fiberglass or steel

[c00nhunterjoe]

in my wintertime projects i plan or replacing or repairing alot on the body of my car. i have had my jaw drop at the price of new steel fenders.  what do you guys think about fiberglass front fenders and hoods? the hoods are available everywhere but i havnt had much luck seeing fenders.

[Ghoste]

Any of the ones I've seen in the past didn't fit real well and needed a lot of rework to become presentable.  But I haven't seen much use of them in a while.

[c00nhunterjoe]

hmm, thats not what i wanted to hear. lol. i like the price, its half or better then that of a pair of steel fenders.

[Ghoste]

It's one mans experience though and not a recent one at that.  So you may find something that works great.

[c00nhunterjoe]

thats another problem, i like to pick things up and hold them before i buy them. you cant do that with online purchases so i hate doing it. i dont know what i am buying.i cant afford new steel fenders with everything else the car needs. if glass will hold up it is half the price. i'm not building a trailer queen, just a driver, but i do want it to look respectable

[Mike DC]

         
The fenders are totally bolt-on items.  You can replace them with a phone call at a future date.  If you've got raggedy steel ones then you could just patch them up and run them until you eventually get more money to replace them down the road. 


What's the worst that could happen, the repaired old fenders continue to rust a little more? 

[c00nhunterjoe]

nah, they wont rust much more........ there is so much putty in them it isnt funny. makes jb666's putty look like child's play

[jaak]

Ive also noticed that since AMD fenders came out, your starting to see decent used ones at reasonable prices, I was watching a set on eBay about a month ago, it was 2 fenders and a hood...they had a few dents but no major rot, and all 3 pieces went for less $$$$ than a new AMD fender. Maybe that can be an option for you.

Jason

[Silver R/T]

fiberglass parts require a lot of adjustment/prep. By the time you're done with them you would've been better off with metal panels

[Mike DC]

I agree that if your man-hours are worth anything then fiberglass panels are no cheaper than steel.

[motorcitydak]

But glass also cuts weight, which is why I have a race weight glass hood with a 6pack scoop for my '68, It will look killer and cuts about 40 pounds off the front of the car. I have been unable to even find a place that sells glass '68 fenders tho, does anyone have a source for em?

[Ghoste]

Weight of course, is part of the reason they fit poorly.  Glass body part mfg's are primarily marketing to racers where weight is a bigger concern than a perfect fit.

[Mike DC]

A stock steel fender on these cars is more than just a sheetmetal cover for the wheel.  It's more like a sub-assembly of the unibody.  Several stampings welded together, provides mounting points for other stuff, etc. 

So I think it's little wonder that swapping it to fiberglass causes problems.   





If I wanted to run glass fenders for weight reduction issues, then I would probably try running a fiberglass outer skin but keep the steel inner framework of a stock fender.

[speedfreak68]

But glass also cuts weight, which is why I have a race weight glass hood with a 6pack scoop for my '68, It will look killer and cuts about 40 pounds off the front of the car. I have been unable to even find a place that sells glass '68 fenders tho, does anyone have a source for em?

http://www.vfnfiberglass.com/site.htm   

[motorcitydak]

But glass also cuts weight, which is why I have a race weight glass hood with a 6pack scoop for my '68, It will look killer and cuts about 40 pounds off the front of the car. I have been unable to even find a place that sells glass '68 fenders tho, does anyone have a source for em?

http://www.vfnfiberglass.com/site.htm   

Thanks man, I have literally been trying to find some place that made more than a fiberglass hood for the last week. The kicker is that I found that site maybe 30 minutes ago after another 3 hour google search. After seeing that site and all the cars that have their products, you can expect to see their fenders and quarters on my car in the future. What type of epoxy would I use to stick fiberglass to the rest of my steel quarter?

[AcidHell2]

Out of interest what places are you looking at fiberglass panels? I found it hard finding any where which does them.

[motorcitydak]

Check out the website speedfreak68 posted. Go to their catalog and then click on the year car you have. They have every panel for my '68 that I was looking to find.

[AcidHell2]

yeah they seem to have most things apart from a trunk.

I take it 71-74 fender/front one piece will fit a 72 se as I know some of the chrome and rubber seals are different.
Also does anyone do reproduction steel doors?

[superbirdtom]

fiberglass parts require a lot of adjustment/prep. By the time you're done with them you would've been better off with metal panels

I agree totally get the steel parts the fiberglass ones usually rurn out to be wavy junk, ten even if you take days to straighten them out  when the sun comes out it warps the hell outta them.  spend the money now or later.

[speedfreak68]

One of my friends has a mustang with fiberglass fenders and a hood. we set those gaps as good as they could be, then With the changes in temp some days it fits good some days it doesn't.... sometimes the hood even rubs the fenders..... After seeing that I decided to stay away from the fiberglass stuff...

[HollyWoodCharger]

I did a LOT of research and made more than a few phone calls on locating Fiberglass body panels for my 68, everything I found was not street legal and was more designed to fit Tube chassis or heavily modified race cars.

Trying to fit fiberglass skins to a Charger is more labor intensive and costly than just buying bolt on steel or weld on panels, all of VFN's stuff is Race only, and not street legal, and they do not recommend using the stuff on a street car.

if you can find a street legal part it weighs just as much as a steel part and is twice as thick...

I used some 'glass on my last Charger from Unlimited products, the stuff doesn't fit worth a damn, and I spent enough cash on making it fit, I could have bought a steel part instead......

my current Charger is getting a full re-skin with AMD metal, no more fiberglass

[HeavyFuel]

But glass also cuts weight, which is why I have a race weight glass hood with a 6pack scoop for my '68, It will look killer and cuts about 40 pounds off the front of the car. I have been unable to even find a place that sells glass '68 fenders tho, does anyone have a source for em?

Yeah, those steel hoods are heavy, and the weight savings is measurable.  But is it worth the trouble for the fenders, as far as weight savings goes?  I mean, the metal fenders are pretty thin and fairly light already.    A few pounds is a few pounds, but it's not like our cars are featherweights. 

[suntech]

I am making my own hood and trunk lid from carbon fibre. I will also make it with inner liner, so the weight gain will not be as big as it could, but i hope it will look nice! Fenders i think is better to stay with the steel ones. To get a notisable weight reduction they would be floppy and weak