Fiberglass on a Street Car ?, done all the time or just insanity ? both ? Options

[Literati914]

I know there's been conversation regarding adding fiberglass FLARES to a street car and that's NOT my question in this thread. I'm wondering about running a street car with a FG front hood, rear deck lid and door skins (FG skinned/ OEM steel frames)? Is there anyone out there running this type of configuration? or Is this just a crazy talk?

I have these pieces (in the classified along with other FG items) but was thinking - what if I ran the hood, lid and doors on my 1.7 project for a better power/weight ratio - because why not? thoughts?


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[Dave_Darling]

FG has potential issues for street use. It does like to crack, especially where it is bonded to sheet metal. That can be dealt with to some extent, but I'm not sure if the tendency will ever be completely removed. And things like rock chips can cause more serious problems than just cracked paint.

It isn't very strong, and doesn't dissipate much if any energy in a crash. It tends to shatter rather than bending, after all. I believe that the outer fenders and both deck lids contribute some to crash protection on our cars, so you will be losing some if you replace those parts with FG. How much do they contribute? Probably not a huge amount--but some.

You should try to make an educated guess about how much extra risk you are willing to live with. Myself, I probably would be OK with the lids replaced. Maybe fenders, maybe not. Not the door skins, though, as there's precious little side impact protection on a 914 as is.

--DD