vipers

iTrader: (8)

well....most people who know how to drive dont hit curbs!! ive had a fg body kit on my 7 for a while and always park w/ at least a foot between the nose and the curb.... plus, anyone with minimal fiberglass experience can fix a few cracks from "hitting a curb" for a few $$$$...... hell, a laman could do if he can read instructions......

i dont see anything wrong with running a one piece front end on a street car..... as long as it looks good..... if it resembles a factory look. ive ssen some that you couldnt even tell it was a one peice until you right in front of it, and it was still tough to tell

ultradef

OK, so what about animals in the road, potholes, re-tread, etc? Those will also do a number on a one piece front end...

Thats how peoples rear bumpers, etc. get clipped in parking lots. At least where I come from, the parking spots are pretty small. Take your pick.

If the fiberglass cracks, then fine...but many time fiberglass tends to shatter into 20 pieces with a decent impact. There's no fixing that.

Unlike others, I guess I'm not interested in how the piece looks. I'm more interested in functionality. In my opinion, the costs outweigh the benefits...there are too many idiots out on the road to risk having to replace an entire $600+ piece every time some idiot hits me, opens his door into me in a parking lot, etc. There's a reason drag cars run one-piece front ends, but they're purpose built race cars. Do what you want, but I think its a horrible idea IMO. There's just no reason for this on a street car. Good luck.

speeddemon32

iTrader: (3)

HEY! that person is me!

vaughnc

Hmm... I was thinking about the mazdaspeed racing fenders but this might be a better overal idea.

One slight problem, you need "side latches" to remove the thing right ... so that's custom fab work to attach this to a "quick release" solution? Hoodpins won't hold this sucker on.

If Dave molds this thing, make sure he uses a decent front lip so I won't have to tack one on.

Also - you'll need to check shipping costs. It'll be freight and building a decent shipping crate will be the real challenge.

darkphantom

iTrader: (2)

pettit sells them for the fc & fd for about $700 and it even comes with the hood

classicauto

iTrader: (3)

Who cares, what do you think they'll do to regular body panels?DUHHHHH

You must not be a body man.....fiberglass is one of the few materials that can be shattered in a million pieces and be repaired with the same, or more, structural integrity then it had when you started.......just so you know (BTW someone mentioned that the factory urethane bumper won't crack - wrongo - it will, especially if you live anywhere that ever gets cold, and when it does plan on buying another one becuase the TPO plastic its made out of is VERY difficult to repair, it can only be glued with special plastic repair kits - not to mention the fact that even if the bumper doesn't crack, the paint will be scuffed of peeled away, so regardless it will need money spent on it to restore the appearance)
IMHO - AS AN EXPERIENCED BODY MAN - fiberglass kicks ***, urethane can go down the drain.....

What about shaving 50 + pounds off your front end plus being able to access EVERYTHING at the flip of several zeus fasteners/hood pins? I think thats a pretty good reason

604Ryder

hmmm this is a very good idea, i was plannin to buy a b-magic (or whatever) kit but this sounds much more intresting. I have limited fiberglass knowledge but i can fab stuff up, modding this kit might be fun. just to give an idea

rad vent on hood
larger grill area
intake slot in bump
haha and i would have the headlighs at a fixed position (maybe even do a fixed pos duel projector headlight system like the knightspots kit) ....

hahah i'll shut up now

EJayCe996

Hmm, it seems beneficial yet..... a pain in the ***, when you need to do simple things like sparkplugs, check/change oil, etc, to have to remove the entire front end. Its not the curbs and animals i'm worried about... its the majority incompetent drivers, who shouldn't have a license, I'm worried about. If you got sideswiped and got lucky that they only obliterated(and i mean in pieces unrecognizble) a fender or something, you could easily get that replaced with another fender off of a junkyard car for probably cheaper than what it would cost to restructure/replace that 1 piece.

vipers

iTrader: (8)

i couldnt have said it better myself...... i tried, but it obviously didnt sink into thier heads

ultradef

Right, but according to my math replacing a $200 fender or hood or front bumper is a lot cheaper than replacing an entire $600+ clip every time any one piece is damaged.

You're right...I'm NOT an experienced body man. And I would venture to say most of the members of this forum aren't. If you can (and want to spend your time) repairing all that fiberglass when it shatters, cracks, etc. for no reason then good for you. Body work is very expensive when you don't do it yourself, so for many people it would not make sense. As for urethane vs. fiberglass, personally I'd take urethane (I've seen people bend urethane bumpers FULLY IN HALF with no damage...try that with fiberglass). But hey, if you're a body man and you can easily fix fiberglass then go for it.


There are many other things that can be done to remove 50+ lbs from the car and still remain more "streetable" IMO. If you want to be able to access everything, try removing your rats nest, a/c, ps, etc...I can easily reach most any part in my engine bay and it also removes a lot of weight off your front end.

I just don't see the point of a one piece front end on a street car. They have their purpose on a drag car, but to me its a waste of time and money for a street driven vehicle. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but something like this has no place on a street car IMO. There's a reason every car manufacturer designs their front ends in several pieces...

ImprezedRS

YAHHHH, I'm in definatly going to get bitch on a real diet.

Oh and to the complainers, if you don't like it ohwell, oh and on the issue about cracking from hitting a curb or animals in the road and your that wooried your an idiot. hahaha.

