Best fiberglass body parts?

[sezme]

Who makes the absolute best quality stuff?

Stu

[sithot]

They all need tweaking to get them to fit (properly). MA Shaw, GT Racing, etc..

Good luck,

Tom

[pu911rsr]

Shaw is probably best but quality of the stuff is all piece by piece.
Phil

[Jens]

Shaw, AIR, great stuff. (gt...not so much )

[Flieger]

Stay away from AIR- terrible fit.

I sent their stuff back and used GT Racing- much better.

[andyjboy]

The best quality parts I've used (carbon fibre in my case but they do grp panels too) came from Getty Design.

[Eminence Gris]

Folks, most "brands" are just re-marketed parts made by various subcontractors. Best consistency in production quality I've seen is Getty, possibly followed by M.A. Shaw, who some suspect just resells Getty stuff.

Best fiberglass work I ever saw was a short run of LWB fenders and hoods by Mark Hergesheimer from 12-15 years ago. Nothing I've seen before or since measures up.

A lot of parts marketed as 'carbon fiber' is just standard FRP with graphite cloth. Real aerospace or "dry" carbon fiber is fabulously expensive to make.

[Jens]

Yup, quality and fit can vary wildly. From bolt-on "OMG perfect", to "WFT what a POS". Most pieces need to be fit, unfortunately it's the nature of the beast. Some just need tweeking and sanding, others major reconstruction or just plain refused.

My opinion- It all has to start with a good accurate mold, then skillfully laid up the cloth with good resins, then the piece needs to cure properly to avoid warping. Baking in an autoclave would be nice but spendy and not realistic for consumer stuff.

Any shortcuts to save money in layup, ****tty skills, poor cloth choice, chopper gun abuse, quick release from the mold (time is money)... and you get crap. They make money- you get crap. I got choir-boyed by GT with a piece of junk and was summarily told that my car(s) musta been wrecked at some point or I was a novice (I started wrenching in 1962). Tried it on 2 cars. No satisfaction = bad memories.

Try Damon at Series 900 for good stuff. What I saw at his shop recently is nice.

[sezme]

Jens!

I was under the impression that Damon was "just" a bodyshop. Does he make parts? Looking for R fenders for my '72

Stu (in Killington for the Winter)

Yup, quality and fit can vary wildly. From bolt-on "OMG perfect", to "WFT what a POS". Most pieces need to be fit, unfortunately it's the nature of the beast. Some just need tweeking and sanding, others major reconstruction or just plain refused.

My opinion- It all has to start with a good accurate mold, then skillfully laid up the cloth with good resins, then the piece needs to cure properly to avoid warping. Baking in an autoclave would be nice but spendy and not realistic for consumer stuff.

Any shortcuts to save money in layup, ****tty skills, poor cloth choice, chopper gun abuse, quick release from the mold (time is money)... and you get crap. They make money- you get crap. I got choir-boyed by GT with a piece of junk and was summarily told that my car(s) musta been wrecked at some point or I was a novice (I started wrenching in 1962). Tried it on 2 cars. No satisfaction = bad memories.

Try Damon at Series 900 for good stuff. What I saw at his shop recently is nice.

[Dezzmo]

I know Damon makes some parts. When I was up there a couple of years ago I saw them making engine shrouds but I'm not sure about fenders.