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Fibreglass Front Ends And Panels


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#1 happydude2012

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Posted 05 February 2018 - 10:27 AM

Looking at my bodywork, its going to need a major overhaul.

 

Im getting rust not only on the doors but round the headlamps and A panels 

 

 

Does anyone have any experience or advice with the practicalities of potentially replacing the front end for fibreglass? is this a road car thing or mainly track.

 

Im looking at approx £1000+ for a respray and im wondering if its not worth just replacing for fibreglass instead to cut out rust altogether and lightening the car at the same time.

I appreciate there will be pros and cons, id like to hear about your experiences.

 

Just a "what if" question. 



#2 Ethel

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Posted 05 February 2018 - 10:45 AM

I do like them for the accessibility but:

 

It would take a fair bit of work to achieve similar structural integrity. 

The weight saving wouldn't be much if you did manage that.

Getting insurance will be more of an issue and likely more expensive as a result of limited offers.

It'll knock a bit off the value of your Mini.

 

As always with Min's, the more you can do yourself the better. I  wouldn't commit to a costly spray job at the expense of the prep.



#3 nicklouse

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Posted 05 February 2018 - 11:30 AM

one piece front ends are a paint in the butt.

 

make them flip and it makes the little every day jobs hard and the big once a year jobs easy. having removable gets them scratched and they have been known to blow of down the street.

 

a two piece front allows you to do everything as you would now without the problems. you can bond the old front mounting brackets onto a glass front to allow OE mounting from there and have a few more fixing at the rear and even keep the bonnet hinges if you want.

 

but you will not be adding to the value of the car and you will not be saving much money at all.

 

I would stick with steel and do it right.



#4 Cooperman

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Posted 05 February 2018 - 12:20 PM

Like all old classic cars, the Mini is becoming increasingly more valuable.
Someone buying one will normally look for originality with only 'period modifications'.
A GRP front will certainly significantly reduce the value. How much by depends on the buyer, but the value could reduce by the nominal cost of te-fitting the correct steel parts and painting it.

#5 happydude2012

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Posted 05 February 2018 - 02:04 PM

thanks for the tips lads, ill go with traditional i think - im looking at replacing both doors with aluminium from streetfighter because frankly they are un repairable at the moment, rust has eaten right through the panels. -  but its the other rusty bits that im concerned about, im willing to do the prep so ill see what kind of price i can get it for - id like black bodywork with gold alloy rims like me dads old clubman, but ill have to get a small lottery win forst.



#6 nicklouse

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Posted 05 February 2018 - 02:22 PM

so keeping steel door frames with alloy skins. nice. hope the garage is heated.



#7 happydude2012

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Posted 05 February 2018 - 03:49 PM

not following you on that one, what do you mean?


Edited by happydude2012, 05 February 2018 - 03:49 PM.


#8 Cooperman

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Posted 05 February 2018 - 04:50 PM

The usual thing is to buy aluminium door skins. Then strip the rusted steel door skins off of the old doors, repair the rest of the steel door structure as necessary and finally fit the aluminium skins, paint and put on the car.

#9 happydude2012

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Posted 05 February 2018 - 06:12 PM

the doors come complete with polycarb windows and the opening mech. http://www.minidoor.co.uk/what.html

its just an idea



#10 Cooperman

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Posted 06 February 2018 - 10:58 AM

It's easy to DIY and a lot less expensive.
You can buy the aluminium door skins and they are easy to fit.
Once the old door skin has been removed you repair and rust in the steel frame before fitting the new skin.

#11 minifreek1

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Posted 06 February 2018 - 01:22 PM

Jesus those are expensive for repaired doors...

 

It will be a damn lot cheaper to do it yourself, if you have the confidence...

 

An alloy doorskin is relatively easy to fit to a steel frame, same process as fitting a metal skin but without the welding. Will just need bonding to the frame..

 

Repair the doors you have to save a lot of money, unless you can get hold of a pair of doors that need repairing and repair them....

 

A fibreglass front will save a lot of weight but you will have to put strength back into the chassis if you intend to use it on the road, doesn't take much to do to be honest but its a nightmare with insurance companies as they see it as an "incentive to race"...



#12 paulrockliffe

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Posted 06 February 2018 - 01:50 PM

It's potentially a nightmare with the DVLA as well as it brings the car under the Radically Altered Vehicles rules and should got through the IVA process.

 

I suspect a proper engineering analysis of the brace bars would conclude that they're too close to the tower bolts to replicate the role of the front subframe mounts as well.



#13 Ethel

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Posted 06 February 2018 - 02:47 PM

It's not a certainty you'd require an IVA, we've had the discussion on TMF with a guy from Vosa and they won't commit to what constitutes the "chassis", certainly a possibility worth considering though. 

 

There can't be a lot of load coming through the front mounts going by the nature of them and the fact they're fixed to sheet steel with a single 5/16 bolt. I'd expect the biggest is the torque reaction to the wheel when you brake. That'd use the brace as a tie and would benefit from being close to the tower mount to limit the leverage between the 2 attachment points.






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