Whats the biggest problem with most fiberglass parts?

[BR3W CITY]

So I'm curious, whats the biggest problem people chase with fiberglass parts? Is it something on the user-end; hard to mount, tough to work with, changes in use/functionality? OR Is it things from the production end; poor quality bucks/molds leading to sloppy fit, extreme variation in panel gap, bad quality materials user or hugely varying quality etc?

I ask for a few reasons, among them being general curiosity and frustration. When I first did my body and then started to lighten the truck, I wanted a fiberglass hood and even moreso, I wanted a fiberglass tilt frontend. However it seems like almost no one makes high quality fiberglass for most trucks, let alone at a fair price.

For the 60-66's, US Body and whatever that other company was were the only options, and both only sold a few panels....and both were really freaking expensive...and both had terrible garbage quality.

I was shooting the sh!t with my old man in the shop the other day, and he rambled on about how he used to make fiberglass hoods and panels in shop class in the 70's (no doubt, he also walked uphill both ways in the snow with no shoes...) Anyway, he got on a boredom kick as many early retiree's do, and started poking back into the subject with a more fiscal interest.

So, back to the original question....what is the biggest problem with fiberglass race (and street I guess) parts for our trucks?

[djracer]

Most are poor quality, poor fit and poor finish!

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by djracer

Most are poor quality, poor fit and poor finish!

And poor durability.

K

[BigDan3131]

Your probably thinking of Harwood, they are way over priced but the stuff from Unlimited has always been high quality for my use. They have both Street and Race parts and fitment issues can't be any worse than the aftermarket steel parts are. The street parts are tough and the race stuff is flimsy because they are lighter.

Linky: http://up22.com/

[lwb82c10]

i will be buying the fenders, hood , bumper for my truck from unlimited, my dads camaro was basically all fiberglass from unlimited and the stuff was strong

[vin63]

In my experience, a lot of the issues have to do with the production drift and variances, and the lack of maintenance of the molds. This ends up as a crap shoot for parts that don't fit well and/or require a lot of body work. For our trucks, it's doubly tough since there are only a couple of suppliers that provide truck parts in fiberglass. If you go into the process thinking that a fiberglass part should fit without any work, you might be in for some disappointment. The parts that I didn't have to spend as many hours (on average) fitting were from VFN Fiberglass and Glasstek. I actually went through two hoods for my '63 Chevy II - the first one from Unlimited was too bowed in the middle to fix, so I ended up with one from VFN.

I just went through this with fitting and tinning a funny car body to my chassis, and now I'm up to my ears fitting and tinning a '32 Bantam Outlaw Fuel Altered body (to switch back and forth between AA/FA and AA/FC)...and let me tell you, everything is off by more than an inch side to side - it's frustrating.

[djracer]

I had Vfn glass on my 67 camaro and it was pretty decent but we had allot to do to the doors to be able to mount the lexan windows. The flange stuck straight up instead following the windshield post!

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by vin63

[COLOR="Navy"] The parts that I didn't have to spend as many hours (on average) fitting were from VFN Fiberglass and Glasstek. I actually went through two hoods for my '63 Chevy II - the first one from Unlimited was too bowed in the middle to fix, so I ended up with one from VFN.

US Body Source (in Florida) is one of the few suppliers that makes a lot of parts for my '74 Chevelle. I suspect they are the worst in terms of fit and durability.

Originally Posted by vin63

I just went through this with fitting and tinning a funny car body to my chassis, and now I'm up to my ears fitting and tinning a '32 Bantam Outlaw Fuel Altered body (to switch back and forth between AA/FA and AA/FC)...

I love that. I've been an Altered fan ever since I met Wild Willie and he swooped me up and set me in his driver's seat.

I always wanted to build one but have had so much fun with my (sleeper) door car that I never followed through.

K

[jhrusk]

One thing I have seen with most companies that offer parts is that there is no customer service whatsoever and it is never a problem with their part, it must be something the customer is doing wrong. If I were in business for myself I think I would use issues in the field to try and make my product as good as it could be. With that being said back in the late 90s I purchased and waited for 2 months on a cowl hood for a 65 c10 from usbodysource. When I got it the finish looked pretty good but when I tried to install it it was an inch too narrow and high on the pass side. I thought they may have stood it up on its side when it came out of the mold however they were the biggest jerks about it when I called them. I made the mistake of cutting out the parking light plug before I test fitted( lesson learned) I was out $700. Ended up getting one from unlimited for around $850. It fit the truck pretty well but it took a good bit of finish work to get it in paint. Really discouraging but that is life. I'm not in to bashing business but I told myself when I went through that I would try to help other people before they spend their hard earned money

[Domer]

Look up Autofab in Santee, Ca. They build there stuff, and it is very strong, and damn near ready for paint when you get it.

[BR3W CITY]

Originally Posted by Domer

Look up Autofab in Santee, Ca. They build there stuff, and it is very strong, and damn near ready for paint when you get it.

Sadly they don't make anything for the 60-66 (or specifically the 64-66) trucks. Thats the other common problem, lack of support for my generation.

I've seen the Up22 site a few times, but they only do hoods, sadly not entire front ends.

I need someone to make a good quality, more-or-less bolt on, fiberglass front end for my truck, for under $1k.

[Kyle@FTP]

Originally Posted by Domer

Look up Autofab in Santee, Ca. They build there stuff, and it is very strong, and damn near ready for paint when you get it.

Originally Posted by BR3W CITY

Sadly they don't make anything for the 60-66 (or specifically the 64-66) trucks. Thats the other common problem, lack of support for my generation.

I've seen the Up22 site a few times, but they only do hoods, sadly not entire front ends.

I need someone to make a good quality, more-or-less bolt on, fiberglass front end for my truck, for under $1k.

They are offroad ford guys. So it would be durable. but ford panels would look funny on a chevy. Autofab is good people.

Sounds like this is another project Ill be tackling. Cab and chassis will be in the shop just after SEMA. and with some connections to Unlimited and having some connections with all the SOCAL offroad glass guys maybe I can pull a rabbit out of the hat. I have all good panels for molds. I would like something durable but not offroad durable.

BR3W I just popped on to search glass. I figured you had already done all the research. haha

[BR3W CITY]

Originally Posted by Kyle@FTP

BR3W I just popped on to search glass. I figured you had already done all the research. haha

Pretty much. I'm sure there is always someone I don't know about, but in the internet age its getting less and less common.


Hmmm, I do know someone who can cure carbon fiber in a 10*10 autoclave....

[Ont67shortbox]

Joe Vanoverbeek Race cars, can make any part out of glass or carbon fibre,but you will pay for the quality