Body Panel - new vs. rebuild cost

[Aiken Racing]

My nose, side pods and headrest on my Citation FF are not in the best condition. They are cracked up and kind of fragile. I could put new fiberglass on the back side, fill in cracks, sand and repaint.

Generally speaking when having to do a lot of body work is it cheaper just to get new parts molded or should I repair my current ones?

I don't even know if new panels can be bought or if ICP still has the molds. I am going to give them a call but I wanted to know what the consensus on fixing up fiberglass panels.

Thanks,
Chris

[Racer Bill]

One consideration might be weight. The
repaired panels will generally be heavier
than new ones. It also depends on how
expensive your time is, and how much repair
is going to be required.

Not sure that helps your decision much,
John

[Aiken Racing]

True... they will probably be heavier. I talked to a friend of mine and he said I should try to make molds out of the ones I have now instead repairing what I have now.

I talked to ICP and they said they may have the molds but they will get back to me soon. Nose will be about $150-$200 and side pods will be $200-$300 a piece. I may make the molds myself to save money but I still want to know if the molds are still out there in the World.

-Chris

[Racer Bill]

Making good molds can save you money in the
long run, and it is kind of fun to do in a
painstaking sort of way. Its not cheap, if
you try to do them right, though. I'm not
all that good at it, and it took me quite a
while to get some good molds for a little
air scoop, a whole body panel would take me
forever (but I'm also pretty fussy about things
like that).

For whatever that's worth,
John

[Jeff Smith]

Chris,
The main thing to remember is that the molds you make will be duplicates of the panels you are making them from. You have already stated that they plugs aren't in the best of shape. So that would mean that you have to work on the molds to get that nice finish you want.
Personally, at the prices you were quoted I would buy new. Then if you think you are going to chew up lots of panels and noses, pull some molds off the new items.

Good Luck,
John

[dude22]

Another thought would be to buy new ones, use them for molds or just run them, and use the old ones to teach yourself repair, then keep them for spares in case you need them, that way you will always have a backup. I would think molds would take up a lot of space for the few times you need them, and since ICP is a current, operating business, you should be able to get more should you really need them.

[sarrcford]

The quality of the molds is directly related to the quality of the piece used as the master. You'll have to repair your old panels or buy new unless you want to spend all the time and effort to create a junk mold.

If you have all the time in the world and don't mind the smell and mess of fiberglass, you can do it. If your time is limited, you'd be better off to buy the items directly from ICP.

Larry Oliver
International Racing Products

[Aiken Racing]

That is what I am thinking.... I will probably just buy new ones or have a body shop fix them up for me. Sanding and working with fiberglass makes a big mess and I don't have a lot of room without making the rest of my garage a disaster area.

Plus now I am going to be working for a Speed World Challenge team my time is going to be even more limited so I can't spend a lot of time fixing them up.

Thanks,
Chris

[Don Becker]

Chris,
I say use the body you have and get the car out on the track.

You can always add the body later on. I am not sure how much track experience you have, but if learning, learn with the old body just in case.

[Matt M.]

I tend to agree with Joe. How fast is pretty?
- Frank C

[Aiken Racing]

hehe, true. [img]smile.gif[/img]

I think I am going to keep the body panels I have but I am going to have a new rear under panel made since that was never provided with my car when I bought it. I will still need to fix up the head rest panel since it is about to fall apart...

I don't care if the panels are in perfect shape but i just didn't want them breaking apart when i drive.

Chris

[Don Becker]

"care if the panels are in perfect shape but i just didn't want them breaking apart when i drive"

When I was a kid, I had an Evil Knievel toy Gremlin that would explode all the body parts off the car. Mattel made quite a bit of money with that philosophy.

That could be a selling "feature" of the car. The faster you go, the lighter it gets.

[John Green]

Hello,
I'm in the process of fixing my panels on my RF85. If your panels are very bad you can repair them easily fith foam, divenycell and whatever and don't care about weight to get a plug. The part will be of no use but you will save a lot of time making the plug in this way instead of repairing the panel to a usable state and then use ti as a plug.
If you make a mould from panels that you know fit your car the possibility that the panels from your mould will fit is good. You might buy panels for 100's of dollars to find out that you have to cut them in 2-5 pieces and re-glass them to make them fit. Get a second opinion on the panels you intend to buy and make sure that they fit before you pay top dollar. Remember that the panels from the mould will be excact replicas of the plug, if the plug has hairline cracks they will show on your new panels!

Henrik

[Jeff Smith]

chris,
Didnt any one tell you that a 50/50 paint job is best for a race car?

50 feet or 50 mph.....hehe

John

[DavidPulliam]

Chris, I believe your car is a Z16. There are molds around for your car. The designs may deviate alittle from Steve's original design but it gets you back to new bodies. There are a couple of nose designs and most of the bodies have gone to the high bar (in cockpit area)style. I will be biulding a entire new light weight body set over this year. I hoping to reduce the over wt by 35% through vaccum bagging and Kelvar. I will let you know how it goes (pictures).

[Aiken Racing]

AJ,

My car is a Citation 84F made in 1985. It is not a Z16 as it has inboard suspension and new pushrod suspension in the rear. I don't know how close the bodies are but they are not the same car. Mine is a Formula Ford and not a Club Ford when it comes to SCCA classes.

Let me know when you get picture so I can see if it would fit mine but I don't know.

Thanks,
Chris

[DavidPulliam]

Sorry, just looked at your pictures that had body work, very different from the Z 16. I'm not sure what the car count is for your body style. Making molds are a great winter project. However someone's comment about getting the car on the track is a good one. Forceful customizing hurts less when the body is in tough shape to begin with. It kind of like the fancy electronic dash and low/no oil pressure engine. Getting the car on the track will provide a better base line of were to focus resources. AJW