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Something I've not seen discussed..

ryoken

ryoken

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Ok, some personal background on this for perspective... Bare with me... :wink1:

On the sometimes painfully slow metamorphosis of my 87 K5, mostly the color conversion from the dark brown to copper/black all over, meaning trimming door jambs in copper, etc, I've come to the conclusion that I eventually want a new front clip... Thus why I'm running around with epoxy primed doors and cowl insert trimmed in copper, and the brown hood and fenders untouched at this point..


blazer111.jpg


Being a DD, I'd always planned on eventually a cowl hood, 1 fender and well are smashed, the other side has some issues, and I've actually considered a new rad support (thats a whole other thread)..

Well anyway, I hadn't looked into cowl hoods for awhile.. I really like rjfguitars hood, I believe his is glass... I always kinda leaned towards steel for obvious reasons.. But being a boat guy, I'm always open to glass too...

I went perusing some Google searches for glass hoods and came across something I thought interesting... Now, I've heard of this company name before, not sure I remember the reputation, it may have been not so good.

And I also would not be interested in any of their "race" glass stuff, as it is too flimsy for my liking usually... Especially considering the truck is being built to be a 75% DD.. Well, found their hood.. Looks like a decent offering... 3 1/2", factory latch, $379..






gm-328.jpg


They do have 4 3/4" and up too.. I'd consider the 4 3/4 also, but thats really pushing the visibility factor..

But I digress (as usual :doah: ), tho the hoods look decent, there may be better glass choices out there.. But this thread isn't actually about hoods! :haha:

I noticed these, and had not known they where available... Off the top of the head, these would run about twice what steel would.. $179 and $79... not bad in my opinion... The price wouldn't scare me away...









GM305Aopt.jpg


gm-325.jpg


I'm STRONGLY considering this, getting a whole glass clip.

The pros and cons of fiberglass fenders are mostly obvious... weight vs durabilty, rot, etc...

and one I thought of... ease of wheel opening mods..

Tho I'm betting they"re pretty stable (not listed under the race stuff), bracing or thickening them structurally would be a very, very simple process for me if by chance they needed any.. Heck, I have everything in the world glass related in my shop and do that stuff daily...

Discuss what you think of a front glass fender.. Remember I'm not talking "trail only rig", something that's gonna see street time too..

Btw, Unlimited is the company in question...

http://up22.com/chevytruck.htm#top
 
I was wondering the other day (while pondering the rot on my new c10) if anyone made inners in glass. I think its a good idea.
 
I was just kinda suprised we hadn't discussed it.. Maybe my hunting around has payed off, for someone maybe...

I'm not really considering this till later in the summer at the earliest, , after I get my running gear situated.... and my 1/8" floor and new cab framing, slider setup done.. more than likely next winters project..

I was just intrigued to find glass fenders... heck, the weight savings of an all-glass nose will counteract the weight of a winch...
 
Glass would scare me just a little bit from a durability standpoint. It just won't take the jarring shock that metal will, and I would think that it will crack. Not to mention what would happen if you flopped or rubbed a tree/rock.
 
cbbr said:
Glass would scare me just a little bit from a durability standpoint. It just won't take the jarring shock that metal will, and I would think that it will crack. Not to mention what would happen if you flopped or rubbed a tree/rock.
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Wouldn't the glass flex some? Plus fiberglass repair is easy. I think it would be cool if someone made fenders and hood out of ABS like in bike fairings. Just epoxy the inside when it cracks.
 
uberbeans said:
Plus fiberglass repair is easy.
Click to expand...

precisely, especially for me... The wheel-opening mod capabilty is really what intrigues me... I'm thinking the whole "cut to the wheelwell" "sharp edged, no lip" aspect would no longer be much of an issue..

In alot of ways a crash/crush can be easier to repair than a sheetmetal version.. Tho 2x the cost to replace...

I'm really starting to think I may do this. I'm a hotrodder at heart, there's always a fondness for glass, tilt-noses on muscle cars... Just never thought I'd be considering a glass nose on my truck! :doah: :haha:
 
I looked at the fenders for the fron a while back. There are a lot of them made for the pre-runner crowd that look great and would really open things up.
 
well, in my case, I don't dig the prerunner look... It's cool, if someone digs that look, but i prefer the stock fender lines...

These are first "stock" replacemnet versions I've ever seen...
 