I want full fiberglass body with a aluminum tube frame. MUAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH!!!!

ultradef

Great insult! Honestly, I could care less what you do to your car. There are lots of deer, etc. where I live, and god forbid I ever hit one, I would much rather save money by replacing the damaged body parts instead of having the buy an entire new front clip. If you want to call me an idiot for that, then so be it.

If you're talking about building a full on drag/track car, thats awesome. If you're talking about a tube chassis on a street car, then Do you want to put one of those really cool 3 foot tall wings on your street car too?

sleeperfc

so your saying that having a full blown drag car.... that you drive on the street is rice?

the muscle car guys have been doing it for years.... when poeple see one of those they call it beast.

to each his own i guess.

ultradef

Of course I can respect a car that can run 9s and still drive home from the track. I'm simply commenting on the growing ricer mentality that what is good for a dedicated track/race/drag car must be good for a street car.

ImprezedRS

Haha, yeah i want a tubeframed car to drive on the street, if its rice ohwell, i guess i will go ahead and put on the 3 foot wing just so i don't disappoint you.

Bob_The_Normal

What the **** is the purpose of having a tubeframe car on the street?

You can't, legally, have any engine making enough horsepower to really justify it... and if you do... it would make the engine a race engine, aka not daily driver material because you'd be paying out the *** in parts and rebuilding all the time.

So the point is... what the **** do you need a tubeframe for?

I'll tell you what you need one for: To tell all your friends you're SO ******* COOL YO!!! OMGZZZ U GOSTA NAAWZ DAWG. W T FBBBQQQQQQQQQQQ!!!

Hence, tubeframe daily driver = RICE.

--Gary

sleeperfc

well he has a 2400lb glx with a turbo 6 port setup. if he gets his car down to 2000lbs.... everyone will wonder how he did it.

to each his own, if you dont think running totally gutted very light turbo car is a good idea then dont do it. call it rice... call it stoooopid... but keep it to your self.

ultradef

Haha, you guys are hilarious. Good luck with your projects.

I wonder if Abel drives his drag car on the street, that'd be the hawtness dawg!!! Just think of all the Civics he could beat at the street races, yo! lol

sleeperfc

think of the supras and bikes he could beat.... fug a honda

Falcoms

Man, it's just frustrating when you try to explain the same thing 12 times to somebody and they still don't get it. just and observation.

Also, if that FG front end came with a seperate hood it'd be great. I just can't justify having a front end that you have to take off any time you want to check the oil or anything minor, if you know what I mean. Personally, with a functional hood, you have the stock fender bolt holes to go to that give you more mounting strength for the front end. That and I don't see having a seperate hood adding too much weight. Personally, having the nose and fenders one peice FG with an operational hood would be much more reasonable. That and if you use the flush-mount body clips, what are you going to mount to? The door? On a street car? That makes perfectly logical sense . Zeus clips would be much preferred. Overall, though, $600 is cheap when it gives me a guarantee of no body rust, ever again, and it also means that I can repair it myself if something happens to it. FG is by far one of the best body materials to work with. It's cheap, it's easy to work with, and it's easy to repair.

EDIT: Just thought, if we get this made, we should have it made so that it also has air direction pannels built it, such as boxing off the area from the front intake hole to the radiator and under the radiator to the front of the front subframe, just to control the air and keep the car a little cooler.

mr0pistons

Good luck when some *** runs into your aluminum tubeframe with fiberglass body. You will be fucked.

rarson

So are we through bitching here? Because I've got a track car in my garage which I'd LOVE to have one of these for, especially if it's only $500-600. That's the cost of a decent hood and fenders ALONE. Are they still working on it? I'm interested.

Bob_The_Normal

rarson if you want it badly... contact them yourself, ask what they need to get them to make it... then get them that.

They'll probaby tell you at least 10 people buying or something... or maybe 5 like this guy posted... then good luck finding them. I can see the use for the one piece body kit for TRACK AND DRAG cars ONLY. Which means you need to find people like that. FC owners are poor *** stingy bastards, as I posted at the BEGINNING of this thread and some newbie thinking he's hot **** denies it... not that I care, was just trying to warn you guys that it WON'T HAPPEN.

Find some other REAL enthusiasts and get them together... might take you guys a few months for all of you to have the money, but when you do, get them to make them!

--Gary

Falcoms

^ the main problem with track cars though is that alot of sanctioning organizations require seperate hood and front bodywork, which is mainly for safety so that if the car wrecks they can just pop the hood and get a (potential) fire put out. Hence why I suggest the nose and fenders as one peice with seperate hood and headlight covers.

sleeperfc

If you dont care Bob... then get out of this thread... stop posting negative BS based upon what you think of FC owners and how they spend money. get over it... post tech info not speculation.

speed machine performance did send me a follow up email about this. he talked to his "maker" as he calls him and said that the projected cost for the fiberglass one is still $500-$600. They offer the same front end for 6 or 7 cars already. From the emails i got they were going through with it.... group buy or not.

IF it depended on 10 people then maybe it would and maybe it wouldnt ever go through.... but this newbie is happy that its looking like we wont ever know. They are making the thing bob... like it or not.

sleeperfc - rockin out in my 7 since feb 2000.