Help Me To Just Say No To Fiberglass

soarerTT · May 13, 2004

i am going to leave my busted !Removed! sc (jus cuz people want a damn dvd screen while im in the club) at the shop on sat. my top choice for a kit is the JIC magic

then the bn sports, then the t&e vertex kit. i would love for anything carbon fiber but the only cf parts i found were trunk, spoiler, hood, and elete front bumper which i dont want. other than that everything else i found is fiberglass. any links and numbers would be great. im from south cali and if anybody knows where i can get some non fiberglass parts wheter they are what i want up top, just any leads would be much appreciated. time is of the essence so please help this lost sc driver.

thanks

on_chrome · May 13, 2004

you can get c/f doors.

soarerTT · May 13, 2004

i would love for those cf doors, but i would also love to have the $$ for that, thats out of my price range, jus want a damn clean !Removed! kit for now

jzz30 · May 14, 2004

the vertex bumpers i believe are urethane. but dont hold me to this. also AWJ got a carbon front bumper, try give him a buzz(PM)

Calvin L · May 14, 2004

so how much does the Vertex kit cost anyway?

Emerald · May 14, 2004

They're all fiberglass.

The only non knock off (non-fiberglass) is Monkey Magic URAS

EDIT: Not sure about WALD. you may wanna check into them. Its a really subtle kit........to a fault IMO

jzz30 · May 14, 2004

more than 2000bucks for the vertex kit

soarerTT · May 16, 2004

ok im going fiberglass, the jic magic kit or the vertex rip off, like 3 gs for actual vertex kit

dro · May 16, 2004

SoarerTT, I own a bodyshop. From my experience, you dont want fiberglass. It is brittle and will crack and shatter under the smallest impact. Any repairs will be a temporary fix.

My shop repairs and installs these kit's all the time and they are the biggest rip off. The warrany lasts till they put the car in gear. I have seen guys break them up leaving the parking lot of my shop. I would be selling 'em like hotcakes if I had the capital to aquire the molds ;).

IMHO, you will be completely wasting your money on fiberglass. If you cant find a composite kit, dont bother.

bean_8044 · May 16, 2004

What about ABS plastic?

drunkcarlos · May 16, 2004

Yes FRP is a bit brittle, but it just means you have to drive a little more careful with FRP Aero. Sure it would be great to have someone build an aero kit which would stand up to a little more abuse, but there isn't too much support from those makers. Not sure what the cost is like in the US, but in Japan the cheapest Aero available I've found is on Yahoo Auction Japan. Many people make Vertex knock off kits for about 50000yen (just under $500.) Thats not too bad for an FRP kit. There is one guy who will ship overseas too. If your interested I'll find the link to his auction, but you'll need to enable Japanese to read most of the page. The part about overseas shipping is in English though.

UCF3 · May 17, 2004

Yes FRP is a bit brittle, but it just means you have to drive a little more careful with FRP Aero. Sure it would be great to have someone build an aero kit which would stand up to a little more abuse, but there isn't too much support from those makers. Not sure what the cost is like in the US, but in Japan the cheapest Aero available I've found is on Yahoo Auction Japan. Many people make Vertex knock off kits for about 50000yen (just under $500.) Thats not too bad for an FRP kit. There is one guy who will ship overseas too. If your interested I'll find the link to his auction, but you'll need to enable Japanese to read most of the page. The part about overseas shipping is in English though.

It's too bad you don't want to ship the kits to us :cries:

Emerald · May 17, 2004

IMHPO

Fiberglass= OK

Cheap, easy to repair but also easiest to break...more repairs, Repaired section will be stronger than the rest of the kit (atleast you know where the next break will be :) )

FRP= Good

Fiberglass reinforced plastics, not many companies use because fiberglass is so cheap. fairly flexable, resistant to impact, easier to fit becuase it'll flex a bit. which means you may be able to do it at home with little to no problems

Composites (Kevlar,Carbon fiber, Hybrids) = Better

Strong, easier to repair BUT more Expensive to purchase. if you are going for a raw CF/Kevlar look it had better be for Show ONLY!

Urethane= Superior

Very flexable, perfect fits like stock pieces. Drawback is that the molds are a million bucks to produce!! the SC will NEVER see a urethane kit. The demand is not there no matter how much we love these cars...lets not kid ourselves :(

A kit is just like a set of rims: if you get new ones...dont bang em on the curbs and they'll look nice forever. Theres nothing really wrong with Fiberglass once its fitted properly and some companies build better fiberglass products than others.

I got into a HUUUGE arguement with someone in another forum about what was better "Fiberglass vs Urethane". He argued for Fiberglass ( because he was getting a discount from a company that produces fiberglass kits) and had NO clue as to what it takes to build each type of part.....turned into a joke but I thought it was *BLEEP*ed up that he would mislead people for personal gain.

He seriously picked the wrong person to argue with on that subject: Ive personally built parts using ALL of the above methods at MY facility. My SC was the first to have CF hood, trunk,Fenders...even the bodykit was CF....I dont sell them, so I have no reason to BS anyone about it.

Purchasing/owning a kit holds no water in a conversation with a manufacturer. Fiberglass has the wider profit margin....SIMPLE AS THAT.

After a while I let it go when people started to chime in with stupid remarks like: "NASCAR uses Fiberglass and not urethane so it must be better".......I just gave a quick sigh and let it go. :wacko: Someone even said that a urethane bodykit would MELT in the sun!!! :blink: