Fiberglass or No Fiberglass. That is the question!!

[nwcc]

The 70 Nova chassis is almost done. Next on my list is the body.

at a minimum I am going with glass bumpers, trunk lid, and hood. But I am considering going to a 1 piece glass front end.

So my questions are:

Should I go with a 1 piece front end?

Based on first hand knowledge. What company has the best fiberglass parts?

[af2]

I would go with carbon fiber to loose weight. Or go with less matt and get there. I use Kickerkraft for everything on my car and never had an issue! Matt and George have been doing this for probably close to 30 years. They have some bad ass cars and boats out there running and you will see them at different NHRA/ Nostalgia/ Boat events. # 408-776-1444 If they don't answer call again and don't leave a message. Or you could leave one and hope for the best!

[disturbthepeace1]

The only thing i can say about fiberglass frontends is, don't expect them to fit!....
I have two different cars with front ends and I cant count the hours I have spent straghting out the camaro's... I have hardly even touch the one on my bug, just because I know exactly how much of a bitch its going to be......


But on the other hand the bug wieghs 1310lbs and the camaro should be under 3k easy...

So, if your planning on running a full interior street car I say ditch the 12' sub and the rear seats before you put a front end on.. but if your running a race car, its most practical way to go on a diet and i say go for it...

[af2]

[Big Dave]

Personally, since I have done this in the past and liked the result; I would go for inner and outer fenders made of glass and bolted together with grade five aluminum alloy bolts and nuts (aircraft quality). Use the steel hood hinge with a supper light weight spring on a glass cowl induction hood with inner ribs. Lots of grey primer, some red-oxide primer where you would expect to find rust repair patches, a few dabs of black filler here and there with some yellow bondo applied to the hood and front fenders.

Paint the inner fenders and inside of outer fenders black The underside of hood some factory color other than the car's actual color and stay away from strong back lights (it spoils the effect to have the motor silhouetted against the glass fenders). Add glass doors and then try hard to keep the front wheels on the ground.

Big Dave

[10sec.et]

you could "do it yourself". check this out...

http://www.corral.net/forums/showthread.php?t=660756

[af2]

Holy crap! 13 pages. The guy is good!

[10sec.et]

[Big Dave]

I made my own fiberglass parts with the help of my wife's cousin who was building Morgan Yachts at the time in Oldsmar, FL. He was making boats, and ambulances, and RV campers and even patio furniture to turn a buck at the time. He had all kinds of specialized equipment to make the job easier. All I had to do was to make a wooden box and pull a mold (kind of like Plaster of Paris but different) from my steel part (it was a lot harder than it sounds) He and his crew would shoot gel coat and chop to make a light weight part for me. Without his facility to do this I would not recommend it, unless you like body work (I hate body work as being much to much work intensive for the amount of enjoyment I get back after the sweat is washed off. But then I don't even wash my cars either, because I would rather spend that time on mechanical work.)

Big Dave

[10sec.et]

ive done a little glass work myself...




youre right, its a LOT of work. i lost count in the hours i have in the back of my car. i just want to try carbon fiber on something. dont think i would go as extreme as that Mustang though.

[af2]

You made that scooter? WOW! No wonder you have so many hours in it. Bought one at Kmart for 20 bucks 10 years ago.

Kidding aside the body is bichen the way you did the blending and will be a head turner when you drive it.

[10sec.et]