How To Install A Front Mount Camera On A Corvette

In my last project update the firewall was reinstalled on the birdcage and the torso was mounted back to the frame. Next up is the installation of a new front end clip!

Merely, before I leap into the update, here's a bit of background: Quite a few months agone I spent some time exploring the original front clip and really didn't like what I found. In addition to lots of minor impairment throughout (e.k. mounting brackets cleaved off, screw holes pulled through, etc.) I also plant very all-encompassing areas of shoddy repairs throughout. I phone call them shoddy repairs because some announced to accept been made primarily of some mystery material, while others were fabricated using fiberglass fabric instead of fiberglass matt. In addition, the repairs were all covered in quite a bit of Bondo – another sign that the repairs were less than ideal. Initially, I was planning to repair these areas. However, once I started stripping the pigment from the front prune the extent of these bug became very credible. As all-time I tin tell, my poor Corvette was once in an blow. It appears the car spun communicable both the drivers side front end fender and the passengers side rear fender (hence the need for the extensive rear clip repairs that were previously completed). After much pondering on how best to proceed I came to the decision to buy a replacement one slice front clip. This was a really tough conclusion as I actually didn't desire to scrap my front end clip. Not to mention buying a replacement prune is very expensive. But, later on looking over the repairs, speedily estimating my time to repair them, and the price to have a body store 'clean-up' my repairs, it just didn't make economic sense to try and salvage the front clip.

The photograph below doesn't exercise a very good job showing all the issues with the front clip, but I've posted it anyway. This is something you lot really had to run across shut up and so that you could appreciate all of the damage, feel the 'mushiness' of the repairs, and generally get a feel for the amount of work that needed to be done.

And then, afterward placing an order for a new one piece forepart prune, front valence and one replacement inner fender skirt, a large and rather unwieldy box was delivered to my work (they wanted a lot extra to deliver it to my house). I knew the box was going to be big, but seeing the box in person was pretty nuts. Needless to say anybody at work thought I was crazy driving downwards the road with this huge box hanging out of my truck. But, after tying the box down very deeply, down the road I went. Thankfully I made it habitation with everything in ane piece.

Arriving dwelling house with my giant box of goodies was the equivalent of being a kid on Christmas morning so I couldn't assistance simply open the box right away and look inside. And so, here'south what I found. They did a swell job packaging everything very deeply so all of the pieces made it condom and sound.

As I reviewed each piece I was happy to see the reinforcing strip effectually the hood was steel – even if it was slightly lighter guess than the original (I  had heard some replacement front clips came with fiberglass reinforcing strips). However the front end nose reinforcing bar was fiberglass. No worries, I ended upward swapping information technology out for the metallic ane from my original front clip (more on that in a later update).

Before digging into my box of goodies whatsoever further I decided to leave them packed for safety keeping. So, subsequently setting the box bated, I went to work cannibalizing my original front clip. In order to save money, and as many original pieces every bit possible, I salvaged as many pieces every bit possible – the inner fender skirts, mounting brackets, hardware, etc. First on the list were the inner fender skirts.

At this point disassembling bonded fiberglass panels is becoming erstwhile hat so I broke out the heat gun and putty pocketknife and gear up to work. If you lot've never tackled this chore I advise checking out this how-to video I made by clicking this link: Separating Bonded Fiberglass Panels

As you lot can probably tell, this is the good inner fender skirt that was salvaged. Once the skirt was removed I set to work stripping off all the miscellaneous parts and pieces so everything could be cleaned and painted. The other inner fender brim was literally in well-nigh five pieces, was repaired with silicone caulking, and was completely beyond salvage.

Obviously staples were a pretty popular method for attaching weatherstipping and sealant dorsum in the early seventy'south. No worries though. I simply cutting them in half using a Dremel, pried them loose with a screwdriver, and then removed the 2 halves using a pair of needle nose pliers. All of these seals were scheduled for replacement which made removal a lot easier and faster – salvaging parts and pieces can be delicate piece of work.

Fast forward several steps and I've removed the weather stripping, brackets, mounting plates, etc. from the fender skirts, cleaned up the fiberglass with sandpaper and lacquer thinner, and applied a fresh glaze of the same epoxy primer used for the windshield frame and firewall (PPG DP90LF). I e'er find this to exist a satisfying step – where you lot get to run into the fruits of your labor. As you tin can meet, the opportunity was taken to pigment both inner fender skirts (including the new 1 which was scuffed upwardly earlier painting), the freshly sandblasted radiator support assembly, and a few other parts and pieces that volition be used to bolt up the forepart clip. Painting everything the same will ensure all of the body piece of work and frame pieces under the hood will match. It should look great!

Once the paint dried it was fourth dimension to starting time bolting everything upwardly. To begin you have to kickoff with the front frame extensions, front cantankerous member, and the radiator support.  Each piece was bolted together with the connections left finger tight to allow easy adjustments later. It'due south also worth mentioning that in order to install the front prune you'll need to have the doors installed – they serve as a reference point while aligning the clip (hint: if you program to paint the forward door jambs now is a proficient fourth dimension to exercise so).

Following assembly of the radiator back up the inner fender skirts were bolted to the radiator support together with the inner fender reinforcement plate. Non surprisingly, the reinforcing plate fit great with the original fender, but not and so well with the replacement inner fender. This was mostly due to the fact that the thickness of the replacement inner fender skirt was a bit greater than the original. But, no worries. A flake of quick sanding helped things fit together nicely.

