Fiberglass vs. metal

-
340john

340john

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2005
Messages
1,667
Reaction score
69
Location
Edison, NJ
I have restored many mopar musclecars over the years and never used fiberglass body panels, I always refinished original metal panels. I am thinking about using fiberglass fenders and hood on the 70 340 Swinger that I am currently restoring. I have seen the products from AAR Quality Fiberglass and it looks really nice, nice and straight, nice heavy weight and crisp lines. Their stock flat hood has great detailing underneth and installing the original scoops wouldn't be hard. What do you guys think about using glass parts instead of steal ?
 
It is a great way to loose some weight. I am going to get a glass hood fenders and bumpers for my car when it gets time to paint it. I got a set of glass valences from AAR. They are very nice peices and seem very sturdy. Pluse they are half the weight of the stock stuff. And the stock valences are not all that heavy to start with. I say go for it.
 
IMHO..... Most that use fiberglass do it for weight reduction. I don't think many look at glass panels as a direct replacement for steel parts in a stockish build.

Most fiberglass parts have worse fit and finish than a 40 year old "good" panel.

Not saying it can't be done but it may be just as much, or more work if you want an OE fit.
 
Burntorange70, How did the valances fit ? I heard that the fit and quality of the AAR pieces are first rate. From what I saw they look really good.
 
Fiberglass is a great way to lighten things up but metal would be the way to go for a stock build. If you want to race, then fiberglass helps for the obvious reasons. But just like, metal, it needs to be worked on to look good. The pieces never fit perfectly the first time, they'll always need SOME sort of work, metal or glass.
 
i used aar fenders on my 68. the two problems i ran into with them was that they bowed in above the tire and the bottom back part by the rocker didnt come down far enough to meet level with the rocker. but after the problems were fixed they came out pretty dam good and i dont think anyone would be able to tell just by looking at it
dart012-1.jpg
 
Most of the time fiberglass is easier because is does not rust and does not require too much, if not any bodywork
 
The fiberglass stuff on the market is much better than it use to be, but if fit and finish are high are your agenda be prepared to do some work on them. Below are a few pictures of a 73 charger we did that had a VFN fiberglass hood (because a steel bulge is hard to come by). The car also had had fiberglass fenders, but we went with a set of steel to save extra work.

The biggest problem we had with the hood was that the internal nuts would break loose. We ended up cutting into it and replacing almost all of the hardware.

73%20Charger%202.jpg


73%20Charger-front.jpg


73%20charger%20hood%20open.jpg
 
That was my opinion too, I would almost rather spend my time working on fitting and aligning the glass panels than dealing with rust issues.
 
My Dart was rear ended. It mesed up the valence. I was looking for a new one. None were made new in steel. I found a guy with an original one. He wanted about the same as aar did for a glas one. So I got the aar one. It fit very well. I only needed to sand it down and paint it. I am wanting to get a hood bumpers and fenders from them and mabby a trunk lid too. They make very nice parts.
 
The most recent issue of one of my MoPar mags used an AAR-built shaker in a project. They complained about the packing. AAR apparently filled the box with some type of spray-in foam insulation, which became glued to the fiberglass part. Simply putting the part in a plastic bag would have avoided the bad press. Have you had any problems with packing or shipping damage?
 
FISHBREATH said:
The most recent issue of one of my MoPar mags used an AAR-built shaker in a project. They complained about the packing. AAR apparently filled the box with some type of spray-in foam insulation, which became glued to the fiberglass part. Simply putting the part in a plastic bag would have avoided the bad press. Have you had any problems with packing or shipping damage?
Click to expand...

I think they also said there were some chips on the edges of the part due to it being packed in too small of a box.
 
FISHBREATH said:
The most recent issue of one of my MoPar mags used an AAR-built shaker in a project. They complained about the packing. AAR apparently filled the box with some type of spray-in foam insulation, which became glued to the fiberglass part. Simply putting the part in a plastic bag would have avoided the bad press. Have you had any problems with packing or shipping damage?
Click to expand...



No. Parts had no damage at all to them. There was no spray foam in the box.
 
If I decide to go with AAR pieces, I would have them bring what I need to one of the swap meets and pick it up in person. That way, not only do you save shipping costs and shipping damages, you can inspect the parts before you take them away.
 
Im wondering about buying aar fenders rite now too.
The problem is i bought my car and someone pulled a hit and run on me a week after i bought it... and i need to replace the bumper and fenders...
Already have a fiberglass hood.
But a good steel fender in my area is about 150-350 each.
Fiberglass is like 350 each i think rite now for good quality.
So i would be about 700 plus shipping into fenders to save about 30 pounds.
I dono i could use the money elsware in the car.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top