Cracked paint in roof pilar (Page 1/1)
Stingray92 MAR 09, 07:44 PM
Ok so things have been going good, getting firewal insulation reinstalled, cleaning up the wire harness prepping to take the car to a local shop who will do the back glass. His only request was I remove the rear clip, I figure no biggie as I've got everything exterior on the car easily accessible/not fully re-installed yet.

So I lifted the roof gently with some inflatable bags, in the sun on a 60 deg day and well this happened.



Suggestions for fixing?

[This message has been edited by Stingray92 (edited 03-09-2025).]

olejoedad MAR 10, 06:52 AM
There is no need to remove the rear clip to replace the back glass in a Fiero.

The trim panels on either side need to come out, and the deck lid needs to be removed.
82-T/A [At Work] MAR 10, 10:37 AM

quote
Originally posted by Stingray92:

Suggestions for fixing?




For fixing the A-pillar, it's made of the same stuff the decklid and hood are made out of, which is straight SMC. So, it's flexible, but not really flexible. For note, the other panels are made of something else... RIM, etc.

You can actually follow along this thread that I created for repairing the decklid: https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/148149.html

Keep in mind, I did it totally wrong in the first part of the thread. We used something that was for SMC, but it was not really for SMC, but actually for RIM. You want to treat this repair exactly as you would fiberglass; however, you use a special gel / hardner which is this: https://www.eastwood.com/ev...in-quart-100864.html


That is the only thing that will actually work, and it's meant specifically for actual SMC. Don't get the green stuff like I did (which was totally wrong). Again, you basically do the repair exactly as you would fiberglass. Since it's a split, you would want to drill holes along the crack. One at the furthest-most point of the crack, to prevent future stress fractures from continuing from an existing crack. You then grind down a little bit the surface area, and begin laying chopped glass mat into the holes, with a layer or two of mat covering it, and putting the mixed resin/hardener on it. Then you sand and paint.

But honestly... those panels are directly on top of the chassis, and if you don't want to screw up the paint, and everything else looks good... then I'd just add some touch-up paint over the cracks. To actually repair it the way it's supposed to be repaired, you would typically need to remove the whole roof panel so you can get under it.
Stingray92 MAR 10, 05:40 PM
Thanks guys,

Yeah the roof on the car is going to be coming off again. I spoke with the guy who did the work and took it off a few months ago and explained the situation. Not only do I have this crack to deal with the passenger side pillar is not sealed well, it came up off the car about a 1/2 inch as I used inflatable
bags to raise the back section.

So glass guy should be out Thursday and once the windshield is out I'll be pulling the roof so the repair gets done right.

As I'm known for saying do it right or do it twice, here's my dose.