Quote:
Originally Posted by jaros44sr
If you can make the fenderskins in white gelcoat, I won't have to paint them. I was thinking of bonding them to the fender skeletin, once I cut the fender away. How thick would the fibreglas be?
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Hey that's great coincidence, as I generally use black(sometimes orange) tooling gelcoat for the mold and white gelcoat for the parts. The white over black helps to give a visual to when I've got the gelcoat thick enough. I do use a wet film gauge too, but the color is a great starting point.
How were you thinking of bonding them? An adhesive bond alone is probably not enough to really make it strong. I'd suggest a good adhesive and Rivets or threaded inserts or something like that. I'd like to know what you have in mind.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dammitmitchell
<couldnt you cut or match the fender mounting holes with like a metla inlay or say i dunno how to describe it, but like a metal "rib" for the bolt on and mounting areas?
and issue ive had with alot of the newer cars and definatley with the newer body kit rage is that when you install them everything sags or the holes for mounting are just weak and unsupported, if there was a "rib" or a inlaid piece of metal to bolt through for added support said fenders would last much longer wouldnt they? or at least be more rigid at the mounting so they dont "tear off" under normal flex or maby mud weight?
does that make sense?
I think an internal reinforcement would be much sturdier then "modling" a big fiberglass mold to a cut steel fender, and BTW some of us here cant fiberglass.... so how would we make it look descent?
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I can add any kind of reinforcement to the fender you'd like, but it's probably not necessary. I will place large fender washers in the mounting areas to help spread the force of the bolts.As for internal ribs to make it stronger, if the part is laminated correctly, there is no need for any other support. The only way I can see it tearing off is in an accident. There's little to no chance it will break under normal flex, or even if covered with 50# of mud.
For instance, I can sit on the tilt forward front end I made, it's def strong enough. It weighs roughly 150#, and that's with the 20# hinge I made out of angle iron grafted to it. As long as the parts are made well, there should be no problem, as pound for pound, composites are much much stronger than steel! I can't wait to have some finished parts to show the quality that I am aiming for.
I agree with you, it will be difficult at best to graft a fender skin to a cut steel fender. And over time, the seam will crack just the nature of two different materials. That's why I'm curious to know what jaros44sr has in mind.
I agree with the whole thing with the body kits you are talking about, but it's the brand of kit that the problems arise. A good well made kit will run anywhere from 10 grand and up, and there's only a few companies that make them, and they don't produce them in high numbers. That's for the real deal kit from the people who originally designed it. Those parts are very high quality and don't sag at all, and line up perfectly.
What happens is some rip-off company buys one kit, and makes cheap molds off the parts without them mounted on a car. Since they are molded off the car, their molds are twisted, wavy and generally lousy.
Then the parts that they pull off are even worse, and very thin and fragile.
Unfortunately that gives all body kits a bad rep, as 90% or more of them are the cheap ones, not the well made kits by well known companies. Unfortunately, the rip off companies market their junk as the real deal, and that causes big problems throughout the industry.
An example: I still have a pair of fenders I got for my Rx-7, that I just couldn't bring myself to bolt on because of shoddy workmanship. A friend bought them and sold his Rex before he put them on, so I got them. These are fenders that sell for $350 or so, but should sell for 100 if that. There's maybe $40 of materials in them, they are so thin it's not even right, that what is supposed to be used as a core material is soaked in resin and slapped on the back to give it some form of strength, with no glass sealing up the 'core'. Basically, the tupperware in your kitchen is probably stronger than those fenders!
So anyways, fiberglass parts have gotten a bad name because of all the rip off companies out there, but composites(fiberglass, Carbon fiber, Kevlar glass etc) if done properly are super strong.
Just for kicks, here's a pic of me sitting on my front end. I know if I can make that front end strong enough to support me, ans weigh in around 150#, that I can surely make a fender as strong(probably stronger) than it's steel counterpart.