Originally the reinforcement plate was riveted to the fender skirts. After several failed attempts at installing new rivets I decided that bolting was a lot easier. Because the bolts won't be visible once the radiator and forepart prune were installed I figured this was a pretty harmless shortcut. To ensure a long lasting connection, self locking nuts were used for these connections.

And hither they are – both fender skirts installed and in identify. It's important to know that all of these components need to be installed before the new one-piece front clip can be set in place. Also, at this indicate the rear of the skirts are loose and sort of just flop effectually – they aren't attached to anything nonetheless.

Prior to setting the front clip in identify new atmospheric condition stripping was installed along elevation of the fender skirts. Although the skirts bond along the edge of the hood opening, and along the side of the fender, at that place's no bodily attachment between the front and back of the skirt and the underside of the hood surround. So, in order to keep h2o and droppings from getting into the engine compartment, weather stripping is installed along the front end and rear edges. Once the front clip (or hood surround) is installed the weather condition stripping provides a water-tight seal.

Although the originals were stapled in place I decided to secure the replacement seals using epoxy adhesive. To avoid making a behemothic mess I placed a small bead of adhesive within the groove of the weather condition stripping by spreading the bottom of the seal open (sort of like a hot dog bun). Adjacent, the edges of the seal were pressed together to distribute the agglutinative, the seal was positioned  in place, and a few strips of tape were applied to secure the weather stripping while the epoxy cured.

While the epoxy was curing I diverted my focus to the front clip. A scrap of trimming was necessary around the firewall since they overbuild this expanse at the factory to provide additional stability during shipping. Using a black magic marker the cut limits were laid out based on measurements from the original front clip (the geometry/relief of the fiberglass also makes where to cut obvious) and the excess fiberglass was cut away using a jigsaw. While cutting I stayed shy of the cut line to avoid accidentally removing as well much cloth.

Once cutting a dice girder was used to remove any backlog material and to shine out the rough edges. The final clean-up was completed using a DA sander which I find provides a smoother and straighter finished surface.

Next information technology was time to level the car side to side and front to back. This is an important pace as alignment will affect the final body gaps. I started out by first leveling the rear of the motorcar using jack stands and a few wooden shims to fine-tune the adjustment. I verified the rear was level by using a three foot level placed tight to the lower frame cross member (below the gas tank). This provided a large apartment area to place the level confronting and worked quite well.

Leveling the front of the auto was a bit trickier. Here the interest is ensuring that the front is level both side to side, and that the car is level front to back. However, there aren't any apartment spots to check the side to side level. Then, knowing that the back of the car was all prepare, I opted to simply verify the car was level front to back by leveling along the underside of the frame rails on the commuter and passenger side of the car. Initially the front was raised with a flooring jack and shims were placed below the wheels to crude in the alignment. Next, the tires were inflated or deflated as needed to fine-melody the alignment. After a chip of tinkering the automobile was set up and perfectly level in all directions.

At this point the front clip was lifted and dropped loosely into place. Although the clip is relatively low-cal, it's pretty cumbersome to handle. I suggest getting a 2d set of hands to assist with this effort.

With the front clip set loosely in place it was time to commencement adjusting the fit. The first step of this procedure was adjusting the prune front to back. Fortunately, with the original front end clip on hand, I was able to determine exactly how much the forepart lip of the firewall flange needed to extend across the front of the firewall (the dimension was adamant by looking at the bonding agglutinative that remained on the original firewall flange). Basically, I plant that the flange should overhang the face of the firewall by 1/16″ to ane/viii″. Using this dimension the front end clip sat tightly confronting the firewall flange and the alignment just seemed to look 'right' – there was plenty of material to trim along the door gaps, the right-to-left alignment looked ok, and the clip seemed to exist square (not rotated) relative to the residuum of the car and chassis. And so, with the front to rear adjustment roughly 'set' one rivet was temporarily set at either side of the firewall to agree things in place while the residuum of the alignment was checked out.

The next footstep included adjusting the height and location of the radiator support which, in plow, also affects the alignment of the inner fender skirts. To practise this, measure from the rear hood hinge bolt hole to the front edge of the firewall baste rail. The radiator support needs to be adapted so that this measurement is 43 inches. This should provide proper hood to front finish relationship, and volition put the hood in proper alignment with latch mechanisms. If needed, you tin wedge a cake of wood between the front of the engine and the radiator back up (or between the firewall and radiator support if the engine is out, every bit was my instance) to help maintain proper alignment of the radiator support and inner fender skirts.

I also suggest using a floor jack positioned beneath the radiator support to assist arrange things – jacking the assembly up causes a rearward rotation at the meridian of the radiator support while lowering the associates results in a forward rotation. In add-on, the holes for the radiator support are slotted front end to back. Up and down alignment will be dictated by the door gaps, rocker panel fit-up (commodities in the rocker panels to monitor the trunk gaps every bit you brand adjustments), and to align the fan in the middle of the radiator shroud (assuming it'south installed). One time yous get the vertical alignment gear up you'll need to adjust the front to back position of the radiator support to achieve the 43″ dimension. Information technology takes a bit of trail and mistake to get things right so be patient and take your time.

That's it for Function 1 of the new front clip installation. Another update should be coming in about a month. In the meantime, please cease past the Corvette Restoration Forum to discuss the project, or just to say hi! Lastly, if you lot haven't done then already, delight Like this project on Facebook to receive the latest news regarding project developments, updates, and progress!

Source: http://www.corvette-restoration.com/2011/07/17/front-clip-installation-part-1/

Posted by: casnerwherted.blogspot.com

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