White 68

Im in the stripping stage of repaint and would like to cover up the holes in the rear ...Has anyone repaired these or do the show through the final paint ??....Is it worth the trouble ...Or should the rack go back ?? Any pictures of this would be appreciated..Thanks



[Modified by White 68, 6:16 PM 3/14/2003]

gearheadz

Mine were already filled by the previous owner & they were visible because they just scored the area around the holes & filled them with bondo. The proper way to fill the hole is to back the holes first with fiberglass mat & resin. Then fill the hole with glass reinforced filler or just resin. Then skim coat with regular filler.

Whether to leave the rack or not should depend on whether you like it or not. If you don't like it, fill the holes the right way & no one will know it was ever there.

PS...my car's body is off & paint already stripped. I'm putting the rack back on.


[Modified by mdsmith, 8:49 PM 3/14/2003]

LAvetteman

I filled mine.

74-Roadster

You need to glass over the holes from above and below. To get to them from the bottom, you'll have to drop the tank (at least for the middle back two). Not sure about a 68 but some of my holes have double thickness of fiberglass with an air void, so the lower hole must be enlarged to get to the upper hole from below. It's a lot of work to do it from both sides, but really worth it in the long run.

To glass over them, you need to grind a bevel in the glass around the hole 2-3" in diameter and deep enough to allow 3 layers of matt to bridge the hole. Cut the fiberglass matt into circles with the 1st layer on the underside ~1/2" larger in diameter than the hole. Add 2-3 more layers with increasing diameter size.

Since you're glassing over your head, make a simple support out of cardboard. Put a clean round wax pad on a large square piece of cardboard and cover with duct tape and then wax the duct tape. You can paint a little bit of resin on the duct tape, lay the circle matt in the resin and saturate with more resin. Next, paint a thin layer of resin in the 1/2" overlap area. Using the cardboard, press into place and hold or place something underneath to hold it in place until it cures. Remove the cardboard, clean the new fiberglass with wax and grease remover and repeat procedure.

After the underside is complete, fill the hole with circles of matt to get flush with the bevel (if you didn't bevel to a sharp edge) and then proceed with increasing diameters of more matt. Grind and sand flush. Since these holes are large, I'd suggest letting the deck sit in the sun for a week or so before adding any thin layers of filler still required to smooth the repair. Cover bare glass with epoxy or polyester.

Good luck!

VolVette

74 Roadster knows what he's talking about. He's been very helpful on my paint project.

On the other hand, I asked the same question about 7 months ago and was told that it is nearly impossible to cover these holes and not make them visible. I decided to reinstall my rack.

Chinaski

i'd keep your rack as well...i like mine

MYPET70

A most excellent answer! My answer is: "A new luggage rack" I'm facing this exact dilemma and have resolved it cheaper and less headache to buy a new one. Good luck! :steering:

New-Zealander

Theres nothing like a good rack on the old girl ! :conehead :conehead

Michael Tucker

or a new rack for that matter!:D
i would keep a rack on it for two reasons
1. it is hard to cover the holes so they can not be seen.
2. i dont have one and always need the extra room that you have with them.

how is the removing of the old paint coming? are you going to have it ready by the time the power tour comes into dfw?
Mike

74-Roadster

Glad to hear I've helped! :thumbs: I can't chime in very often, or at least not intelligently . . . never done anything special in the drivetrain/suspension area so my experience is limited. 90% of the time, I feel like I'm just taking info and not giving much back. :p:

The trick on horizontal holes, is to bridge the hole from above and below. Most repairs are done from the top and each layer of matt is the same size and not much bigger than the hole, so in time, the thin layer of matt will give way to gravity ever so slightly. And if you have a dark color, you'll see it very well. Preparation and the # of layers of matt really matter to bridge a hole.

I wish Lars would offer his opinion, he's never shared his technique and I'm sure he's covered holes before without any problems down the road! :yesnod:


[Modified by 74-Roadster, 3:49 AM 3/15/2003]

Chuck Gongloff

I have to respectfully beg to differ with some of my "buds" here. :) I have NEVER seen a luggage rack successfully removed and the holes filled. I've seen many cars where this was attempted. I have several friend who have tried it. Regardless of all the tricks...beveling, using mat, etc, the holes/shadows come back to haunt you. One friend with a nice 71 LS 6 coupe has had his rear deck painted about 3 times within the last 5 or so years. The "pock marks" always come back to haunt you.

