Nomad78SA

Finished with the rear bumper installation and working on the front one. They did not fit well to be honest. We have had to really massage these babies to get them where they are at now. You can see the work in progress on the front one.
Neil in Tenn




[Modified by Nomad78SA, 10:34 PM 1/11/2003]

'79ProwlerOrange

same with mine. i was unimpressed with what ecklers sent me (twice) but we got it perfect. yours looks great so far. no more ripples!

74-Roadster

Neil,

Looking very good, the rear joint is sooooo tight! Very nice work. Aren't you going back with a two tone but using newer colors?

Rolling Thunder

Looks great Neil. Can't wait to see that badboy pull into my driveway! :D

Dave

Nomad78SA

Thanks guys for the complements,
Yes, I am going back with the two tone silver paint scheme but using PPG products. I gave them the original codes on the paint. We are painting the decal kit on and clear coating over it. Should be smooth as silk. The seams are tight and thanks for noticing. Every seam gap is equal on the car after a ton of building and sanding and ect.....That was my main goal in the body restoration.
Neil in Tenn

Smokehouse69

Neil,
That is going to be one sharp car when you get back on the road! What's your scheduled date for completion?
Good Luck!

DMONSVETTE

:thumbs: :seeya

Big Fish

Using the truflex bumpers, were you able to build them up with resin and mat or did you have to do something different? To get the seams right on my 75 front I laid mat and resin on the seam flangse, then clamped it to the car after putting wax paper on the car. The result was a nearly perfect match, it kind of molded itself. Here is a picture link: http://home.earthlink.net/~steverieb...s/vette37s.jpg
I did have to do a little light sanding on the seam areas to get it near perfect after everything was cured. What a PITA, I know what you must be going through. I hope my back one fits better. :thumbs:


[Modified by Big Fish, 7:33 PM 1/12/2003]

redvetracr

Guys, I thought the "truflex" stuff fit right out of the box ?? I just got a 73-74 front for a race car that the polyurethane bumper had disentigrated on. What gives?? EVERYTHING I have read HERE about "Truflex" told me it was great stuff and fit well!! ...redvetracr

Big Fish

redvetracr, I hope I did not mis-lead you in thinking I used a Truflex bumper. Mine was solid fiberglass, made by American Sportscar Design (now defunct). I had one heck of a time with fit, it had to be built up and modified everywhere. I was hoping just for my own information to find out if the Truflex could be modified and built up like the fiberglass bumper. I am sure they are of fine quality. I believe fit relates directly to how much (if any) bodywork had been done to the car in the past. I also believe it is a crap shoot at best, even for a fit on a un-molested car because of slight variations in the cars as they were built. I hope that none of you have had the fit problems with your bumpers that I have had with mine. :skep:


[Modified by Big Fish, 7:35 PM 1/12/2003]

Nomad78SA

redvetracr,
you can see in this pic all the work we have had to do on the front one just to get everything right.
I did buy the true flex bumpers from Eckler's with the thought they are the best of all the items out there.The rear bumper did fit so so, but I expected better. The templates for the holes were not worth the time it took to use them. The front is another story. The bumper stuck out on both sides pretty bad. Far enough that if you sanded them down you would have a hole on either side. We have had to cut it up some and build it up. Granted, I am going a show finish and want all the seams and gaps close to perfect as we can get them, but pull them out of the box and mount them ain't going to happen with the ones I got.
Neil in Tenn



[Modified by Nomad78SA, 8:28 PM 1/12/2003]

74-Roadster

Neil, the front looks great as well. It takes a lot of work to make it so pretty, good job.

I know your going to use PPG, but have you thought about going with a C5 silver metallic and maybe another GM's Charcoal metallic instead of the exact colors from 78? Using newer, richer colors could be sooooo cool! And 95% of the people that even know about the silver anniversary wouldn't even notice, but like the rest of your car, we'd all realize it was improved ever so subtly. :yesnod:

KENS78SILVERANNIV

Neil, You'll be glad you painted on the two-tone and stripes. I completed the same restoration last July. It took about 4 months but was well worth the effort. The finish looks deep and full under the clear coats. As soon as I figure out how to post pictures with my new digital camera (christmas present)... I'll show you. I also went with tru-flex and after some stretching and filling and fitting... they look perfect. Be patient. It'll be well worth it. :yesnod:

'79ProwlerOrange

The bumpers are fiberglass. they just have a spesical resin they lets them flex. so there is work to be done to get them to fit perfect. we actually had alot of buildup/teardown to do on mine. i also thought that since it flexed, it would basically be bolt on. well its alot thicker than urathane, and not nearly as flexable. a good buy though, because it gets rid of the bubbling effect and if someone nudges you, you wont have a destroyed bumper.

Nomad it sounds like you and i had pretty much the same ideas about body work. my doors have the same gap all the way arround, the T-tops have the same gap and the hood looks very straight with only a slight gap diffrence. goo job, i know how hard it is. :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

norvalwilhelm

Nice job. I installed a fiberglass bumper on my 75 this winter and had to cut it into 2 pieces, bolt it on the car and fill in the gap. It was about 1/2 inch too narrow for my car.
My gaps on the door really suck.

79yellowlt1

I'm having the same problem with my 79. I bought Ecklers bumpers and a new front clip, because everyone said if you buy from someone else they won't fit!! So far I've never heard of an ecklers one fitting either!!! I think it's just one of those vette things. You live with it because you love the car. Hey Ben, how do you like those ground effects on yours? I'm thinking of going with them instead of the stock rockers. I put an 80 rear bumper on my 79, so they would have to mix and match the kit. Who did you buy from? I'm also in the process of trying to get some pics postedas soon as I can figure out this @#$%^& HTML. Mark

:flag

Chris@VetteFinders

I had two different ones from Ecklers. Neither one was even close to fitting. I ended up getting one from GM for wholesale pricing. I think it was $300 something. Fit like a glove.

Looking great there Neil.

burners

What a bummer to hear about all the trouble. It's looking good now. I have a trueflex rear bumper that I'm going to install shortly. I hope I don't have the same problems.

NHvette

Looking great Neil. At first, the seam was so tight, I thought that you
had filled it in smooth. Sounds like your going more for a correct body resto.
I think that when II redo my front, I'll be blending it in smooth with the fenders.

Looking good !!

:thumbs: :seeya

Wardog

I bought a Tru-Flex front for my car from CC last summer and installed it on New Year's Eve (long story as to why I waited so long...). The fit is great along the top and down the LH side seam. I'll block sand any slight irregularity with no problems. However, the RH side tucks in a bit, leaving an abrupt seam with the rest of the right front fender. Can I just build up the bumper at that seam using fiberglass mat and resin, with wax paper on the fender in the seam to get a roughly corrected contour? I would then use short-strand filler and final filler in order to prep for the entire repaint I plan to do. Has anybody done this with tru-flex?

Thanks!