Fibre glass companies. Why are they so bad?
Turbo Mini Forums

Having read horror stories on here about orders being made for grp parts with both the carbon weasel and arc angels that were paid for but never arrived and when they did arrive they did not fit well, i stupidly decided to buy some bits from TDK who seemed to have a good rep.

I wanted a rear valance and a ERA bonnet scoop, and all i wanted from these two parts was that they looked right and fitted good and were finished nicely.
Simple you would think?

Ordered from Dave who seemed a reasonable chap, 1 month later they eventually turned up.
Era bonnet scoop was about half the depth it should have been, had a flat bottom so no way would fit onto a curved round nose mini bonnet. I could have chopped the handle off a plastic dustpan and made it fit better i reckon

The valance was also as rough as a badgers arse, the flange where you are supposed to fix it to the boot floor was not flat so even clamping it on to see if it fitted was causing it to creak and groan, it would have cracked if i fixed it on properly. The cutout for where the exhaust pokes out looked like it had been cut with a bread knife.

I was offered my money back but basically he should not be allowing such crap to leave his shop to be honest, and i cant be doing with the hassle of packing it all back up, posting it then chasing after my money.


Would it have been so hard for tdk to spend a little more time and send something out that was well made and decent? Did he think i wouldn't notice! We spend thousands on our cars and fitting this sort of crap to the car is not befitting, lesson learnt.

There must be a real big gap in the market for some really good grp manufacturers whose parts fit, are nicely finished and do not need modifying at all.
Until then stick with steel i think......

It's not just them.. U can't get anyone to do anything proper these days. A lot of tradesmen (not all) just don't care.. Rough it in!!

Just do it yourself... Will probably be a better job!

Oh dear, I was tempted to buy my front end and a few other bits from Dave but this hat put me off a little...

He may have been having a bad day, I've heard of a lot of happy customers buying products from him.

Clearly the parts supplied did not live up to your expectations , you brought it to the attention of the supplier who offered you a refund, yet you still bemoan the fact, You need to try a little harder to understand that most GRP products are made for those who want to either save weight or ease of replacement and are not made to built a concourse car.All grp parts will need an amount of fitting up.

carl

WWW.FORCE-RACING.CO.UK PLEASE CLICK HERE

Was gonna say someone could take loads of moulds to make perfect panels.. for THAT mini.. but then it wouldnt fit another.. no 2 are the same, even heritage steel panels need a tweek to fit certain minis, i would always expect to have to nip n tuck fg items

After how many people have trouble fitting fibreglass stuff if I ever (I doubt I would!) I'd expect to have to do some work to get it to fit. Like Dave says, even heritage panels need some work sometimes :(

They don't die, they just get faster!

Understood about all minis being different. But the boot floor is generally flat. The flange on the valance should be flat too. I can then take any tweaking from there. As it is it will crack if i fix it to my car.
As for the cutout round the exhaust, is it so hard to cut out a smooth oval.
Just bad workmanship

If your that unhappy you should just send them back and get your refund, some people don't even receive their items and don't get a refund either from some companies :/

They don't die, they just get faster!

I Bought some fiberglass Sportspack arches at a show, years ago. Someone had used the original flexible rubber ones to make the mold so when they made the fiberglass ones they were just a twisted mess.

I want to make some vac-bag carbon fibre parts at some point. Bought most of the equipment, just trying to get other projects out the way so I can make some space before I get into it.

Do you have any pics of the scoop? It's hard to believe they could make it so badly, unless it was originally made for another car or just a very generic part - but then they really should state that in the advert!

laying up fibreglass and carbon is one of those things that is actually really easy to do, and get a decent result from it. Its the last 10% that takes the most effort and practice, patience and investment. The price of materials for wet lay fibreglass isn't actually that much, but the time involved is vast. For the prices company's charge in the mini community for their parts, the quality really is quite commendable. The price they sell the parts for wouldn't even cover the labour rate for the guys in the industry I work in.

Not an excuse, but just something to consider when buying parts like this off any company, and if you were offered a resolution then take it up if you're not happy.

Edited by dazibee on 27th Nov, 2014.

I understand what your saying but comparing bolt on wheels to bodywork is completely different

My arc angels front end i expected to have to fit it around the scuttle etc, but not for one second did i expect to have to make the grille fit in the aperture! By the time i made the grille fit (only had the problem on the nearside of the front end) i was almost through the fibreglass and it's about 6-8mm thick in that area.

Bought both my mk1 fg bonnet and single skin fg mk1 boot lid from ABS Motorsport. They delivered within a week.

Bonnet was perfect - small alterations to lip depth.

Boot lid was 95% - got rid of lip around the edge and fits brilliantly.

And gaps are pretty damn good! Perhaps I got lucky..but I'd certainly buy again.

A friend on mine ordered a front end from ABS and it was over an inch too wide! This was some time ago though, they might have improved since

They don't die, they just get faster!

As Carl said earlier a certain ammount of fitting up should be expected, which i agree with. Stuff that dont fit at all without cutting it about and re doing aint really on.
If there was better quality stuff on the market where attention to detail was paid im sure people wouldnt mind paying a bit extra

Stuff can be persuaded n shaped by leaving it, stretching it, leaving weights on it etc if you get me? My front end if left un clipped will spread, especially if its hot.. its extremely tough but when on L2B when it was at its hottest it was so wobbly and flexible... what im trying to say is it is possible to perduade it! I brought a fg front not long ago and where it mounts wasnt a great fit.. left it for a while with a bungee pulling it in certain places and its much better now

sometimes the problem is when a buck is bought from a company that has dissolved/moved on. Some numpty with little experience of working with the bucks will lay the wet fibreglass over the top or underneath the buck rather than where its meant to be. This is how you end up with a product either too large or too small. Others get a car and lay up over it and dont allow enough time for drying before removal so it warps meaning the entire buck is warped and they will never have a product that fits. The only way to get top notch stuff is by going to the people who act as third party to Kit Car manufacturers as they're specialists who have to do top quality work or lose large contracts

Edited by wolfie29177 on 27th Nov, 2014.

Masturbation is not a crime its a hobby

dazibee , can we see some pics of the parts?

Medusa + injection = too much torque for the dyno ..https://youtu.be/qg5o0_tJxYM

Rear valance

gotcha thanks ,i can see what you mean.is it worth cutting the bottom out of the bonnet scoop?

Medusa + injection = too much torque for the dyno ..https://youtu.be/qg5o0_tJxYM

The scoop can be modified i think. The valance needs building up with more fibre glass and then flatting to get rid of all the wavy bits

That is piss poor. Sent them back with a turd in the box.

Wow... That is gash... Looks like the valance was yanked before properly set up and not placed on a flat surface perhaps? But that scoop,,, yikes. It just looks to be the wrong shape in many directions..