I know the fiberglass is supposed to be rough, but... Need some advice

[Alphamacaroon]

I'm starting to think about body finishing and I want to attempt to do a lot of it myself. Most of it seems fairly straightforward and within my skills, but the parting lines near the top of the windows are really throwing me for a loop. I know that the bodies are supposed to be pretty rough, but I'm really starting to feel like mine has some unique issues (I hope not). Can you look at the following pictures and let me know what you think?

This is as far as I've dared to sand down the parting lines to get even close to some sort of continuous contour between the mold sections.
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I know it probably looks overly aggressive, but you'll see why in the next picture.

Even with that amount of heavy material removal, I'm still left with this:
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And it's not just like that on the edge— that high spot goes all the way up to the roof parting line. Effectively the rear quarter window section of the mold is recessed a good quarter inch or more from the rest of the body— it looks a bit excessive even for a "rough" body if you ask me.

I guess my questions are:

1. Is this normal for this part of the (Gen III) body? Do I have any standing to complain or let FFR know about this issue? Not that it would do me much good at this point...
2. How do I fix this? As far as I can tell, I can either fill the low side, or sand away the high side. Filling the low side seems like the safest approach, but seems like it has a few issues: a) it's going to take a LOT of filler, b) it includes an edge which could be prone to breaking and c) I'm probably going to also have to fill and reshape the side-scoop window recess to get it all aligned right (a lot of intricate edge work). If I grind away the high-side, my guess is that it will grind all the way through the fiberglass and I'll have to re-glass it from the inside.

Anyway, I'm a bit stressed about this and would feel much better and confident if everyone told me "nope, this is normal, and we've all dealt with it". If it's not normal then I'm worried it might be outside of my capabilities of fixing it.

Edit: to add a bit more context— the inside of the body seems to be fairly (although not entirely) smooth between these two sections. So it's possible that the high side (towards the front of the car) is just really thick with plenty of material and just needs to be sanded down a lot more. But as you can see from the first picture, I'm already sanded way past the gel coat. So I just wanted to get some advice before I possibly made things worse. The "sand the high-side" option seems like a more straightforward solution within my skills, even though it's a bit more risky.

[GoDadGo]

Jim,

Get a 2" Mini D/A from Harbor Freight to calm down those ugly spots.
https://www.harborfreight.com/air-angle-sander-93629.html

Then get some Fibertech to fill them in because it is way easier to use than HSRF.

Evercoat Offers Several Different Fiber Reinforced Fillers.
https://youtu.be/JwAErvc2tN4

2" Mini D/A On My Mold Parting Lines
https://youtu.be/_3sLamdkIFg

Fibertech & Fiberglass Work:
https://youtu.be/6UK6K2jcwTU

Good Luck & I Hope This Helps!

Steve

[Ducky2009]

When you start breaking through the red gel coat (and see gray), stop grinding! Looks like it's way out of line at the joint and needs built up on the low side.

[Alphamacaroon]

When you start breaking through the red gel coat (and see gray), stop grinding! Looks like it's way out of line at the joint and needs built up on the low side.

Thanks much. Yeah, I tried to avoid hitting the glass at all costs but I couldn't even sand down the parting lines without burning through part of the gelcoat in some places. I pretty much assumed that I'll probably have to re-glass a good portion of this section. The rest of the car is nowhere near as bad as this section.

Filling the low side is going to be a major, major undertaking I think, because that whole section is sunken in :( I feel like I really got a lemon for a body.

[bil1024]

That's what mine looks like also, its a bummer hoping I can smooth it out

[Alphamacaroon]

That's what mine looks like also, its a bummer hoping I can smooth it out

Well I guess it's good to know I'm not alone :D

Maybe I'm crazy, but this really feels like something FFR should warranty as a defect. I can completely understand parting lines, bubbles/voids, imperfections, and some small amount of misalignment between sections of the mold. But this amount of misalignment really seems like a workmanship quality issue that will probably cost me hundreds of dollars and/or hours to fix. Really not happy, but maybe I am expecting too much.

[edwardb]

Won't make you feel any better, but mine was the same way. Those two areas (each side) were by far the poorest part of my Gen 3 Coupe body. I agree with the others. You've cut pretty deep and you should stop. It will get fixed mainly by building up the low areas and blending it in. Which may cut slightly into the high spots but not so much that it goes that deep or weakens the area. I don't know the particulars, but the shop that did mine said that area required too much filler for the usual body filler (Rage, etc.). They built it up with some type of fiberglass material before skimming with body filler. Turned out great but I know they spent a lot of time on it. I have the billable hours to prove it. :p I was generally pleased with the quality of the Gen 3 body, once I figured out how to get it fitted. But agree that area needs improvement. Big time.

