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Old Feb 18, 2006 | 07:03 PM
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I was looking up info on corvettes and I found this about the C4...

"The C4 Corvette is known for its sleek look. Instead of fiberglass, it was made from reaction injected molding plastics, a sheet molding compound." -Wikepedia

So what exactly does this mean? Are C4's made of plastic? And is this even a safe car to drive?
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Old Feb 18, 2006 | 07:37 PM
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Don`t know about seftey,but it sure is fun to drive.
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Old Feb 18, 2006 | 08:08 PM
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Sounds good to me
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Old Feb 18, 2006 | 08:13 PM
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Originally Posted by 4Ever21
I was looking up info on corvettes and I found this about the C4...

"The C4 Corvette is known for its sleek look. Instead of fiberglass, it was made from reaction injected molding plastics, a sheet molding compound." -Wikepedia

So what exactly does this mean? Are C4's made of plastic? And is this even a safe car to drive?
I think the started that in teh early '80's with the 80 or 81 model. I remember talking to someone about that.

Whhat we have to remember here is that the body panels may not be metal, but they surround a birdcage of sorts. I don't have a pic handy, but a cutaway pic shows the framework in our cars, the body simply covers it(and keeps us dry and warm when we need it).
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Old Feb 18, 2006 | 08:15 PM
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Click on the My Corvette phots under my avatar. Enlarge the first pic.
That was the result of a 4wd Silverado hitting the right rear wheel at 55 mph. I got out without a scratch. That is safe
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Old Feb 18, 2006 | 08:27 PM
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It is called SMC (Sheet Molded Composite) and is stronger than fiberglass.The saftey cage that everthing attaches to is very durable but because of the cost to repair the SMC most Vettes that get hammered hard get totaled instead of being fixed.
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Old Feb 19, 2006 | 12:27 AM
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Thanks for the info, I tried looking up some info on this earlier but couldnt find anything. I have noticed from pictures on here that the frame seems to be very tough and all the people have walked away from these crashes.
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Old Feb 19, 2006 | 01:05 AM
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Originally Posted by SK.LT1
Don`t know about seftey,but it sure is fun to drive.
Safe and fun!
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Old Feb 19, 2006 | 01:17 AM
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Default Smc

SMC - sheet molded compound- is fiberglass with the mold release built into it.

It's faster for the factory to make parts that way. They lay the SMC in the mold, spray on activator and whaa-la.

The reason SMC is harder to work with is the mold release. You need to use epoxy for patching because other things won't stick.
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