lee 1 Posted February 9, 2007 Report Posted February 9, 2007 There are pic's of my car on turbosport(cannot post pic's on here yet in case its spam apparently)with fiberglass wings fitted and to be honest they are not as good as steel wings but then i just could not justify the money steel wings fetch at the moment.Ihave managed to get them to fit better than in the pics but still not perfect and these are the second wings i have had,the first set left a door gap you could drive a bus through so sent them back and they were lengthened for me.Mine has not got bumpers fitted yet though so cannot comment about that. I must say though i have seen a car on turbosport and i am sure on here too that has fiberglass wings fitted that look perfect to me. At the end of the day not every one wants the same from their car me i like the fiberglass because it will never rust it's cheaper than steel,it's lighter and if i have a prang i unbolt the remains of the wing and bolt a new easly available one in its place. don't get me wrong i want my car to look good but it will get used so can live with a slightly iffy panel gap
60ftman Posted February 10, 2007 Report Posted February 10, 2007 I wasn't taking the p*ss out of fibreglass panelled cars. Fibreglass panels are sometimes more faithful to the originals than cheapo-repro's, and they can be made to look as good as.......Look at my car - it's all fibreglass, only the roof and rear wings have any steel in them. I was taking the p*ss out of some of the more 'paranoid' people who took offence at the starting post of this stream. Life's too short peeps!!! Oh, and yes, I am a w*nk*r!!!
Twinkle Posted February 10, 2007 Report Posted February 10, 2007 am using fibregalss panels on mine and was wondering if its possible to seal the wing to door gaps then trim back leaving the perfect gap?
Guest MK1gaz Posted February 10, 2007 Report Posted February 10, 2007 My mate owns a top bodywork shop and i go there everyday for a cup of tea and a chat . Fitting any panel weither repro , genuine ford or glassfibre is tricky and time consuming if done correctly . You have to first get the bonnet lined up at the skuttle panel end and the doors matching at the "b" pillar end . Then the wings and front panel can be fitted with clamps which allow fine movement and juggling of the gaps . You have to move all the panels about until you get a perfect or the best possible gaps . Don't forget most mk1 escorts etc have had 2 sets of wings , drip rails , crash damage etc before and this will also fooooooook up the panel fit . Skillfully fitted glassfibre wings will fit just as good as steel wings , it just depends on the time taken on them . An original unrestored and uncrashed car will take the panels much easier in the first place , that's why if you want to build a top notch pucker body you need a car that's not had any d.i.y. botch ups welded onto it in the first place . This saves chopping them all off and starting from scratch and causing panel gap problems later .
CéDriC Posted February 10, 2007 Report Posted February 10, 2007 no offense intended mate, sorry you feel that way none taken but uve got the likes of me n jay who just want usable cars. then theres certain peps on here with no usable car critsising a 40k car cos the bootlid is half inch out on one side. wtf ford factory tollarences were prob more than that from the factory I've read an article about Mk1 cortina lotus of Sir john Whitmore, and during restauration, they discover tollarences, are approx from 1/2 inch... Imagine your car have all the crappy fitting, it's like a banana...
mk1mexico Posted February 10, 2007 Report Posted February 10, 2007 am using fibregalss panels on mine and was wondering if its possible to seal the wing to door gaps then trim back leaving the perfect gap? I have seen this done before twink with awesome results
Durham Fiesta Posted February 10, 2007 Report Posted February 10, 2007 the end of the day, you pay for what you get. I couldn't get new NOS wings for my mk1 fiesta so had to make do with repro's which although they aint the best they don't look too bad.
lee 1 Posted February 10, 2007 Report Posted February 10, 2007 am using fibregalss panels on mine and was wondering if its possible to seal the wing to door gaps then trim back leaving the perfect gap? I have seen this done before twink with awesome results that is near enough what smith and deakin did for me with mine.as said ealier the first ones i got left a huge door gap whether down to my car or the wings i dont know,but they took them back and extended the rear edge free of charge
bomber1 Posted February 10, 2007 Report Posted February 10, 2007 i think people need to lighten up a bit to be honest, Placeborick was merely asking why wings can be so far out. why jump down his throat about it? He werent saying anyone imparticular had a car that was pissed, he was merely passing the comment that they "can be" and that "some are"!.He even said no pictures as it would be unfair of me to single out any particular cars so why are people so offended. People on this site always seem to fly off the handle when people are merely asking for help or answers and its starting to get on my nerves. Chill people, he didnt offend anyone in any way -- end of -- Placeborick When i worked at renault for my work experience in the body shop, the guys said that even today in the renault factory "all renault cars are made within 5mm" and that is the tolerance with renault. there will always be panels that dont quite fit and make the car look "pissed" Hope this answers your questions. Cheers Tom i think u need 2 reread the orignal post. the reason i got the arse is because there seems to have started that some people pick on things wrong with other members cars when they havent asked for advice. leave the slaging other peoples cars off to other groups
Rick Posted February 10, 2007 Author Report Posted February 10, 2007 twink, when my dad fitted my fibreglass wing (one left to do), he built all the meeting edges up with sum new fibreglass and then as you say trimmed it to fit, its about 5mm all the way round: ok thats only the bottom piece but you get the idea
crapichris Posted February 11, 2007 Report Posted February 11, 2007 spent today welding a new wing on the Mk3 capri. Your right that the repros aren't as good as NOS. The best advice is to find a friend who has bought a wing recently that has fitted well to his own car and make sure you buy from the same source. Spent 2 hours lining it up so with a little patience and a bit of compromise it looks reasonable. The swage lines all line up and the bonnet gap is even. Only problem I have come up against is the scuttle panel to wing gap but I think I can make it look reasonable by re-aligning the bonnet. This hobby of ours is what you want it to be. If you want perfect panels you have to flash the cash, if your happy with your best effort so be it. My only gripe is on the odd occaision I have entered a concours competition with my home restoration, how can you compete with the "money no object restorations?
Guest MK1gaz Posted February 12, 2007 Report Posted February 12, 2007 You can't compete with a money no object concours car , that's why they've spent £20,000 on a standard cortina etc , they're perfect . Sad but true
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now