Grill Tab Repair

[Donald T.]

The grill tab located on the lower front nose piece is missing on my 65. This is the center tab where the top bracket of the grill attaches to the lower nose section. I've done my fair share of fiberglass work, but this repair looks problematic. The fiberglass is so thin and the underside is unpainted; I don't see how I can make an undetectable repair. I'd rather not replace the panel with a repro, and haven't located an intact original piece for replacement. Any suggestions?

Thanks!




Grill Tab

[Grant M.]

Re: Grill Tab Repair

Don,

I have the same problem on my 65, but haven't gone ahead with repair as of yet. I don't know your situation, but my car's a driver, so 'undetectable' is not as critical in my case. I can probably make the repair relatively undetectable except for close (maybe like NCRS) inspection. What I have already done is to fabricate with fibreglas mat and resin, a piece of roughly the size/shape of the tab, but with unimpregnated strips of mat extending beyond what would be the top edge (the part that attaches to the nose piece). My plan was to bend the mat at 90 degrees from the top edge and fix in in place flush with the rear edge of the nose piece, impregnating with resin to bond the tab to the inside of the nose piece. One or two additional mat layers may be advisable to provide additional strength and the tab would have to be held in place/90 degree alignment with some combination of clamps/tape/wire etc until the resin cured.
Then perhaps some finish filing/sanding, priming and paint to match.

I know there are 'purists' out there throwing up on their keyboards, but it's a driver, most people that look at it don't go 'feeling around' under the rear edge of the upper nose piece, and it sure beats tackling a nose replacement (maybe someday, but not right now...).

Good luck with yours...

grant