weeks and he is trying to get all ready. He is thinking of either Lord Fusor FUS-127EZ or 3M Panel Bonding Adhesive, 08115, unless someone comes up with a reason to use something else.

The problem he has is deciding how much. The Lord Fusor is in 300 ml tubes and the 3M is in 200 ml tubes. The problem is he can't find out how much is needed to do the entire cowl area, the side louvers, and the inner fender skirts. The recommendation is a 1/2 inch bead but nothing says how much of a bead each tube will make.

After all, running out halfway across the panel just isn't going to work.

Who has done it and how much did it take? Did you actually use a 1/2 inch bead or more or less?

thanks

Frankie the Fink

Where are you located in Florida...?

65 Pro Vette

A friend of mine used 3M panel bond to put on 67 side fender panel he used two tubes Just for that panel. So by measuring up the rest of the front at a half inch bead you’ll probably need a minimum of 10 tubes I would get 12 to be safe you can always return what you don’t use. But at $30-$40 a tube why not just get a gallon of bonding material?

tbarb

Anybody ever heard of a product called Don Bailey's panel adhesive. This product is gone now but the mixed product was not thin and very strong when bonding panels.

I too am curious what is used now a days. I really don't think it mattered what material the panel was made of, the old Don Bailey's worked on everything.

20round

I used corvette images bonding glue. you buy by the qrt or gal. it looks like factory and really sets up nice with good working time. there is a shelf life so order it and use it up from what I understand. they can also tell you how much you will need for each panel or front clip.good luck, troy

Frankie the Fink

You have to be careful, SMC panels require their own adhesive, that is, if any are being used in these repairs.

65 Pro Vette

I agree

4 Speed Dave

When I put on a new Shermershiem PM front nose on my 66 I used (See link below). I used 3 or 4 tubes (I can't remember exactly) to initially bond on the front nose to the firewall. Now when I did this I had them leave off the lower quarter panels (in front of the door on both sides) to aid in installation and to allow me to get those lined up properly once the front nose was on. You will need more to finish the rest of the nose install for areas like bonding the inner fenderwells to the underside of the nose and to attach the lower fenders if they left those off. If anything buy too much and return what you don't need.

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-...3241362&rt=rud

Robert61

My car is a 61 so my amounts are based off of that. I used the 3M 08115. It works great and it ain't coming loose. I ordered 10 tubes for the front based on how much I had used installing the rear quarters. I've got the inner fenders and a few bonding strips left to go. I've got about a tube and a half left. I feel like I'll need 5 more. My guess on yours 3 for the firewall, 4 for side panels, 3 for the inner fenders to the fenders. I used a lot and made sure it came out you may not want that much.

project63

I used most of a gallon to assemble/install my front clip. Mine was a two part epoxy and I spooned it on with a putty knife. I think a 1/2 inch bead is pretty sparse.

You can always just calculate the volume of the cylindrical tubes and then calculate how far that would go in the form of a cylindrical bead. You can easily measure the length of your bonding area with the panels off. Figure at least a 25% waste factor.

As already mentioned it is easier to bond without the side louvers in place. Use the adhesive with the longest work time, the last thing you want is for this to kick off before you have it where you want it. Another trick is to bond little 1/2 by 1/2 fiberglass shims in place every 6 to 12 inches that are the thickness you want the bond line to be. 1/32 to 1/16 is a good target to shoot for. If you can place the shims at locations you can use a small c-clamp, this helps keep it from shifting while you wait for the adhesive to kick.

good luck,

Mark_Milner

Thanks everyone for the info. Of course, this just freaks him out a bit more, with these running about $60-$70 a tube depending on the source, and the idea of 10 or more. In the scheme of things, it is typical of today's prices on anything, but it is a bit of sticker shock to a guy who remembers $10 cans of bondo.

And then there is the gun price. You can' buy a chalking gun for $3 at Lowe's but the guns on these are $50 to $90, depending on source again.

4 Speed Dave

This is just the price of admission on a fiberglass car. To put it in perspective he would have had to buy or already have a welder if this was a steel car. So either way money would be spent.

ChattanoogaJSB

I used 3m in my door jamb to bird cage but for fiberglass to fiberglass why wouldn't you use vette bond by evercoat? Granted you need to practice the fit first because the working time is ten minutes or less but you'll find DUB and many others use it with success. I like it.

watson

I did my 65 about two years ago using the Corvette Image part and their adhesive. I bought a gallon and used it on several other areas. One piece of advice that I would offer is to have three people when you do it. One guy just mixes adhesive and fills the cake decorating cones. The other two apply the stuff. That way you can monitor how much you are using and mix as needed. The CI adhesive has a 20 minute working time on a warm day. That means that from the time you mix the first batch, you have 20 minutes to be finished. I waited to do my car until I had a cool day in the 50's and that extended to working time quite a bit. Just being safe, we practiced everything several times and timed how long it took us. I had all of my clamps pre-set and laid out where they would be used. I was just being **** I guess but I was worried about getting it right. I spent many hours fitting the new clip so that I did not have to use screws to hold it while the adhesive dried. It seems like those screw holes always come back years later and I did not want that. By the time we actually did the installation, it went very well and we were done in 15 minutes.

Good luck,

Doc

Frankie the Fink

Pretty much exactly how mine was done....whatever the body shop used I specifically recall it had a working time of 45 minutes - and yes he did it on a cool Saturday with several helpers and NO screws were used.

4 Speed Dave

To me the biggest advantage to using the 3M product is the long setting time. It allows you to take your time, not rush and get it right. There is nothing wrong with either method. I will say though the 3M product is some really tough adhesive. I had a sample piece I glued together and tried to pry the pieces away from each other and couldn't. Then I smashed the test piece with a hammer and the fiberglass broke but not the adhesive and part of the fiberglass was still attached to the adhesive.

Scott Marzahl

Just an FYI, in case you ever need to seperate panels bonded with 3M 8115, just heat the area with a heat gun and insert a putty knife.

Robert61

I've got one place I'm not happy with and thought I would have to build it up with VPA. I may look at trying to loosen it and redoing. I kinda thought the 3M was permanent.

Ausbrian

Polyurethane adhesive has all he properties needed for bonding fiberglass.Has been used successfully on various automotive structural panels i.e motor-homes, caravans etc,. Cost is a fraction of epoxy adhesives.
Look for a moisture curing structural adhesive as an alternative.