1969 Original Fiberglass Color

[Greg L.]

I'm just finnishing up the nose panel repair on my 69. It had a minor bump in the front some time ago but still has 99% original fiberglass. I also removed the header bar and panel to replace the rivets at the same time. My question is...now that all this work has been done to the nose area the original fiberglass color for the most part is gone,so what would be your choice of color to spray in the area under the nose panel and inner fender area ahead of the rad support so that it looks more original? The car is a body off resto so I would like to do it up as correct as possible. Thanks

[Terry F.]

Re: 1969 Original Fiberglass Color

I would probably spray a little rusty red primer in the area and then black it out with some simi flat black. call it good. Best regards, Terry

[Tom R.]

Re: 1969 Original Fiberglass Color

Did you come across "putty red" as you sanded down?

[Chuck S.]

Re: 1969 Original Fiberglass Color

Terry, you have been there and saw what your were looking at.

Red oxide primer in the area between the radiator support and the front bumper is overspray from priming the exterior. There was apparently no attempt to mask anything during the priming step, but masking seems to have been used before the sealer and color coats. This primer overspray would have come primarily through the headlight and grille openings, and through the "breathing holes" under the grille. It should not be applied heavily as if intentional.

Almost all of the primer was covered up later by the blackout (primarily on the bulkhead) except up in the corners and far sides, where it was not visible anyway. My recollection is that there was a little primer overspray, but very little blackout, on the front area forming the bottom of the grille, and virtually NO overspray on the area under the front nose where the reinforcement bar is located. You'll have to "do what you need to do" if you have "off-color" repairs up in that area.

[Chuck S.]

P.S. Observations on 70, should be the same. *NM*

[Terry F.]

Re: 1969 Original Fiberglass Color

Chuck, what I was thinking was not so much originality but to hide the repair. I would spot the paint not being correct but I may not nice the repair depending on how it was done.

My observations are the same about the red primer. The were going to town when they were primering and it ended up everywhere. In fact, I think it would be more common to see very little of any paint in the area that I think we are talking about. I believe two types of primer were used...gray and red oxide. I have some paper work somewhere that states which was first applied. The type of repair he is describing is brutal to fix. These cars are just weak in that area. I would have tended to look for a good used hood surround or purchased a new one. They seem to be out there. Depends on the car. I have very little room to talk also...I have been working on the same car for years and I mean years. Some how, I will get it done. All for now, Terry

[Chuck S.]

Re: 1969 Original Fiberglass Color

Terry, what I was getting at was if there is blackout where it's not normally seen, it will practically beg judges to take a closer look. Actually the area up under the nose is not easily seen for judging unless some effort is taken to look from the bottom with a light. The best approach may be to sand it smooth, and as you said, give it a LIGHT, dry dust of semi-flat black, and hope for the best.

For repairing fiberglass, commercial body shops will use clear resin which provides a "yellow" repair...pretty hard to hide. Black tinted resin is the way to go if you are trying to hide a repair on early C3s; that's what was used to make the panels in the first place.

Even if you use tinted resin, the back of the panel still has to be block sanded to match the "press molded" appearance of the rest of the panel. Professional body men make a repair just to provide a solid surface for paint; they don't care what it looks like underneath and "time is money". With a lot of patience, you can make a repair that will be undetectable from two feet away (or less) in good light; you would probably have to play with the resin tint to get it perfect.

Changing that hood surround would be a RPITA...it would depend on how bad the surround was damaged. A few breaks and cracks between openings could be repaired and concealed as above with a lot less work than replacment. If it is shattered over a large area with pieces missing, replacement is probably the way to go.

BTW, red oxide primer went on first, followed by gray sealer (at least on my white car), followed by color.

[Greg L.]

Re: 1969 Original Fiberglass Color

Thanks guys. As always you are all a big help. I think what I'll do is mix a color that matches the original fiberglass color and spray a light coat of that up under the nose panel and lightly around the general area ahead of the rad support followed by your recommended red oxide primer and then grey primer. I've gone to great lengths to try and hide the repair work in this area so hopefully the end result will be worth it. Thanks again.

Greg

[Chuck S.]

Close...But no gray primer (sealer) there...

Red oxide primer, then semi-flat black, primarily on the radiator support bulkhead. Maybe, the cars were masked or maybe carefully sprayed; I don't remember seeing any gray sealer overspray in that area on my car. If there was ANY there, it was negligible.