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Fiberglass body panels?


rshissler

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I was think of ways to make the car lighter and i thought of making fiberglass body panels for the car. Like the fenders bumpers back panels. Would this be like really dumb or would it work? anyone try it or does a cpmpany aready make fiderglass parts for our cars?

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It would be a marginal difference in weight at that.. THese cars are just born heavy.. If you want a car to lighten up, grab an NBody FWD.. They're light and can be made even lighter w/ the huge aftermarket for them (Esp. Grand AMs..)

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If you were going to have cutom panels made, why would you waste your time with fiberglass? Go straight to carbon fiber. There isn't much of a price difference if you are getting them custom made.

 

2fast....why would taking the backseats out not be worth it? They aren't very hard to remove, and every little bit helps. Better times, more mileage :)

 

- Justin

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If you were going to have cutom panels made, why would you waste your time with fiberglass? Go straight to carbon fiber. - Justin

 

Glass you can do in your garage.... fiber.. I think is a little more complex, and I am positive is more expensive.

 

If your just doing it to make your car faster... Don't bother with cutting weight. Add HP...... a lot of it. :devil:

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the bottom half of the back seat weights like 3 pounds... hardly worth the removal with the sacrafice of 4 seats. if it weights like 30 lbs then I could see taking the seat out.

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2fast....why would taking the backseats out not be worth it? They aren't very hard to remove, and every little bit helps. Better times, more mileage

 

All I think he meant, since I've had the back seat out of my Lumina laos, is that all pieces and cushions and stuff combined, it only weighes what I'm guessing like 10lbs maybe, maybe a little more, but not much.

 

I do agree with you at every bit helps though

 

-Jeff L.

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I was gonna do the work myself...

 

Dude, go for it!!! However, I suggest that you look into carbon fiber. A little more $, but stronger if done right.

:thumbsup:

 

Fiberglass is also stronger than steel (if done right). It takes 4 to 5 layups of glass to match the strength of body panel steel.

 

My rockerpanels were completely rotted. Rather than replace with steel that could rot again,I cut out the rot, then I coated all the areas I could with POR 15, and used a Zinc spray for all the hard to reach areas. Painted over that then glassed. My rockers are now mad up of 5-7 layers of glass. I did a little more because I had to drill back into them to screw in the studs that hold the ground effects brackets in place.

 

I am proud to say that my 16 year old car if probably 98% rust free. And thats a daily driving car in one of the worst snow belt areas of the country. Can we say "salt spray".

 

I hope to get the body all fixed up by end of summer.

 

Sorry to Hijack, but i felt my recent experience working with fiberglass was relevant.

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Isn't the same size of fiberglass heavier than sheetmetal?

I have a fiberglass spoiler and that sucker weights quite a bit.

 

If you really want to lose some weight, get a smaller car! W-bodies are actually rather light weight for their size. Most cars in this size class are around 3800 lbs.

 

I don't know about you personally, but I've seen pics of a lot of forum members and I think the greatest weight reduction can be obtained by changing to a lower calorie diet. :D

 

Actually I agree with Intlcutlass the best idea is to add HP. :)

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