I'm thinking about putting the 1969 style sidepipes on my 1973. Does anyone here have any experience with the replacement fiberglass paintable covers? Good? Bad? Any paint problems?

 

There was a member here with those covers. He eventually replaced them with the real thingy.

 

No personal experience, but a number of folks have 'em and it seem the only real problem is getting the look right. Pretty hard to duplicate that polished alloy finish, I guess.

Hans

 

I had my covers professionally painted for $150, and they look fantastic...in fact my neighbor thought they were metal.....also, I've seen pics of home painted covers that look just as good......

However, I installed mine last November and I have had one major problem with the fibreglass covers......

I packed the covers off the car so there was a 1/2" gap along the bottom edge between the pipes and the cover...warmed the car up for 5 minutes and the gap was still 1/2"....then drove for 3 minutes until I could smell burning fibreglass.....the heat from the pipes weakened the fibreglass, warped and twisted them against the pipes, and burned them to a charcoal finish on the inside....blistered and heat stained the paint on the outside......this is only on the lower edge, which can't be seen....

....after the car cooled down, the fibreglass "remembered" where they were installed and there was a 1/2" gap again......

I have since lined the inside of the covers with a heat blanket good to 600 C using an adhesive good to 1000 C....the blanket has turned a brown "cooked pizza base" colour......the covers are too hot to touch, but not as hot as bare pipes........

I had hoped these covers would last 2-3 years, but I don't think they'll last 6 months.......especially the paint, which I'm sure will just start flaking off....

It has been suggested that my problem is advanced timing, but there are no signs of detonation......but I'm going to have to find out....

I don't know what the difference is between the fibreglass insulators on the metal covers and this fibreglass, although the insulator looks denser and more substantial.....

In hindsight, I should have gone with the metal covers........

 

I have heard some people complain about the fiberglass covers as they really don't hold up very well for overly long. Of course the metal covers will set your wallet reaction from stun to kill pretty fast.

See if a metal shop can duplicate the look of the originals, if you already have the fiberglass covers or know someone who does just bring them in and see. Would have to cost less than buying the "NOS" friggin things. Plus if you can get them to pump out a few sets then I am sure you could sell them pretty fast here