ZR1Owner

Was washing the 67 today and prepping it for a trip to the detail shop to remove some swirls (long story), and found a crack in the fiberglass about 3 cms long near the corner of the driver side headlight! I just had all the bodywork and paint done last year to the tune of $8K!(another long story) Grrrrrrrrrr! And its in an impossibly obvious spot, and hard to get at!

KENS78SILVERANNIV

Hey... you bought a plastic car.... what'd you expect?

I spent 7-k last year painting my whole ride... only to have some old lady run a shopping cart into the door.

I'm not fixing the chip. The hell with it. I'm tired of trying to be perfect.

These things are going to happen... and that's all there is to the story.

ZR1Owner

Yeah. I now what you mean. I just worry about it becoming a 3 inch crack soon!

Frankenvette 63

Stress cracks are like wrinkles on a face, they add character.

achapman

That's why there called "stress" cracks......

Tom/99

I got my 65 coupe home from the paint shop in Oct. It was painted the origional Silver Pearl. I noticed a stress crack at the right headlight last week. It's about 3/8" long right now. I've only put about 1,000 mile on it. I hate to see what it's going to look like at the 5,000 mile mark. It's still fun to drive.

ffas23

Just curious? Was that stress crack there before the car had body work and a paint job? If so the crack probably wasn't delt with and now is is appearing through the new paint.

Birdball

I feel like this is a group therapy session! I had the same thing happen.... Painted it last year, this summer- stress crack in the passenger corner of the headlight opening. When I start feeling bad about it, I just turn the key and listen to a 427 through side pipes and then I start to feel better!!

John 65

Getting that 1st one after paint is no fun, but like one of the other posts said, I gave up on mine also. Kinda just goes with the territory. Seems like every thime I bring it home from a little trip down the highway theres a tiny new flaw on the nose or behind the rear tires. Only way to prevent it from happening is not taking it out of the garage, and thats not going to happen.

Formula Outlaw

Even though most people are telling me not to, because from five feet away my car looks brand new, maybe better, it too has stress cracks, two "stars" and too many nicks and chips to count.

They bother ME.....

So now the plan is put it in for paint the second week of August or thereabouts. One thing that is comforting is how meticulous Corvettes West deals with stress cracks. And everything else. That's why it's going to take 2 months to paint my car. Tommy said he's put a cot next to it so I can sleep with it if I want...

wombvette

These stress cracks are normal. They occur on almost all cars , in different places, from time to time. Its just a fact of life on a fiberglass car. If you try to deal with these every time that they crop up, it will drive you crazy much less cost you money. The cracks were even in the original panels before they were assembled to make the body. I have stripped many cars, and most of them have factory repairs in the common stress crack areas.

Grey Ghost

I would take it back to the shop that did the work. You paid them a premium and something went wrong with this repair. They should make it right.

magicv8

My 66 was painted 27 months ago. I just found the third stress crack in the new fiberglass. I have been trying to schedule a touch up job with the shop for almost a year, but the dates keep slipping - either they have schedule problems (employee illness), or I have schedule problems (out of town, car won't start).

I guess I was upset at the first one (10 months after paint), resigned as the second crack appeared 6 months later, and now that I have a third, I'm sort of glad the delays will allow me to reduce the in-paint-shop time to one visit.

Cobra66

When I purchased my (allegedly) recently repainted '64 in May of '05, no stress cracks. Had a star right over the center of the air cleaner where the previous owner has slammed the BB hood and the center bolt must have hit (intake manifold is some "high rise" deal).

Then, over the subsequent months, a stress crack appeared in the glass where the elevated stinger meets the hood. Very narrow and hard to see, but now about 5 inches long.

Noticed a few other very minor and nearly imperceptable cracks elsewhere, but nothing that one can see without looking for them.

The car is definitely a non-original "driver," so I'm not going to let these imperfections bother me. As Frank 'N' Vette stated above, I've convinced myself that they add "character." Hell, I sure didn't look as good as the Vette does when I was 42 !!

ZR1Owner

That's possible. I seem to remember one in the same spot. Of course, proving it is another story.

The shop that did the work came recommended from the dealer who services all my vettes. I am not thrilled with the work in total. Some asopects are superb, some are not. The really hard stuff came out great but I think they were so tired from the hard stuff they lost focus on the routine.

After the 9 coats of white had been removed from previous botched jobs, we found all sorts of problems, and evidence of a hit to the front right fender area......hard! No frame damage, but the glass was so thin it couldn't be worked well. I had two options. Replace the front clip, or hand replace the glass. I chose option 2, as it would keep most of the glass original. These guys scooped out the top of the fender like you would an ice cream bucket, and hand built it back. Great work, but then other areas of simple paint coverage, or orange peel had to be redone.

Someone said it best above.....it bothers me! I need to take it to get swirl marks out (thanks to a poorly advised porter at the dealer who used bad towels after washig it), so I think I will try another shop for the repairs and see what happens. Thanks for letting me rant!

SPLITRAY

I wonder if some of these cracks aren't caused by improper body to frame shimming?

I unbolted the rear of my body during the removal process and it jumped 3/4" up!

paulywannafly

Sorry folks
Stress cracks should not happen on a new paint job. I have been painting
Corvettes ONLY for about 25 years and I Have a 1 year unconditional warrenty for any and all paint and body defects that means I am married
to your car for ! full year after delivery . The catch is after stripping any
panel deemed unfit for repair will be replaced . Guess this must work as I have many cars with paint jobs over five to 10 years old Still winning shows

Dennis Beck

My car was stripped and repainted in 1974. Last November I took the car back to the same shop for a new paint job. When I did I had 2 stress cracks. One in the corner of the headlight opening and one above the upper corner of the windsheild. That was on a 30+ year paint job. Those stress cracks were addressed by v grinding the crack slightly and laying in new resin/fiber paste from a tube. Then curing and sanding that out. I assume that is how they did it 30+years ago too. It seems to do the job.

project63

You probably won't laugh, but if you would stop that platinum blonde from leaning on the front of your car like she is in your avatar, it shouldn't grow much more...

Rimcrew

I guess I am very fortunate, as I can't find a single crack in my 15+ year old paint.