Rob M Budd

I suppose they could be used in the raw state for a track car. Modifications would be easy enough.

I haven't weighed a fully trimmed panel.
The OEM panel weighs 3.4 lbs untrimmed.
The reproduction untrimmed panel is 3 lbs.
The leather and carpet weigh 1.2 lbs,

To that you'd have to add speakers, light, storage bins, clips, armrests, nuts bolts, etc.

jpitman2

i WOULD ALSO BE INTERESTED in console side panels in ABS as mentioned by another ....the originals are just plain awful...
jp 83 Euro S AT 54k

Speedtoys

and remove glass, AND not just a cage, but an intrusion system as well.

A plain cage, doesnt have much..by default..on the driver/pass side to prevent intrusion.


Weve got the full nascar bars, plus panel, plus their foam barrier, on our fast car.

Two years ago in the 25hr, we had someone park an E30 bumper from the left side, all the way to the gearshift.

Thankfully, Ken was driving a RHD car at the time.

..thats when we spent the $ on a proper setup for BOTH sides of the TA. *shiver*

cgraner

It sure would be nice to have ALL of the crappy fiberboard parts to be reproduced in ABS plastic. What panels besides the door panels are available now in ABS plastic? Headliner panels would be great for slick top and sunroof cars as many have become wet and ruined over the years.

Shawn Stanford

Rob used to make fiberglass interior rear quarters. He sold the business and the current owner is no longer selling them.

mkhargrove

pics????

mkhargrove

I wonder if the mold is still available? The suck part of refurbushing rear interior quarter panels is getting the leather/vinyl applied in the corners of the windows...

Rob M Budd

The mold and first set of 10 panels cost me 7K ten years ago. It took 6-7 years to sell those 10. I got 10 more and had a few sets left when I retired 3 years ago.
Dunno what happened to them.
A couple issues with them
1. It took a lot of effort to trim them. More than a few hours. And the cuts had to be precise. 1/8 of an inch off on one side and the other side 4 feet away was off by a half inch or more.
Revising the mold on an already losing proposition was not in the cards at the time.
2. The mold requires a vacuum form system over 48 inches wide. Very, very few companies will do anything over 4 feet wide. The firm that made the molds sold their machine and cut back on doing that kind of work. The second firm got bought out and closed their Detroit plant.
3. The grade of ABS required should be better than the standard. It needs a higher temperature tolerance.
Of course the better ABS cost is double the cost of the regular stuff.
4 Once a firm with a large enough system was found, convincing them to do less that a few hundred sets was daunting and the cost would rise substantially.

The firm that did the fiberglass rear quarter panels kept increasing the price beyond reason.

Rod has the door panel molds. The RQP molds are still at the fabrication shop.

You should give Rod a call and see if he'll part with the molds. Perhaps now that time has passed, and less really good panels are available, someone can make a go of it and maybe even improve what's been started.

PS. Standard ABS would be very bad idea for the headliner. I can see it sagging down to the tops of the seats in the summer heat of Texas or most places down south.

Shawn Stanford

I emailed Classic 9 and never heard back. Does he even know he has them?

cgraner

Thanks for the update. Headliner might have to be fiberglass I suppose. Hmm.

Rob M Budd

Its been a couple months since I spoke with him and over a year or more since the subject of the molds came up.
A phone call would be advisable

RB.