Alright. Damnit. Sorry about asking this again but after doing a search I have come across a lot of what I think are asumptions or bad information about Fiberglass. I have a Urethane kit on my BMW I have right now, and it is fine. No chipping, no problems at all. However I have painted some plastic exterior trim pieces and they have been a huge pain in the ***. They get hit by one tiny rock and scratch, then the scratch begins to peel. So for my question...


From what I have gathered, buying Fiberglass is going to be the same headache for my Z as the plastic trim is for my BMW. I've heard that just in normal driving conditions fiberglass can flake paint from even hard rain and such. I know that Fiberglass can crack if you curb it etc etc and I am not worried about that. But my question is more along if I am driving this daily, but babying the little bugger, how often am I going to have to repaint this? Mind you I flip out when my car has a tiny chip of paint missing... so is Fiberglass going to send me into a murderous fit of rage? If so I am kind of screwed. Every kit I like is fiberglass only. And everyone is telling me more aggressive Urethane kits sag/flop around/ and weigh a ton. My BMW kit is pretty close to stock so it was fine, but when I look at something like Vizages future kit (In future products, not the "Celica" foglight kit on the grey car.) , or anything along those lines, it seems that people associated a lot of problems with that and urethane.


RAGH! Heh heh. Anyhow any help or personal experience will be greatly appreciated.

Oh yeah one other thing.. I have seen talk about additives you can add and it makes the paint "Flex" .. flexal and so on. Would this aliveate the problems of the fiberglass or is this one of those magical solutions that doesn't really exsist Thanks guys.

~Josh

 

see I heard that fiberglass accepts paint extremely well; unlike urethane.

 

Ah . . . the age-old question FRP vs urethane. Truth is that the quality/durability of the end result has more to do with the type of paint used to spray the kit, the type/number of coats of primer used, and the skill of the painter. Take it to a professional . . . have them use only name brand automotive paint . . . like Dupont . . . insist on primer and clearcoat (a good shop would insist on it anyway).

 

Well most kits are fiberglass because its alot cheaper to make hands down. Its not becouse its lighter dont be fooled.

Urathane machines are hundreds of thousand of dollars most companies cant afford to put out that kind of cash. The diference in weight is so minimal.

Ive never seen uranthane sag or warp. Unless your driving though fire youll be ok with uranthane. Oem bumpers are made from uranthane for a reason durability.

The only way you going to protect a fiberglass kit from chipping is a custom clear bra. it wil only be needed on the front. I have my done on my kit its worked wonders on ware and tear.

Uranthane is just alot more forgiving becouse it flexable. I had both type of kits. No matter what others say fiberglass is going to chip even with alot of coats and flex paint.

The amount of chipping has nothing to do with the prep of the fiberglass. Imagine throwing a rock at a car that has an equally hard suface at 65mph. Somthing gots to give hence the rock chips.

The only kits that are uranthane that i know of are Kaminari, Wings West, Greddy, and Veilside.

Here a link that better explains the difference between body kit materials.

http://www.350zonline.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=10

Here also a link to the gallery if you want to check out other kits.

http://www.350zonline.com/gallery/

Hope this helps.

 

Ahhh, thanks guys. Also the responses illustrate my frustrations on finding a definitive answer. Arghhhh, I already have a tough enough time making decisions on my car. Guess I have to find someone who does that clear bra work. Some South Florida guy had it on his car... forgot his name though

~Josh

 

if your worried about paint chipping off, then go for a custom clear bra. Hey it's listed there too.

The best material that wont have paint chipping problems is metal.