CFD's Build Thread

[CFD]

Originally Posted by davesnever

Wow that's lookin clean George! Very nice, hmmm if only Carter Fabrications sold those rear bumper covers? LOL I'm so jealous!

Originally Posted by SSEssence

thats looking real slick!!

Thanks. It's been a lot of work. Much different than working with metal but I think once it's in paint it will have been worth it.

[CFD]

Plastic SUCKS !!!!!

[CFD]

What a challenging day. I had some shop work to get done so I had my car parked out in the yard for a few hours. When I pulled it in the shop to finish up the tail lights the bumper caught my eye, it was pushed out a little where the side marker is, when I started to look around I noticed the tail lights on the same side where also pushed out. The I noticed the problem, one of the outer tail light lens and bumper buckled slightly. The car was in direct sun light on a 90+ deg day for a few hors so my best guess is the heat made it buckle slightly. The lenses were really straight before as can be seen in earlier pictures. After being in the shop for a while and cooling down it did not change. I'm hoping it was a one time thing but I wouldn't bet on it. At this point there is not much I can do so I sanded the lens down to take away some of the curse and filled the bumper. You can see the problem areas that I am pointing to. The lenses have a little bit of a gull wing to them which was to be sanded out to math the trunk lid but now that I had to sand the left lens to correct for the buckling I'm worried it may be to thin so I'm not going to chance it.
Now because of this I started thinking and made a couple of small changes. Instead of the glued edge of the lens being the defining line I taped off the shape of the lens 1/8" smaller than the actual lens, now when painted the outline of the lens is much cleaner and more defined. I also liked the look of the narrow lights so I trimmed them down another 1/8". After doing that to help take the curse of the lens I put a radius on the edges to match the body panels. Tomorrow I will give it a light coat of primer and see how it looks then I can prep it for paint.

I just hope the bumper doesn't move any more. It was never a problem when they were taped in but now they are rigid mounted and don't move like the plastic bumper.

Wish I was working with metal.

[davesnever]

Hahaha that's exactly where I would lose my mind. I consider myself to be pretty handy and I'm not afraid to try new things but plastics are just one of those things where it just seems to be hit or miss and when it's a miss it usually gets ugly but judging from your previous work I know you will work your way through it. I could see my attempt at that sort of project would end up involving alot of filler lol.

[CFD]

Originally Posted by davesnever

Hahaha that's exactly where I would lose my mind. I consider myself to be pretty handy and I'm not afraid to try new things but plastics are just one of those things where it just seems to be hit or miss and when it's a miss it usually gets ugly but judging from your previous work I know you will work your way through it. I could see my attempt at that sort of project would end up involving alot of filler lol.

It's been a learning experience for sure and the one thing I learned well is don't do it again. I've worked with many materials including plastics but typically small pieces or repairs. The other thing is this bumper was hit pretty hard which may have played a role in it, regardless, I won't be doing it again real soon.

[davesnever]

Just had another thought, if you have concerns about the warm temps, what about when you are driving and the added heat of the bulbs being on? LED's might be a safe way to go.

[CFD]

Originally Posted by davesnever

Just had another thought, if you have concerns about the warm temps, what about when you are driving and the added heat of the bulbs being on? LED's might be a safe way to go.

Not so much worried about heat from the bulbs, they are a safe distance away from the lenses, I think. lol and have been in use for quite a while with no problem. I do have led replacement bulbs here but they are not as bright, most likely do to the prismatic lens.

[CFD]

You know the saying " leave well enough alone" ? That was started by lazy people. lol

After sitting in the shop for a while the bumper went back to it's original shape with the exception of the lens that sunk slightly. I couldn't leave it like that after all the work I've done. It seems that the bumper is going to move with extreme temperature changes, most likely the stock ones do to just never paid attention to it. So I decided to finish the work with the car at a reasonable temperature. I first sanded down the sunken lens until it was flat again. The original lenses were 1/4" thick, these are 3/16" so I was hoping to much sanding wouldn't be needed and it wasn't that much. Then, as originally planned I sanded the lenses to better match the bumpers contours and remove any traces of the seems. I then got the first coat of primer on. I think it is coming out great and I'm very happy I didn't get discouraged by the lens and that I spent the time to correct it. Tomorrow I will tape off the actual lens shape then give it it's final coat of primer

[CFD]

Spent the day on the small details to finish up the bumper. The only thing left to do is cut out the actual shapes for the lenses. I do this so the actual seem where the lens and bumper meet is hidden under the paint so there's no chance of a seem showing it also gets rid of the black shadow created by the box that forms each taillight. The tail light outlines are drawn in and all the measurements are recorded in case a repair ever has to be made. Tomorrow after cutting out the lenses it will get the final coat of primer then off for paint.

[davesnever]

Looking good, should be nice!

[CFD]

Got everything finished up and ready for paint but due to pouring rain all day I didn't take it to the body shop, if the roads dry up by morning I'll take it over. Here's a few shots of it ready for paint

[mlee]

Yup... ready for a fresh coat of paint. Glad to see it all back together.

[davesnever]

Super! Only us Camaro owners will spot the mod, looks factory, and I mean that as a compliment lol.

[CFD]

Originally Posted by mlee

Yup... ready for a fresh coat of paint. Glad to see it all back together.

Thanks, it's been a while but it was a good excuse to finish the bumper.

Originally Posted by davesnever

Super! Only us Camaro owners will spot the mod, looks factory, and I mean that as a compliment lol.

Thanks, I'm hoping it looks good when painted.

Didn't get it to the body shop due to rain again today but I'm taking it there first thing in the morning, I may have it back by the weeks end.