there is a huge difference in quality between different fiberglass parts or manufacturers.
when people think of fiberglass parts they think of the cheap stuff on the japanese cars.
my speedart replica is fiberglass and looks great. someone hit the bumper a few months ago and it was repaired just fine. i think if it was PU it may have needed to be replaced.

 

can you define "huge" please? A representation of a "quality" fiberglass body part, as compared to a "crap" fiberglass body part? And your experience working with such products?

 

ditto. nothing wrong with good fiberglass work. even if you get bumped with a PU bumper, changes are it's going to the body shop for paint work anyway.

however, there are different levels of quality when it comes to fiberglass bodywork. i would do my research before breaking out the credit card.

 

Go ahead and compare a NR turbo look rear bumper vs. a MASHAW turbo look bumper. Like I said before, I have a fiberglass rear bumper that fits great. It did take quite a bit of prep though. Then again, so did my techart rear wing.

 

i am a physician so my only experience with really working with fiberglass is casting.
as far as purchasing fiberglass body parts, i so far have a fiberglass speedart bumper, techart rear wing, side skirts, rear diffuser and window wing.
i only paid 1600 for paint and installation of all these parts.
i dont think you will find a place that will paint pu oem stuff for much cheaper.
afaik, good fiberglass= top gelcoat which only needs to be primered and painted.
the only stuff that needs to be worked on is the inside portion that touches the painted surface of the car.
my shop is having some issues with the side skirts, and in this case i think pu side skirts would have been a much better choice, but i guess i will have to see if they come out ok.
if u trust the guy you are purchasing from, and he says they have been fitted on the car then go for it.
i ran into misha a few weeks ago and saw his car, from what i have read here, his fiberglass parts are xlnt, my shop said they have used nrauto too and they said there parts are good.
i got my stuff all from ebay and so far am pretty satisfied until i get the side skirts installed properly.

 

Maybe it's just me... I don't understand a legitimate use for a fiberglass bumper. I would use a wing, and have, but not a bumper component. It seems to me, the cost to prep the part exceeds the long term advantage of a PU bumper. I dunno... I've just never seen it work in a pure sense. I'm sure there are thousands of great examples, but I haven't seen one. After purchasing from 50+ vendors of fiberglass components for race cars, hot rods, muscle cars, imports, etc... I just don't see it. Just my opinion

 

Not to beat a dead horse, but take a look at a members feedback from two weeks ago...
"bumper needed a lot of prep work. cost $$ to make it paintable"
Take a look at his photo's, he stole them from other auctions and websites; the third photo in his description is of a Ruf supercharged '05 in Florida that's for sale right now. Nothing this glass company did. The tenth photo is a stock photo from the TA site. The second to the last photo is from the Rinspeed photo site. Those are just the ones I know of. Seems a bit shady to me.

 

I've been emailing back and forth with this co. They seem legit. The owner has a boxster. He has been sending me pics of his car. I can't speak for the quality of their products, but they seem okay. Then again, NR's stuff looks good online too and it's complete garbage.

I don't think anyone will disagree with you on the fact that FG products take a lot of prep to make them paintable. As long as the fit is good, I don't really have a problem with using it. It's when the fit is off and then there a ton of prep on top of it .... Now it's time to get annoyed.

Some of us have had really good luck with FB components. I guess it all depends on who you bought it from and who installed it.

 

neijia, you are very right, the fact that there is so much uncertainty with different fiberglass manufacturers might make it difficult to find a good part.
i believe i spoke with the ebay guy before, tony. never bought parts from him, but he referred me to shops that would be able to work with fiberglass.
not only do you need to find a good quality fg part, but the installer is key too, since most places dont want to deal with fiberglass or even aftermarket parts.
from my experience, my speedart bumper has been great, easy to install and paint. survived a pretty bad collision. lines up better with the hood and fenders than my original bumper which was higher that the hood.

 

Fair enough

 

Already said but there are definitely different levels of quality FG. I have a MA Shaw wing that my body shop said was excellent. Very little prep time and excellent fit. With that said I still would not purchase a FG bumper in less it was from a very reputable source (ie: speedart, rinspeed). It is much easier to make a wing fit properly than a bumper.