Fiberglass hood repair

[BigBlockOlds]

I have a fiberglass hood that I'll be using on my '87 project but the mounting points for the hinges are shot. A few of them have broken loose from the fiberglass.

I pulled one out and it was piece of 1/8" steel with a U-clip attached to it and looked to be glued to the fiberglass. This hood is 25 years old so I'm sure the glue just got old and brittle.

Anyway, I'm cutting the others out just to be safe and want to replace them. I was planning on doing something similar with a piece of metal and a nut welded to it for the bolt threads.

Question is, what kind of modern glue can I use to attach the steel piece to the fiberglass? I wanted to glue it in place for a strong hold and then fiberglass over top of it to finish it off.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

[200horse]

you can go with a company call IES or international epoxies and sealers.I have some info about the products on my website if you can not find there. www.toledoautopaint.com the glue is second to none

[monteboy84]

Windshield Urethane is really good too, and reasonably priced. It's not rigid when cured, but it will give you a nice permanent bond between the metal and composite.

[Bryce]

any fiberglass epoxy. I used a devon epoxy when i did my valance with aluminum stiffeners. Then I fiberglassed over everything for a finished look.

[BigBlockOlds]

Here's a few pictures of what I'm dealing with.

I've cut out a pair of hood hinge attachment points from a stock steel hood and plan to fiberglass them in place.

Passenger side:





Drivers side:





Three of the bolt holes were just 5/16-18 nuts that were embeded in bondo. But then one of the holes had this behind it:



That looks like it was some sort of "fix" considering the others didn't look like this.

So a few questions, I was to fill these cavities direclty below the replacement steel pieces to give them some backing support. Plus to be able to have something to adhere them to.

Any ideas on the best method for getting these mounted solidly? I was thinking I could weld a couple of bolts to the backside of the steel piece and then set it into a resin/adhesive/body filler so that it would hopefully grab better. Then fiberglass over everything with a few layers of fiberglass.

Any other ideas? Does anyone know what the foam type stuff it is the factory uses between the hood support structure and outer skin? Could I use it as a backer on the other side of the hood?

Thanks,

[200horse]

again call IES ask for Jerry he will help you out good luck

[John Wright]

Yuk...what a mess. Post up your solutions when you figure it all out.

[Jim Nilsen]

Forget the steel pieces and make them out of wood, hard maple would be good and strong. You can use T nuts for the place to bolt to with no problems. This is how I mounted my hood hinge and it works well.

The steel will be heavy and add no strength to the hood from ever getting damaged and may cause delamination problems later. The wood will bond with fiberglass resin very easily.

Good luck

[minendrews68]

Forget the steel pieces and make them out of wood, hard maple would be good and strong. You can use T nuts for the place to bolt to with no problems. This is how I mounted my hood hinge and it works well.

The steel will be heavy and add no strength to the hood from ever getting damaged and may cause delamination problems later. The wood will bond with fiberglass resin very easily.

Good luck

Listen to Jim go!!!!!!!!! I agree 100%

Carl

[wedgehead]

use the wood to hold the nuts or whatever bolt attachment. you will then need to grind back where you cut out the old retainer. gring it back a few inches to get a good amount of bonding to the old glass to the new glass.

[BigBlockOlds]

Thanks guys.

One question regarding using wood. I have a sheet of 3/4" sanded one side plywood laying here. Could this be used instead of hardwood?

I know in cabinet making and other wood projects, plywood is better for certain things because it doesn't expand or contract as much as regular, non laminate woods.

Didn't know if it was a big deal or not.

[Jim Nilsen]

Thanks guys.

One question regarding using wood. I have a sheet of 3/4" sanded one side plywood laying here. Could this be used instead of hardwood?

I know in cabinet making and other wood projects, plywood is better for certain things because it doesn't expand or contract as much as regular, non laminate woods.

Didn't know if it was a big deal or not.

Use solid wood, plywood will be flexible for the size it will be. The reason to use hard/rock maple is the grain is much stronger and the density will have less expansion/temp problems. Select a piece with no knots or checks in the grain no matter what kind of wood you use. A piece of oak will work too but it will expand and contract more.Make sure you bond it to the top surface of the hood and the underhood face. Adding a layer of woven cloth over the top is preferred over matt. Make sure you ruff up the wood to at least a 36 grit surface.