Press Mold Or Handlayed Fiberglass For a Restomod?
 

If you're building a restomod with an aftermarket chassis and LS engine do you want your fiberglass press molded or handlayed? Please chime in with your opinion and explain.

I was always told the money you save buying hand laid you make it back in labor to make it fit and look good.

Resto-Mod: I would go with what ever you can get in a timely manner. As mentioned many time on the CF, PM deliveries are extended. Keith is correct about the difference between the two. I can only think you'd get the HL parts faster.....
:cheers:

Don't understand why someone would build a high-end resto-mod with custom chassis and LS power and then scrimp on the fiberglass. Press molded all day long in my book.

I agree with that, and I've built a lot of them. The labor involved to get good fitment with a HL part is off the charts. Press molded all day. As the ad says: " Do it right, or don't do it at all".

I agree with that 100%. I can understand not sourcing a car with a perfect original-panel body to do a restomod (especially a 63, since they had so many quality issues), but I would certainly want the highest quality new body panels I could get. An extra $10-15K parts cost in the process of building a custom car is almost insignificant.

As someone who has hand laid composites, and used autoclave processes, hard/hard and hard/soft tooling to produce formed composite parts professionally, I would not choose hand-laid.

Why not choose and go with best. Also agree…..press molded all the way.



John

As a non-professional, I'll just say that HL looks cheap. To the extent the back side of the panels is visible, it would make me question the quality of the build.

My hand laid nose replacement as part of my recent restoration. It is a CI nose, and I could not be happier. I specifically chose HL as I do not want the seams telegraphing... which they all seem to do over time (yes.. albeit an extended time like 20 years :) ). But hopefully one gets my point. I feel that all the vibration over time, not to mention the 'suck in' as the various materials shrink over time as they cure and de-gas, will eventually telegraph through hair line stress cracks in the paint. To create a look of authenticity to it (plus added some strength as a side benefit) I bonded in some of the more highly visible bonding strips.

Did it take me a good bit more tie to fit the inner fenders, etc. Yes.. of course. But I got what I believe is a stronger nose w/o all the seams... and... well... my time is a penny on the hour... so all my extra hours did not cost me anything (where a PM nose would have been $6k more). BTW... the quality of the nose was spot on in terms of proper shape / contours. I do not think a PM nose would have needed any less primer / blocking / prep work... and perhaps would have needed even more.



https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...9514bc6d67.jpg
Where it all started
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...6f3583847f.jpg
Corvette Image 1 piece nose. I added some (not all) bonding strips to make it look a little more original.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...1fe209a27a.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...f21984d8a5.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...b8f6171c2e.jpg

VERY NICE! My thinking was simply that a resto-mod didn't use or need factory panels. My PM replacement panels were extremely nice. But, I guess it matters even with modified Corvette's to use quality panels.

65GTO,
That bodywork looks REALLY NICE!:thumbs:

I would walk away from a resto-mod or stock Corvette if it had hand laid panels on it. If they cheaped out on the body panels what else did they cheap out on! Just my 2 cents

PM all the way. I’ve worked with fiberglass for several decades as a hobbiest and there is no comparison.

I waited months for press molded parts for a 67. None of it was usable. It was purchased from one of the manufacturers often discussed here. The inner skirt was crude and inconsistent in thickness. The side fender was at least 3 times as thick and extremely heavy when compared with an original. Lastly, the wheel lip did not remotely match the contour of the lamp panel. I was fortunate enough to be able to return it and have since sourced all NOS parts. If you decide to use press molded, be sure to research the manufacturer and quality of their parts. In addition, be prepared to set the project to the side for about a year. That’s how much time I lost waiting for parts that weren’t any good.

I bought a car that had a hand laid front end on already. Someone did a very nice job of installing it, but the car is black and years later you can see the fiberglass imperfections, it became wavy from the heat and nothing you can do about it. Definitely press mold as long as it is truly a press mold part not just a double sided mold.

Absolutely agree!! There is a difference.

Truth be told, most of the parts being sold as press molded actually aren’t. They are match molded.

Thanks !!! I am slow... but good !!! ha ha !!! I could never earn a living at it... too slow. But quality work takes time.

I see most people are on the PM bandwagon. I'm just relating my experience. Also, the source of your hand laid plays a major part in this choice. Not all vendors have a good product. I will not bash vendors here in public... we need our vendors in this hobby... but I sent back 2 noses from 2 diff vendors, one was very poor quality, the other the quality of the work was good, but the molds they were using were bad. The nose came with that dreaded top of fender droop already molded into the new nose. They either let their molds sag or pulled a mold from a nose that the top of fender droop was already present.

The 3rd nose, the CI nose, is a very high quality unit (can't say the same for what one will get now that CI has been sold to new owners). I have done enough hands-on restorations and body work to know good, from bad, from excellent quality. But I would not hesitate using a CI hand laid nose again... at least the 62 nose. And I call out the 62 only because just because someone's 62 mold is excellent, it doesn't mean a mold they have for some other year is just as good. Case in point; About 10 years ago I did a nose replacement on my brothers 67 convert. That was a one piece also (his $$$... he wanted to save $$). The quality of that was pretty good. As a result, the 1st 62 nose I got was from that same vendor. The 62 nose.... bad mold... that one had the top of fender droop clearly already there. So it is not a 'universal' that all one piece noses are bad... or good. If one gets a bad one, let's not universally say they are all junk. it is a combination of who did the lay-up work that day, the quality of the materials used, and the quality of the molds they use. The CI nose for a 62 clearly is top quality.

Also.. it is not about 'cheaping out'. I could have used any nose I wanted. But IMO the one peice nose, with no seams and bonding joints is a stronger nose that is less likely to show hairline fractures in the paint at the bonding joints as there is no bonding joints.

Anyway... just adding to the dialog and shared knowledge :)

It's the quality of the part; either could be good or bad but with that said I would be concerned about fitment with a hand laid part.

Great Thread! I've been thinking about getting a new nose for my 58, since the one I have needs a lot of work. It appears to be original but apparently been hit at some point in it's life. I was really considering a one piece HL from CI, but now I'm wondering if I should go PM. It's going to be my car and not one I'm building to flip, so there's that. I will continue to follow this thread and make a decision later, not in a real big hurry.

Dex.