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Fiber glass or Urethane???
Posted: January 13th, 2002, 5:25 pm
by letsroll
I want to buy a body kit for my car and I want to know what is the best material between fiber glass and urthane. What are the pros and the cons of each ones?<P>Thanks in advance,<P>Eric

Re: Fiber glass or Urethane???
Posted: January 13th, 2002, 5:55 pm
by -=deathtrap-mx3=-
urethane kits are stronger i think. fiberglass kits usually need molding for an exact kit and flex more.<BR>hope this is right and that it helps. go urethane if you have a choice, but fiber is fine.
Re: Fiber glass or Urethane???
Posted: January 13th, 2002, 10:52 pm
by letsroll
Yeah but do fiber glass is strong enough to resist a "bump" on the road or is it just for show rooms?
Re: Fiber glass or Urethane???
Posted: January 14th, 2002, 11:47 pm
by finchuck
don't quote me but i believe that urethane is more flexable. it's much better than fiberglass, it's how a lot of stock parts come. fiber glass is made using two processes, one is handlaying and i think the other is called choppergun. if you are going for fiberglass, handlain is better because it doesn't have the "ripple" look in it. I bought the Spoilers Etc. spoiler a while back which had small ripples all the way down the damn thing. fiberglass will crack easier if it hits the ground. i've seen some people's fiberglass body kits shatter.
Re: Fiber glass or Urethane???
Posted: January 15th, 2002, 12:29 am
by -=deathtrap-mx3=-
thanks for clearing it up

Re: Fiber glass or Urethane???
Posted: January 15th, 2002, 2:54 am
by david103
urethane is more durable and reparable, but cannot be added on to (hood scoops, etc). fiberglass is less durable, but just as reparable and can be added on to while being much cheaper. good fiberglass is probably your best bet. i don't there are any kits available in urethane for the unloved mx3.<P>dave
Re: Fiber glass or Urethane???
Posted: January 15th, 2002, 4:44 pm
by letsroll
Does anyone here have a fiber glass body kit? and if so, did you have problems with it?
Re: Fiber glass or Urethane???
Posted: January 15th, 2002, 11:49 pm
by DVH
i have a fiber glass one (FX)....no probs yet,,knock on wood! lol! i 've drove in snow and ice and that sh*t too! its still holdin up good! u just got to be careful when driving! later

Re: Fiber glass or Urethane???
Posted: January 16th, 2002, 2:16 am
by finchuck
i believe a good body shop can reinforce the body kits to make them more durable. i don't know what this process entails, but a buddy of mine that has a kit on his eclipse says they "reinforced the body kit"
Re: Fiber glass or Urethane???
Posted: January 17th, 2002, 10:33 am
by powerman_5000
Maybe this will help some with your question. There are two types of fiberglass body kits: Sprayed fiberglass and Handlaid fiberglass. The body kits that are made using the spraying technique is mostly likely to be made poorly because you really can't control the amount being sprayed and certain spots on the kit will be weaker and more likely to break easier. Now the handlaid fiber glass is a lot better than the sprayed because the amount of fiberglass and the other mixture used with the fiber glass is controlled and all parts are the same strength, but another thing is that fiberglass always has a chance of cracking and not easy to repair. Now on to urethane. Urethane is a lot stronger and easily repaired. But the downfall of Urethane kits is the price. The urethane kits will cost a lot more than the fiberglass kits and is not as mass produced as fiberglass kits. All this infromation came from Sport Compact Car Magazine( Thanks to them for the great info). Can't remember what issue, but once I search my stack of magazines I'll tell you and you can read the article yourself if you like.