Best way to fill the hood ornament holes on a regal header?

[Doug Chahoy]

Mat is stronger, Use mat on the bottom and cloth on top if you like

 

[Silent viewer]

Yea, I can see that. I am around allot of boats, we generally use mat for structural stuff and cloth for a top layer or in areas that need to be smooth. Trying to sand mat smooth is a pain. I am getting itchy just talking about this lol

 

[fleming442]

🤔 First off, I am by no means a bodyman. I have played with fiberglass and filler a bunch though. When I mentioned "woven mat", I suppose that could be construed as "cloth". "Mat", to me, is the thick, chop stuff without the weave. Whatever, I'm just a dumb hillbilly.
Bonnewagon, if yours is peeling, the surface was either too smooth or had some contaminants in it. I've done extensive repairs on my header panel, and they've all held well. I scuff with 24 or 36 grit and clean the area with thinner.
Now, the reason I suggested pushing the "cloth" up into the hole was to reduce the thickness of the fill medium. My experience dictates the fiberglass resin shrinks less than polyester body filler. Either of which must cure fully before finishing, of course.
Where the hell are Donovan and Clutch when you need them?! Am I the only one seeing a bunch of irony here?

 

[Silent viewer]

considering that fiberglass resin is in most cases polyester resin which is used to make filler.... Unless you are using epoxy or vinylester which is my personal choice in boats. Most folks won't pay for epoxy and vinylester is hard to find in a store. I have never seen any difference, I often order resin by the 5 gallon jugs

 

[Silent viewer]

Woven mat or better yet woven roving is basically a layer of cloth woven into glass mat, we often use that as a top layer with glass

 

[Bonnewagon]

Thanks Fleming. I will have to try that when it warms up. Regalman I do boats too that is why I tried Marine-Tex. I use that exclusively on my Whaler and I never have a problem. But that is totally fiberglass as opposed to the rubbery urethane the header is made of. The flexible bumper filler lasted the longest but still seperated around the perimeter. As always, I guess preparation is key.

 

[TURNA]

Fiberglass and then plastic on my Cutlass header

So far so good and my car is Jet Black

 

[Injectedcutty]

I ask myself that every time I post on the internet... Thanks for your input

I have yet to see any one come up with a solution that works. The only thing I can see would be to cover the entire top of the header panel with thin matting.
The filling of the ornament hole always ends up sinking when simply filling and it is very visible on dark colored cars.

I filled the ornament hole on my Cutlass with a couple different methods after a total failure. The 1st go round was with fiberglass mat and resin, it popped out which was likely my fault. The second attempt was similar to what Fleming suggested, then used poly body filler to finish it off. Luckily I'm home so I snapped a couple pics for y'all. Color is charcoal metallic so if it was gonna show ugly this color won't help hide it!

 

[Silent viewer]

bonne, your header is more of that material like a cutlass bumper cover than glass right? That would be a tough one, plastic welding maybe?

 

[Silent viewer]

injectedcutty, how long has that been done? Just curious. Most of the people I have chatted with locally who have used several methods, they look good for a little while and then it starts showing through with time. Yours looks good!