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What are they, where located & how to tell when they are original. Thank you.
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ask this guy
he claims to own not one, but four Corvettes
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Re: bonding strips
Bonding strips are narrow pieces of fiberglass, maybe 2"-2.5" wide, that serve as reinforcement of the bonding seams between body panels.
Major bonding seams like fenders are usually butt joints where two fiberglass panels are "butted" together (more or less) for a smooth joint with a bonding strip behind the joint for strength; the panels are actually bonded to the bonding strip rather than each other because the edges of the panel provide no significant bonding area. In addition to the "butt joint", several other types of bond joints were used, which may or may not, require bonding strips.
During the factory bonding process, major body components would have been assembled/bonded together on jigs, and finally the entire body would have been bonded together on a jig. The bonding adhesive would squeeze out of the joints, and the first step in paint prep was to grind off the excess adhesive to a smooth contour on the exterior body surfaces. I believe they did use a type of fiberglass adhesive filler if the adhesive had voids, but it appears to me that the objective was to avoid it if possible.
On the back side of bonding seams, you can still see the bonding adhesive squeezed out of the joint just like it was the day the body was built; or, you may see where they have removed/smoothed the REALLY BIG gobs and drips with a gloved hand.Comment
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Re: bonding strips
In the last picture on this page, you can see the bonding strip on the side louver panel.
Here are some examples on ebay:
'68-'69 exhaust opening
midyear nose
midyear taillight strip
Original FiberglassComment
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Re:Thank you Chuck *NM*
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