THE 1963 THUNDERBIRD ITALIEN


Chapter 24 - Fiberglass Roof Restoration

Copyright © Thomas Maruska 2008
All Rights Reserved


Here is a shot of the inside of the roof.  You can clearly see the fiberglass matt.
Also to the right you'll see one of the headliner rods in place.


In these two pictures you can see one of the methods used to secure  the fiberglass roof system
to the body of the car.  In addition it was attached with sheet metal screws along the windshield
header and all along the fins.


In this photo there is masking poly over the bare metal in preparation
to spray the new gel coat over the fiberglass parts.


Here are a few pictures of the new gel coat.
"They" say you don't need to use gel coat over fiberglass with todays primers and sealers,
BUT Fiberglast Corp said it's best to use the gel coat.  Sure, they just want to sell product,
but I guess I'll take their word for it since it is their specialty.
The purpose of the gel coat is to protect the resin below from the solvents in the paints
and primers which can cause the resin to swell and give you a less than
satisfactory finish.



The body is now ready for filler work to make it nice and straight.


                                                                                                          Back to Italien Index                                         Continue with Chapter 25
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