Another thing I've learned.....luggage racks are different. Don't throw your old one away. The mounting holes differ, and it's very tough to find a nice "original original" that will fit in the holes already drilled in the deck. The solution? Rechrome/restore your old one. At least you know it will fit. Chuck

Cholo

:iagree:
Put the rack BACK on.

This unfortunately applies to MOST any of these holes to be filled.

This happened constantly to SHOWCARS back in '70's.
Back in the days of the WILDEST paint schemes ever put on cars.
Sometime 10 to 14 stage operations with incredible ,if tasteless and atrocious,
artwork adorning the whole car.

Only to see traces of these holes.....where the antenna,door locks,side emblems were, where the Nose emblems and rear C O R V E T T E letters USED to be. :cuss

This is similar to the dreaded "CAN'T GET RID OF THOSE DAMN STRIPES!" Syndrome. :mad

NOW THAT is horrible! I have some stories of the stripe syndrome.too long to put down here currently.

I started working on these cars in a Chevy Dealer in 1974,with my Dad.
I TOO have filled holes in all ways ,with virtually ALL available products.
with varied success.Sometimes they didn't show..... ....... ...........
But then again........I SOLD those cars! :D

I have a sorta basket case '71 LS5 I'm restoring currently,and yes it had "Dealer Installed Options"! Lugrack, locking Gas cap and even Delco PleasurLift AIRSHOCKS!

Despite VERY potential NCRS Flight judging, yes. I will likely ,or rather nearly MOST assuredly,put the dread rack back on.

MAKES A GREAT PLACE TO PUT A HEAVY TOOLBOX ON! A counter weight.....
For driving through the snow that is! :hurray:

Hey when you're 18, and it's your only car ?
Great fun 100 mph DONUTS in empty mile long parking lot! :hurray:

But short of installing a new rear deck,nothing is assured. BUT hey-

You have roadster, a new rear deck is $400 to $600 depending. If you need a new $200 lugrack you're already half way there. I'd rather glue and smooth quarter panel bonding seams than lay layers of glass over my head from underneath!

If you're careful removing said panel. I bet someone will it buy holes and all.

If you just gotta try and fill the holes,then 74Roadster has suggested the best method for sure.

But me,with my 12th Vette since 1978, I'm putting MY Lugrack back.
I think....... :lolg:

Best of luck and success.

Regards.....Cholo

69er

I agree with Chuck on both counts.
When I bought my vette the previous owner had a cell phone antenna :crazy:right in the middle between the rack and rear window.
When I had my '69 painted at a experienced vette shop I was told that the hole will show slightly in the future.It has but slightly.Having one hole show slightly is not too bad but 6 or 8 would bother me.
On the rack issue.
I had to get my original rack rechromed at almost twice the cost of a new rack because it was a dealer installed rack and the vette catalog racks were off an inch or so.
:cheers:


[Modified by 69er, 8:28 AM 3/15/2003]

Magic Fingers

I have owned my 70 since 1987 and had never seen a trace of luggage rack filler sinkage. When I stripped the car the second time (first time was media blasted) with a 8" DA is when it surfaced. The reason being, is a previous owner had made all repairs and filling, then he spray gel coated the entire car. The gel coat was like a rock hard skin. It took 6 hours with 2 of us manning those 8" hog DA's to sand through and down to original factory gel coat. The aftermarket gel coat was a chracoal, to almost black color, where as factory for that vintage is medium grey. Bottom line is when I get to my 68, I'm gel coating it. The previous posts on the initial repair sound solid. Magic Fingers


[Modified by Magic Fingers, 7:32 PM 3/15/2003]

biggjimm

74 roadster is absolutely correct in his decription of the repair. If it is done this way, and correctly, it is impossible for the hole to reappear. Here is why. If you grind the underside of the glass down to about half the thickness of the glass and then make your mat and resin repair, then when you grind the top away, down to half the thickness of the glass. You have ground into the new repair below the glass. You have taken the hole out and about 1-2 inches of glass that had previously been around the hole. Now how can something "come back" when you have "cut it out". It will be alot of hard work, but it can be done successfully. The reason most of these repairs dont stand the test of time is because they were never repaired properly in the first place because of the amount of hard work involved. Fiberglass work is hard, nasty, dirty and lets dont forget itchy work. Good luck White, if your not in for the long haul on the repair then you better put her rack back. Biggjimm