That album helps to explain the technique, but is not, IMHO, sufficient to
explain it. My attempt to explain it from my memory of the presentation
Richard Sowers and I attended and he photographed:
There are several theories about the cause of "chipmunk cheeks", including
sagging of the front end and others, but the result is that the SMC
"fender" loses its connection to the aluminum superstructure. Gene (a
Corvette expert/dealer in Macon, GA) demonstrated for us at a rally a
technique he developed to restore that connection. He inserts bolts
through the beltline extrusion and the aluminum super structure behind the
cockpit side panels (tubular before '75, then sheet aluminum) to pull the
"fender" back into place. Then he uses the special adhesives shown in the
photo album to adhere a strip of fiberglass angle (I'd try aluminum
extrusion since I don't have access to the fiberglass) between the inside
of the "fender" and the bottom of the cockpit floor structure. The bolts
and the added reinforcement hopefully will be sufficient to cure the
"chipmunk cheeks" permanently -- or at least delay their recurrence.
Naturally, careful cleaning and surface prep is necessary to give the
adhesive a good grip.
HTH,
Ken H.
Americus, GA
'76 X-Birchaven w/Cad500/Howell EFI+ & EBL
www.gmcwipersetc.com
On Tue, Jul 3, 2012 at 9:12 PM, Dennis Sexton
>
> > I couldn't find the thread that talked about that. It's quite noticeable
> on my '73 as I'm getting ready to install a 2" wide 1/8" thick aluminum
> plate. Someone mentioned screwing through to some inner boards. I noticed
> that the part of the fender above the front wheelwell flares outward a
> bit when I push inward on the beltline. Hoe do I go about to remedy this?
> >
> > Thanks in advance.
>
>
> Larry,
>
> You might want to refer to Richard's album....
>
>
http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/g4019-fixing-the-front-end-bulge.html
>
>
