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View Full Version : C3 Corvette Experts needed....


redfire69
03-18-2008, 02:11 AM
Hey guys,

Looking at a 78 Corvette, anyone know about stress cracks that appear to run front to back on both fenders and quarters? It looks like they run along a body seam. Should I stay away from cars that have these or is this an easy repair when repainting? Will they "come back"? Is this common for C3s?

Thanks in advance!!
astroracer
03-18-2008, 02:15 AM
It sounds like the seams are delaminating. These can be a real pain to fix properly. Essentially it is a lot of work to fix them them correctly. If you have a shop in your area that does Corvette work talk to them. If you can get a price to have the seams fixed correctly "maybe" you can dicker with the seller to drop the price abit...
Mark
ProdigyCustoms
03-18-2008, 02:52 AM
If it is the seems, I would plan on seperationg them, re glueing them, and using SEM Carbo fill on the seems (zero shrinkage = cubic dollars)

Unfortunatly those cars are not worth enough to justify the expense of doing all this work. I suggest stepping up and paying more for a better condition car or plan on doing a quicky mop and glow paint job on this one.
redfire69
03-18-2008, 03:14 AM
Hey Frank,

That was my thinking to find a better car... Its just this one was a silver anniversary, but I will probably pass on it. I did some searching on a Vette forum and found this pic which shows the seams. The cracks definitely run along this seam on both fenders and quarters probably from sitting outside many years.

I'll guess I'll need to watch for this on other ones, especially recent repaints...

Thanks guys!
madmikeee
04-01-2008, 11:26 AM
What you are talking about is called the "Bonding Strip"

This repair can be a royal pain but if you take your time and do it right you should have no problems. Basically you want to grind out the crack into a v groove on the front and back of the fender and use resin and fiberglass matting to build it back up.

It's not a huge deal or a deal breaker on C3's as it is a very common occurance. I have seen fully restored cars with stress cracks on the bonding strips. It's just a weak point in the design.