[Alphamacaroon]

Thanks again everyone. I guess I do feel a bit better that it is something that others have experience fixing.

Makes sense what your body shop said edwardb— I'm a beginner at most of this fiberglass work, and from my limited knowledge it just didn't seem possible to do right with regular filler.

Seems like Evercoat products are all the Rage (pun intended) around here, so I'll probably stick with them and try the Fibertech— thanks GoDadGo.

[Furrman]

good luck, my truck is the same. if I were DAVE, I would be ashamed.

[Jeff Kleiner]

126208

Jeff

[Alphamacaroon]

Quick update— pinged Dan Golub at FFR and he said that both filling the low spot or cutting into the high spot and re-glassing from behind are both valid options. He said he personally went with the cut into the high spot and re-glass option for his Coupe. His specific words were: "The first (which I did on my coupe) is you sand as much as possible to level out the 2 areas, cut the fiberglass along the gelcoat line, (no further then 2" beyond the effected area, level the pieces and re-glass from the back side."

Anyway, just thought I'd fill out the post with a bit more information if it helps others. Still haven't decided what I'm going to do on mine yet, but slightly leaning towards the cut and re-glass option.

[thriftychicken]

My glass on coupe #26 was very nice (other than not being symmetrical) and blended quite well. What has changed? Did I hear that FFR bought a glass shop? Maybe they haven't perfected the technique yet?
-Perry

[Alphamacaroon]

My glass on coupe #26 was very nice (other than not being symmetrical) and blended quite well. What has changed? Did I hear that FFR bought a glass shop? Maybe they haven't perfected the technique yet?
-Perry

It's a good question. I feel like I've seen a number of bodies from various other pictures that look relatively good— although it's always hard to see the detail. Mine sticks out like a sore thumb. I also wonder if maybe it's just a matter of whoever is doing the work that day? Maybe some employees spend more time getting the mold pieces aligned than others? Who knows. But it feels like it should be something that can be fixed.

[Alphamacaroon]

Update: I decided to go the "fill the low spots" route, ordered some Evercoat Fibertech, and took the plunge today. Overall I'm pretty happy with how it went— that Fibertech stuff is pretty amazing.

A few pictures after a rough initial sanding:

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(before)

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(after)

126744

A few things I learned:

1. That cardboard cutout I made in the picture was a lifesaver. Made it really easy to apply the fibertech quickly without having to worry about cleaning out a big mess from the scoop window recess. Covered the edges in packing tape to prevent adhesion, and double sided tape to keep it attached to the body.
2. Fibertech sets QUICKLY— I learned my lesson on the first batch. Best solution is to mix a small amount at a time and build up layers. First pass should be HARD pressure on the spreader to fill voids, then lighter pressure as you build layers. Once I figured this out, things went much easier.
3. Don't worry about getting fibertech to lay down smoothly— it's a foundation filler, not a finish filler. It is very viscous and "chunky", and you are going to have high/low spots, speckling, streaks, etc after you spread it. Goal is to build a foundation, sand it as best you can, then fill the imperfections later with regular body filler. I have to say, it is an absolute JOY to sand.
4. I see one small void on the lower sill lip of the window that I'll need to fill tomorrow, but other than that it seems nicely feathered and extremely strong. I was a little worried about how strong it would be on the sill edges, but I tried flexing and hammering on it (within reason) to see if I could see any sort of cracking or delamination, and it seems as solid as rock (seems even stronger than the fiberglass itself).

Anyway, this is my first time with this type of filler, so I'd appreciate any feedback on my observations or learnings.

I guess I have a quick question: do I need to sand the fibertech flat before I add Evercoat Rage on top of it? My assumption is not— as long as the countour is relatively close and speckling is minimal, that's what filler is for, right? My assumption is that the fibertech is used to get most of the way there, then you use body filler to finish and smooth out the rest?

[GoDadGo]

Jim,

After the Fibertech we smoothed things out with the Rage Gold and sanded until things were smoothed out.

I just wiped the Fibertech down with Acetone to make sure it was clean and then sanded it with 100 Grit before applying the next coat...Once I was happy with the Fibertech I repeated the process and finished it off with the Rage Gold and then sanded it smooth...So far my car is looking really good, but having my friend Sammy there doing 80-90% of the body work and teaching me every step of the way has been a huge advantage...For the record, I applaud guys like you who tackle their own body work and paint because I simply don't have an eye for that stuff.

Good Luck & Can't Wait To See Your Final Product!

Steve

NOTE:...Sammy used Fibertech on my son's car so that we could remove the Camaro Emblem that was recessed in the nose of plastic bumper cover.

.............https://youtu.be/A5WUZgl6N5Q