BABY's bad luck continues!!

[BarryK]

well, as most of you know already, I only had BABY, my '65 coupe, for about a month when someone backed into her at a red light. She went back into the restoration shop for 6 weeks to be repaired and I just picked her up on Thrusday. Everything was great with her and the repair work was exceptional.
I took her to a show on Sat and it was very hot and sunny but everything was fine. Today (Sun) I took her to another show. Just like all the other cars, I had her hood up from the time I got there. At one point after walking around the show I got back to find the hood down. Wondering who had been fooling around with my car I started to put the hood back up when a couple of guys asked if it was my car. Thet said they put the hood down when they saw SMOKE coming from my car.
Turns out the sun was reflecting off the stock chrome air cleaner cover directly onto a small circle on the underside of the hood. It got so hot from the reflection (kind of like reflecting the sun onto a leaf with a magnifying glass) it started to blister and burn the black paint on the underside of the hood - unfortunatly it didn't stop there. The heat continued through the fiberglass and actually blistered the paint on the outside of the hood also! There is one blister about the size of a dime and then a row of little blisters about 4 inched long across the middle "bulge" of the hood.

A buch of other Vette guys were at the show and they show their cars a lot and they claim they have never seen this happen before and of course whenever I see pictures from car shows everyone has their hoods up so I didn't think it was going to be a problem to do the same.
Now I have to find a really good paint shop that will still spray laquaer paint and be repair it and match it properly.

ad :cry

 

[Tripleblack51]

Hi Barry,


Sorry to hear about your bad luck.

I have been to quite a few car shows and have seen guys with mid-years place a cloth or small towel over the filter cover just because of what happened to you.

The chrome filter cover does amplifly the heat.

Regards,

Pedro

 

[67HEAVEN]

Yes, unfortunately Barry, Pedro is right. This is a common problem at outdoor car shows. We should sound the warning more often, but we forget after years and years that new owners won't know this.

Sorry to hear the bad news.

 

[BarryK]

Yes, that's what a couple of the guys at the show told me to do - AFTER it happened.
I didn't see anyone else doing that with their cars so I didn't think about it but you can be sure I'll be doing it each time now.
I guess I learned my lesson the hard (and expensive) way.

sigh..........

I'm just afraid of what is going to happen next.

 

[youwish2bme]

Barry sorry for the bad luck man... We all live and learn don't let it get you down it is a small thing.... I luckly have had a lot of mentors that I have met off this forum and the other and have been lucky.. I suggest you hook up with one of the guys from the forum and have them help out... There are to many things that can go wrong if you haven't had a older car/vette... Now I'm no expert by far so I can't speak to much.. I've just been very lucky...... Dave..

 

[Ronald]

Barry this is unbelievable. What rotten luck. I really feel so sorry for you. It reminds me of the time my neighbour’s kid turned the handle on my garage door, which locked the door unbeknownst to me. I then go to open the automatic door, the chain snaps and falls on top of my vette. Luckily mine is also lacquer, so it was fairly easy to fix.

Hope you are able to get baby all patched up soon.. lots of summer left, it only gets better from here. Best wishes

 

[BarryK]

youwish

yep, I sure lived and learned on this one!

 

[BarryK]

Luckily mine is also lacquer, so it was fairly easy to fix.

Hope you are able to get baby all patched up soon.. lots of summer left, it only gets better from here. Best wishes

Ronald
I was under the impression that the laquer finish was going to make it MORE difficult to get it patched. Haven't a lot of shops stopped spraying laquer because of federal guidelines on things? I guess i was wrong on this.
Does the laquer finish actually make it easier to work with and hopefully get the color matching correct?

Barry

 

[c5vetter]

Barry,

Sorry to hear about your continuing saga with BABY! The main problem with lacquer is that I don't think ANYONE makes the TINT for lacquer anymore!? Some states have outlawed the use of lacquer, but the FEDS haven't mandated anything that I know of.

 

[BarryK]

Rick

if no tint is made than does that mean I can't get laquer mixed to match my color??

I really don't think if it's repaired by spraying base/clear it will match properly at all. I can't afford to get the entire car repainted to fix one small area just so it all matches but at the same time this blistered area is really noticable.

BTW, how did your PV go at Wildwood?

