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I Know I Shouldn't Have, But....

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Well, the front bumper assembly is off (as is all the paint) & she's at the frame shop to check frame straightness.....if it needs straightening, I'll have to remove the front clip to remove all the bumper extension & brace.

One thing that's nice about these cars, though, is that there's an assembly manual, in addition to a shop manual, that shows how they were put together on the assembly line...it has been real helpful for removing things because it shows exactly what holds what onto the car. Sure wish MG's had a manual like that!

Now, I've just got to figure out how to break the bonds that hold the fiberglass to the metal so I can remove the front clip!
 
Tony said:
Now, I've just got to figure out how to break the bonds that hold the fiberglass to the metal so I can remove the front clip!
Click to expand...

Just grab yer SawzAll!!! It'll come right apart! :devilgrin:
 
DrEntropy said:
Tony said:
Now, I've just got to figure out how to break the bonds that hold the fiberglass to the metal so I can remove the front clip!
Click to expand...

Just grab yer SawzAll!!! It'll come right apart! :devilgrin:
Click to expand...
I know!! But, I want to reuse the front clip!

Did not know that to straighten a bent frame on a Corvette you have to basically remove everything from the firewall forward! Don't know if my frame is bent or not but all the supposed Corvette experts say to checfk the frame before doing any rebuild! You can check the frame by removing the rocker covers & front bumper assembly but that's all you can do: check
 
Ya think THAT'S bad? Look around about a Lotus Elise and any crash damage! :devilgrin:
 
Well, I'm keeping the faith....& if there's damage, I'll just bring 'er home & figure out how to pull the clip without doing too much damage.
 
Yup. Time and patience.

One pal who owned an Elan and made GFRP canoes referred to the stuff as frozen snot. :shocked:
 
Gotta love the internet!! That should help considerably.

What would work really well is some type of cord with an embedded abrasive - an industrial grade "dental floss" - which you could pull back and forth to cut through the adhesive without digging into the fiberglass of the clip.
 
I think she is looking better already.
 
Heading out to pick it up from the frame shop...frame is out 2" & high on the left side....so, something new to learn about cars since I've never messed with a car that had a bent frame.....frame guy says its no big deal once I get the front clip, rear bumper & exhaust off...he said if I did that today, he could repair it tomorrow (yeah! I'm gonna do that today!).....& my body guy also says its no big deal to straighten the frame!

I'm sitting here thinking that if I have to remove the front clip & rear bumper anyway, I'm only 4 bolts away from lifting the body off the frame!

Apparently, I have to remove the rear bumper anyway to drop the gas tank! Our British cars are soooo much simpler, I'm learning.
 
Got it backwards!

To remove the rear bumper:

1. Remove all 4 taillights
2. Remove both mufflers
3. Remove spare tire carrier
4. Remove gas tank
5. Remove gas tank cover

Now you can get to the upper studs holding the bumper to the car (3/8" nuts)

- Needed to remove taillights anyway for new paint

- Needed to remove mufflers anyway as they are in way of frame machine holddowns/measuring points.

- Needed to remove gas tank anyway as its been sitting since 1997 - Corvette tanks are a rubber bladder inside a metal tank; so they can't be repaired if they're bad!
 
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