Front Fender Stain

[Eric E.]

I haven't started on the body work yet but this caught my eye and thought I would get some professional opinions.

The first picture shows an under the drivers front fender view of what appears to be a stain and the second picture is the top side directly opposite of the stain.

The entire body is covered with featherfill that was applied in the late 70's and never blocked off. Eventually I will have block off all the featherfill to see what I have to work with but in the mean time, is it common to have something that will wick through the fiberglass? The surface is hard to the touch.

thanks,

[Russ S.]

Re: Front Fender Stain

Eric, Yes it is possible for oily containments to bleed thru. If that is what it is , then it should be ground out from one side and re-glassed and then ground out from the opposite side thru to the new glass and re-glassed from the second side.

[Eric E.]

Re: Front Fender Stain

Eric, Yes it is possible for oily containments to bleed thru. If that is what it is , then it should be ground out from one side and re-glassed and then ground out from the opposite side thru to the new glass and re-glassed from the second side.

Thanks Russ, I have heard that Simple Green is a good product to get through the grime to get to the glass. Is this still the best way to clean and evaluate it?

[Russ S.]

Re: Front Fender Stain

Simple green is a good product. It sure won't do any harm. Another thing I use is wax and grease remover from a paint store. You don't want to use a product that leaves a film or any remnants of itself.

[Eric E.]

Re: Front Fender Stain

Thanks Russ, time to go shopping. After reading what others have found I am sure that I will find other areas that will need some attention after I remove all the primer.

[Frank D.]

Re: Front Fender Stain

If its oil or a similar material many on the Corvette Forum soak the area in acetone; let it evaporate then gently heat up the area to pull out more of the stuff then retreat with acetone. May take many cycles of this though. Even then most glass up the area in question again.

The worst is to have some contaminant leech through your paint years after its applied. There are several spots on my SWC that lifted when I brought the car from Ohio to Florida in the heat. Car was painted in 2009 but prep was questionable. I fought through this on headlight buckets, doors and hood stinger - seems I've got it licked for now though. The areas would start out as a small bubble, then grow as paint adhesion failed.
Consulted with 3-4 master painters and they all agreed it was some contaminant that wasn't dealt with before the respray.

Frankly, I would go medeival on your problem areas as first suggested by Russ above rather than have this problem haunt you later on.

[Eric E.]

Re: Front Fender Stain

Thanks Frank,
The first thing that I am going to try is to work on the stain as Russ described and see what is truly on the glass and sand the area of the fender down from the outside. That should show me what is really there.

I agree, not addressing it is just waiting for the inevitable.