Barry

 

[BarryK]

Rick

sorry, as soon as i posted the last message I saw your thread on Wildwood. Sorry LADY didn'y do better for you

I have heard that the PV is a very difficult test and many, many top flight cars don't even bother to try going through it so don't feel too bad.

Barry

 

[WayneC]

Try this vendor in Ohio, they may be able to provide lacquer if you can find a shop to shoot it:

http://www.williamwolf.com/

 

[invinceablevett]

Barryk.....Sorry to hear about your misfortune.As I read your post I realized that I had seen a couple of vettes at shows around town with their filters covered.I never asked anyone why they did so but know I realized why....If it makes you feel better,I once damaged the wing on my 1 month old Trans-Am GTA.I was in my garage putting back my T-tops after having cruised around town with my brand spanking new GTA when my cousin came knocking at the garage.My garage door was closed so I pushed the electric opener to let him in.He had never seen it and I was dying to let him in.I forgot that my hatch was open.Up went the garage door and the arm ripped a one inch piece out of my rear wing.I was so mad at myself...ad ...I had to get the wing patched up and repainted.Imagine the heartache,a one month old dream car spending a week in a paint shop......Life goes on.

 

[Ronald]

Ronald
I was under the impression that the laquer finish was going to make it MORE difficult to get it patched. Haven't a lot of shops stopped spraying laquer because of federal guidelines on things? I guess i was wrong on this.
Does the laquer finish actually make it easier to work with and hopefully get the color matching correct?

Barry

I was fortunate in that I had a can of my original paint. I have always thought that laquer was easier to patch with, but I am no paint expert.

 

[Vette66AirCoupe]

Barry,

What a bummer. I saw a car at Corvette Carlisle last year burnt like that. A fellow that was looking at the car at the same time told me he had changed his air cleaner top from chrome to black as the result of having had the meltdown occur to his car. Since we're talking about this, don't trust a rag over the air cleaner on a windy day! Find a big rubber band or get a bungy cord for those days so you can actually wrap the rag around the air cleaner. Speaking of wind, here's another tip for you. If you have the hood up in the wind it's best to put a bolt with a nut on it through the hood prop. You'll find a hole on the prop that will lock your hood in the upright position if something is placed through it. I keep a nut and bolt in my ashtray just for that purpose. It prevents the wind from blowing your hood forward and possibly releasing the latch so that the hood can slam down! I know a lot of guys let them slam everytime they close them but I just can't bring myself to treat 35-40 year old fiberglas that way. If it's windy AND sunny, why tempt fate? Just leave the hood down. :cool

 

[Tripleblack51]

Great advice!

Thanks Terry.

Pedro

Barry,

What a bummer. I saw a car at Corvette Carlisle last year burnt like that. A fellow that was looking at the car at the same time told me he had changed his air cleaner top from chrome to black as the result of having had the meltdown occur to his car. Since we're talking about this, don't trust a rag over the air cleaner on a windy day! Find a big rubber band or get a bungy cord for those days so you can actually wrap the rag around the air cleaner. Speaking of wind, here's another tip for you. If you have the hood up in the wind it's best to put a bolt with a nut on it through the hood prop. You'll find a hole on the prop that will lock your hood in the upright position if something is placed through it. I keep a nut and bolt in my ashtray just for that purpose. It prevents the wind from blowing your hood forward and possibly releasing the latch so that the hood can slam down! I know a lot of guys let them slam everytime they close them but I just can't bring myself to treat 35-40 year old fiberglas that way. If it's windy AND sunny, why tempt fate? Just leave the hood down. :cool

 

[allcoupedup]

There's a company that actually makes covers for this purpose.

http://www.1nrcc.com/



Brian

 

[JJS]

Really sorry to hear this

Geez Barry, you've really had some bad luck and I'm very sorry to hear this.
That's terrible.

 

[Vette66AirCoupe]

This is great! Ironically, another Vette Head here at my office and I were just discussing Barry's misfortune and he said somebody should market something like this. I just laid a copy of the ad from the web site in front of him and he yelled "That's it!" :L Thanks Brian.

I wish they'd give a break on the shipping though. We need three between us and they add $4 for each one ordered.

There's a company that actually makes covers for this purpose.

http://www.1nrcc.com/



Brian

 

[BarryK]

Terry

Great advise, THANKS!
at least that is something I won't have to learn the hard way for a change.

Barry