Panel bond

The reinforcement for the headlight surround was removed today by grinding off the rivets that held it in place. It was riveted to a piece of fiberglass to allow it to be bonded to the car since there wasn't a bonding agent that would bond metal to fiberglass back when these cars were built.

The problem is these rivets rust and when they do, they expand causing bumps in the headlight surround that are visible through the paint.

Today, 3M makes a modern bonding agent that is stronger than welds, allowing this reinforcement to be bonded back to the car without the use of rivets. The rivets will be removed from this bonding strip by drilling them out.

It's tempting to remove this fiberglass strip from the car, rivet it back to the reinforcement using aluminum rivets and then bonding it back to the car so it's more correct, but this way will ensure this won't happen again.