C2 Fender Replacement / Judging?

[Steve Wallach]

My 67 has a previous front end repair and white hand laid glass was used for the repair. I'm looking at redoing the repairs with original fiberglass panels and have found a set of "grey" glass fenders. They have Rockwell stickers on these panels. Will these pass Judging? I'm sure they are better than what I have, but I don't want to redo the redo...

Thanks for any help and advice.

Steve

[Mike M.]

Re: C2 Fender Replacement / Judging?

dark grey / charcoal colored machine molded panels are what you'll need for a 67.mike

[Steve Wallach]

Re: C2 Fender Replacement / Judging?

Thanks Mike,

The ones I have found appear (in pictures) to be darker grey (not black but not the lighter glass of 65 or earlier either).

Steve

[Mike M.]

Re: C2 Fender Replacement / Judging?

sounds like ya got the right stuff. good luck, mike

[Wayne W.]

Re: C2 Fender Replacement / Judging?

What we commonly refer to as Black is correct for 67. There may be ways of doctoring them to up to pass.

[Steve Wallach]

Re: C2 Fender Replacement / Judging?

"Black Glass" is vertually impossible to find especially for the passenger side of a 67 Vette....

On mine, the Left side (drivers) appears original, and the Passenger side and and some of the nose are replacement glass. The repair was done well (all lines up and is straight, etc.)but I would like to put it back to original glass. The grey "NOS" Glass I have found I think would look the same and match the original glass in appearance. It may take a light coat of Black spray paint? The inside fenders have what appears to be overspray from the black out process. I guess the only way to know for sure is to have it judged?

Thanks again,

Steve

[William C.]

Re: C2 Fender Replacement / Judging?

Steve, if the front end aligns well and doesn't show extra seams, I'd definately use some "blackout" paint inside the fendeers and have it judged before making any big jump. A couple of points for originality weighed against the cost of repair and repaint might let you think of more productive ways to spend your money.

[Tracy C.]

Re: C2 Fender Replacement / Judging?

Bill,

I think Steve is contemplating the purchase of these "lighter" shade panels now to replace some repaired panels currently on his car.

I do agree that these panels will probably judge fine. Photos tend to lighten up panel color. If needed I think creative application of flat black smeared around on the back of the panel topped with localize black out, they would look/judge just fine.

tc

[Chuck S.]

Re: C2 Fender Replacement / Judging?

It's possible the "NOS" fiberglass you found is NOS from a period AFTER the changeover to other materials began.

Replacement panels for C2s that are light to medium gray with a few tiny black spots and streaks sounds like they could be made out of later materials after the polyester fiberglass stock was exhausted. Gennite (light to medium gray) was the first material change for GM's replacement panels. Production panels began to change over gradually to Gennite about 1970, and this replacement process continued panel by panel through the 70s. Replacement panels sold by GM also changed over as the old stock was exhausted.

Bill has a good plan...if the exposed hand-laid texture can be concealed with OEM type finishes, don't worry about it...Gennite panels are not original to your car anyway. If you still want to change the panels, you may actually come closer to the material used on your original panels by using press-molded repro panels. I would look first to The Corvette Image, but the mid-year guys may know better options for C2s.

[Steve Wallach]

Re: C2 Fender Replacement / Judging?

Thanks for the info Chuck.

Steve

[Steve Wallach]

Re: C2 Fender Replacement / Judging?

These panels have the "American Rockwell" stickers still on them. These remind me of NOS 69 panels I have seen. They don't look like the darker gray panels of the 70s...

Steve

[Chuck S.]

Re: C2 Fender Replacement / Judging?

I believe black, actually a dark charcoal gray, panels were used from 67(?) to the early-mid seventies. They should all be the same color, including "NOS" 69 panels.

There is an easy to resolve this question...the "North American Rockwell" stickers imbedded in the resin surface should have a date in the format WW-YY, or week of manufacture - year of manufacture, e.g. 28-74 (twenty-eighth week of 1974). This date could help you understand which material is likely to have been used, but if it's in the early to mid-seventies, it may be inconclusive without knowing when the polyester FRP was exhausted.

When buying parts, you have to be careful...the NOS terminology is used loosely by sellers hoping to enhance the value of their later replacement parts. Some vendors are now describing the LAST parts available from GM as NOS.

[Steve Wallach]

Re: C2 Fender Replacement / Judging?

I agree,

I have looked at several original panels on my 67 today. Even those have different shades and fiber patterns.

The Driver's fender on mine, appears to be "Black Glass" with straight fibers. This appears to be the pattern on my 68 as well.

Some panels on both have more of a circular and finer pattern of the fibers.

(The after market glass on my car isn't even close to original in appearance)

Steve

[Steve Wallach]

Re: C2 Fender Replacement / Judging?

Thanks Again Chuck,

I got the parts, and these are Gray panels, the Rockwell sticker on one of them has a date code of 17 70.

Cheers,

Steve