Fiberglass body parts?

[410ranchero]

Anyone know of or previously use a supplier for fiberglass parts? I'm really looking for a one piece front end, but even fenders and a hood would work. I found two places, "suncoast", and "show cars" both of which have two pages of lawsuits on the first hits from google.

Is there a place I am missing?

[wildhog]

check out our vendor list www.critesperformanceparts.com. charlie makes glass hoods and a glass trunk lid for the custom series.

[JPotter57]

Charlie Crites makes the best stuff for 57 Fords.  Show cars is junk, I spent over 2000 with them on my last 57, and ended up pretty much either giving it away, or throwing it away, except for the hood, and it was the worst fitting piece of crap I ever wasted money on.  I sold the front fenders to a buddy of mine for less than what one cost, the upper grille panel I threw away, the splash pan I threw away...the trunk lid weighed 2 or 3 times what the original did, so I used a series of hole saws to help cut out some of the weight on the underside, then had to use a grinder to thin out the surface flanges...it was almost 1/2 inch thick in some places.  Yes, I immediately contacted them to express my displeasure at receiving this junk.  No, they would not return my calls after that, nor would he answer or return my emails.  I finally wrote about a 1500 word essay/diatribe on the quality of this stuff, complete with photos of the junky parts, and posted them on message forums all over the internet.  You should be able to turn it up somewhere.   My computer that those items were on died, so I lost them, but I believe I had them saved somewhere.  If I runb across them sometime, I will post them...In short, Stay Away from Show Cars Body Parts, they are total junk.

[Zapato]

Wow! Did a Google search for these guys and there are online ripoff reports going back 10 years or longer. Amazing that they have managed to stay in business that long.

Zap-

[JPotter57]

Yeah.  They took me for a 2000 bath..heck shipping on all that crap was over 400..I was pissed when I opened those boxes, immediately called...no luck.

[JPotter57]

I forgot one more part that was decent..the glass bumpers were useable, but were rough trimmed, and the dents that were in the original parts were also in my glass copies...I never got around to using them since I ended up buying an nos one for the rear and had a decent one on front.  I was just sick that I had spent all that money on such junk.  Terrible quality.

[410ranchero]

There is no shortage of companies pumping out crap, thats for sure.

Show cars has to be one of the worst out there.

Anyone used Suncoast Racecars? Suncoast Creations has a ton of bad stuff out there, but I am pretty sure they are a seperate company, Suncoast Racecars seems to have a very good rep. Just wondering if anyone has used one of their one piece front ends?

[410ranchero]

Hey Tom if your reading this I replied to your email, but it got kicked back. My email is

[Frankenstein57]

410, I have a pair of fiberglass fenders of decent quality. I'll try to dig them out and post them in the for sale section, Mark

[410ranchero]

Any luck with that floor Mark? That is still on the top of my shopping list, I'd be willing to drive up to get it, even more so if we can come up with some fiberglass part to fill the rest of the load. Shoot me an email at the address listed above.

[wildhog]

410ranchero, Where are you located? I am only a little over an hour from Mark, if you come this way stop and see my 57 junk.

[410ranchero]

clarksville, Tn, about 8 hours from Mark, but truck frieght for an entire floor would be rediculous. It would cost me about 100 bucks in gas each way, and I'd get a little family vacation out of it. Are you that emailed me Tom? I responded but it got kicked back. Shoot me an email at the address above of you'd like. I'd like to find a one piece front end in fiberglass, I need rockers and all that as well.

[Frankenstein57]

410ranchero, I sent you pics of the floor, did you get them?   Mark

[410ranchero]

Mark I found it in my spam folder.

[410ranchero]

I called Suncoast Racecars today and spoke with the owner Richard Earle. He took the time to answer all my questions and I think this is the way I am going to go with the fiberglass at least. I'll post the info below in case some one else is curious.

Mark I replied to your email, I still want the floor!

Suncoast one piece front end
-consists of fenders, grill support, front bumpers, and hood back to the radiator(approx. 1/3 of original hood)
Price $950

Hood to mate with the one piece front end
$300

The front end does have attachment points for tilt application with stock frame rails. You need a "tree" that is $160 and a set of hinges that are $60.

If you are having this shipped, there would be a $250 crate fee, plus the truck freight to you( he estimated 3-400 to ship to Nashville TN)

The one piece front end does not have inner fenders or core support built it, but will fit mate to the stock parts. Most leave the inner fenders off the car and run a separate support for the radiator thus eliminating the core support as well. They make these in two sizes, the "pro-street" is the full size for a street car. You are able to retain the stock headlights, although the stock buckets are no longer used. You would cut the headlight holes in the front, then fabricate a fiberglass bucket behind the stock bulb, and use the three screw trim ring the retain the headlight. The grill opening is not cut when you receive the front end. You can cut the holes as required for airflow and also make small slits that the factory grill can attach through. They do not offer it in a 57 front end with a 58 hood(that would be pretty cool though). The bumpers are attached to the front end.

The front end itself weights between 40-50 lbs, the hood is another 40-50 lbs. With the ability to remove the core support, inner fenders, stock bumper and brackets along with the cosmetic sheetmetal that is being replaced I think this would be a significant weight savings.