Hey all, I was wondering, is there any possible way to mold fiberglass to the body of our cars without it splitering or cracking within 1 1/2 to 2 years? I noticed a trend with Janapanese tuners that actually track their cars. . . they don't mold the widebody panels onto them, rather, rivet them.

I know they rivet because if in an incident, the piece can be replaced fairly easily. However, do they also rivet, because the vibrations from such use would just not hold up to molded widebody vs riveted? I was wondering, because a piece of my rear widebody is starting to show a hairline crack. . . nothing huge, just a small hairline from the fiberglass to the rear 1/4 panel on my FD., but to me, it looks like the grand canyon, lol . . which is very aggrivating seeing as how much I paid like 2 years ago.

Anyhow, please discuss or advise. I track my car once every other month or so, and from talking to a couple of the more respected painters in town, they told me regardless of what's done, in 2 years, any molded widebody will start to show signs of wear, and eventually crack.

Should I just go ahead and strip the widebody off, and have them riveted back on? Or is there a different method of molding that is more durable than just 2 years? Any help is greatly appreciated!

Chris-

 

bump

 

If done right, molding will not crack. You need to use the right materials.

Those japanese dudes rivet them so they can change panels out quickly after the crash. Molding also adds weight, most racers do anything to keep from adding weight.

 

Look into fusor brand products. Expensive but they work.

 

the problem is metal expands at a different rate to fiberglass. If you bond fiberglass to steel with a flexable urathane and at the join line you leave a groove like where panels butt together and use that join as an expansion joint it will not show as a crack.

Ian.

 

i would use a special adhesive 3m makes its great for bodykits and wide bodys because screws pop up after time and plain fiberglas or gorilla hair cracks also