Last56

Has anyone seen a procedure for piecing a front end together using OEM pieces and bonding strips? I'm getting ready to tackle this and am interested to see how other have done this in the past.

silver837

Back in the day when OEM pieces were available thru dealers , many of the repair people made jigs to bond the parts. Do you have a hood ? that will help locate the fender tops so you have even gaps and the hood will align with the top of the fenders.
I am sure someone with hands on knowledge will respond ,

vetteroy1

I built a jig to use back in the 80's. It is long gone. I always used the hood that was going to be used with the front end to align the surround panel. Roy

Jud Chapin

You might want to pick up one of these:

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ir-manual.html

Last56

Thanks for the responses. I am not against making a jig, but I have no idea what that jig would look like. I have an idea of the procedure, but would like some confirmation. I intend to build it up on my frame with the back half of the body in place. The first couple of steps:

1. bond headlight header bar to the hood surround.
2. lay hood surround in place, install braces from the header bar to the core support.
3. with latch pins in place, put hood in hood surround opening.
4. push latch pins in latches.
5. adjust hood support fore and aft and side to side to be centered on hood using adjustment in the front braces.
6. bond hood surround to firewall.
7. adjust hood surround contour to match hood and bond fender wells.

But... Is it better to have the parking lamp panels in place prior to this? It would seem so to me.
And, what sequence do you use for the headlight opening area? Bolt the inner and outer steel supports in each side, then fit the fiberglass, or vice-versa?

I'm hoping that someone that has done a couple of these will chime in.

andy60

I watched a utube guy do it in 4 min. He had done it before.

Last56

I have found videos on putting a one piece front end on, but not how to build a front end from oem style pieces. I'd greatly appreciate a link if you come across it again!

playzwithcars

I'm in the process of doing this to my car. I was told by someone to get the inner fenders supports on and bolt to the radiator support, and then start with the side louver panels first. Fit them to the doors that are adjusted. The side louver panels have the peak line and you want to get this lined up with the door first. But do not bond to the inner fenders. Inner fenders are there to rest the upper surround and the ability to check the hood caps and lead edge with respect to the surround. Plus not sure if you have the body on the frame or on a jig, but it can be tough to get the inner fenders in afterwards. The Eckler's book really doesn't show much. The GlasRa book is better, but still not comprehensive.

Last56

Thanks, this is great advice. I have a coupe, so fitting the doors to the roof is important and that will set the height of the contour line going forward.

Thank you!