"63" and "99" Corvette Upcoming Details

[tuscarora dave]

Hi Mike, I have these 2 Corvettes coming up soon for full paint correction jobs. I heard once where a guy said of a particular year Corvette that there was a rear panel that is prone to burning under rotary use because it is a rubber panel and so it won't dissipate heat like the other panels. The "63" is a BCCC repaint and the "99" is a factory paint. Was just wandering if there would be any areas of concern or hidden pitfalls on these cars as far as things to watch out for other than the obvious sharp edges. I plan to utilize lots of tape on both jobs.

Just picking your brain is all because I believe one can never be too informed or too careful. Any Corvette guys reading this feel free to join in with any advice. Thanks, TD

[Dubbin1]

I heard once where a guy said of a particular year Corvette that there was a rear panel that is prone to burning under rotary use because it is a rubber panel and so it won't dissipate heat like the other panels.

I think that may have been Dana that said that.

[Mike Phillips]

On the 1999 Corvette there are underlying panels in the front and rear made from urethane rubber and they don't dissipate heat as well as regular Fiberglas or sheetmetal...

Be careful not to heat the paint up on urethane body panels as it's pretty easy to twist the paint if using a rotary buffer. If using pretty much any other electric polisher it's less of a risk.

The bodies of Corvettes have changed in their base material over the decades, here's a little blurb about that from

Chevy Corvette Conversions - Body Language

The Corvette was the first production car to have a fiberglass outer skin. As composite technology advanced, so did the lamination quality, with sheet molding compound (SMC) replacing the old-school resin-and-glass layup starting with the C4 model in 1984. Later, high-tech materials such as carbon-fiber were introduced.

Looking forward to the before and after pictures...