I forget who it was, but they had a full tilt front clip that looked really nice. From my experience working on aircraft, fiberglass is easy to repair, but you would have to have set, in your mind (in my case, in a tech manual), how much damage would require replacement. Know what I mean? If you have the means to repair it, then I would say go for it, but as long as you know what you may be getting yourself into (which you probably do). I would say go all fiberglass because the slamming of a steel hood on fiberglass fenders, over time, may cause problems.
 
Well, if I went glass fenders, I'd absolutely do a glass cowl...

It's pretty amazing the repairs that can be done with glass, not only from my boat experience of people putting giant holes in their boats, to my days of truck resto's, redoing crushed Mack noses, you can fix some pretty crazy stuff......

There are a couple of full-tilts here... 73k5blazers full glass bodied, tilt nose he recently did the lift/pulley thing comes to mind.. kert(aka cyberfire) from DIY4x has a tilt, but i'm pretty certain his is a modded steel..

tho a tilt is trick as he!!, don't think i'd want it on my truck.. the tube bumper, etc i'm planning would make it more "involved" than it already would be..

The other thing in my case is, with my dual batteries up on the firewall now, there is absolutely nothing putting any weight on my inners...
 
That is true. I wonder though, if rocks/road dibris might pose a problem to the fiber glass inners.
Yeah, I agree on fiber glass being nice to work with. I've fixed some pretty crazy stuff on jets with fiberglass and various resins. I actually prefer chopping my own fibers vs. using a pre-preg stuff like the fiber glass bondo. Man! Is that stuff hard to work with.
 
Do you think your skills are enough to make your own parts? you have the model to make them after, why not take a shot at making your own? Def would keep cost down, I thought of this, but just not sure if its something i'd want to tackle or not.
 
Glass is nice, but my only problem with the hood is the latch.*NOT WITH A CHEVY HOOD THOUGH*. I put a glass front end, and rear end on my brothers Tacoma





The problem was the hood latch broke off and we had to use hood pins to hold the hood down. Also my brother would beat the he!! out of it and the front fenders started to crack at the bottom. Just need to take your time lining every thing up and drilling your holes in the right spots, there are no hole in the fenders for mounting you have to drill them.
 
Pvt. Maggot said:
Do you think your skills are enough to make your own parts? you have the model to make them after, why not take a shot at making your own? Def would keep cost down, I thought of this, but just not sure if its something i'd want to tackle or not.
Click to expand...

Awhile back I had considered making a mold of a modded stock fender, meaning one thats been hacked...

But thats a fair amount of work.. I have enough on my hands creating a workable mold for my dash production...

I'd have more than the $360 cost of the fenders into them for sure.. Maybe not in materials to create the 2 molds, but I'd have a ton of hrs into them...
 
NoReGrEtS said:
Glass is nice, but my only problem with the hood is the latch.*NOT WITH A CHEVY HOOD THOUGH*. I put a glass front end, and rear end on my brothers Tacoma


The problem was the hood latch broke off and we had to use hood pins to hold the hood down. Also my brother would beat the he!! out of it and the front fenders started to crack at the bottom. Just need to take your time lining every thing up and drilling your holes in the right spots, there are no hole in the fenders for mounting you have to drill them.
Click to expand...

Where these products from Unlimited?
 
Avery4jc said:
These guys make some glass components as well. They are more for the pre-runner look but they offer the fenders in as little as 3" of buldge which would be nice...not an insane pre-runner look but just a subtle difference....check them out.
]
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I knew of hanemans offerings... Honestly, I hate that look... Wouldn't be too bad in my opinion if the qrters matched, but I don't like the truck pictured... Just my opinion, some dig it, I don't..

What caught my attention was the stock application of these... Not to mention the wheelwells..
 
ryoken said:
Well anyway, I hadn't looked into cowl hoods for awhile.. I really like rjfguitars hood, I believe his is glass... I always kinda leaned towards steel for obvious reasons.. But being a boat guy, I'm always open to glass too...

gm-328.jpg
Click to expand...

I wanted a steel hood too, but I wanted a cowl hood that didn't look like most. I hate the fact that nearly all aftermarket cowl hoods don't build the cowl to widen as it gets taller! Meaning, if the front of the hood at the begining of the rise is say 22" wide, the one you have is still 22" wide when it meets the cowl by the windshield. I could only find one hood that would expand an extra 6" wider at the cowl than it is at the grille, it just looks better to me. Unfortunately, it's glass and I have had some fit issues.

6991IM000057.JPG


If you want the name of the place I got my hood I can dig it up if you like.
 
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