steel or fiberglass gt fender flars Options

[stevenhaas]

I just bought my first 914 and it just showed up this morning from the west coast. So needless to say, I’m new to the board and the car…. My first order of business is to start collecting parts needed to begin body work. This leads me to my question:

Steel GT fenders VS Fiberglass.

Has anyone used fiberglass fenders on their street cars??? Have they cracked??? Have they held up to the true test of time??? Or should I save up and get the steel ones??

Thanks for any feedback!

[don9146]

QUOTE (Jeroen @ Apr 10 2005, 11:52 AM)

QUOTE (don9146 @ Apr 10 2005, 05:10 AM) QUOTE (Jeroen @ Apr 9 2005, 09:51 PM) if you have THAT much twisting on such a small area of the car, you have other things to worry about than cracked f/g (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/laugh.gif) Before the rusted longitudinals were fixed on my car, the windsheild would rattle every time I crossed railroad tracks! After it was fixed (and the Brad Mauyer stiffening kit installed), there is still cowl shake, but not so much it is scary. With no roof, the longitudinals are the ONLY part of the car that resist torsional flex (i.e. chassis twisting). And with this car being drawn-up before CAD/CAM was available, it probably doesn't have one-tenth the resistance of a modern convertible, much less a current car with a permanent roof. And this is with a stock suspension. If the car is modified with current performance tires and upgraded suspension components, the effects are multiplied. So yes, chassis flex will cause the flares to separate. yes, a 914 chassis will twist but to say that the f/g flares will crack because of that is a lot of (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/bs.gif) IMHO

Can anyone think of another reason why the following scenario occurred:

A FG flared 914 owner's flares would separate from the body, so he used an aerospace glue to bond the flares to the car. The new adhesive worked great, but now that the flares will not separate from the car, the flares cracked. To me, that seems like an obvious problem with chassis flex.

I hope that I'm wrong and everyone with fiberglass flares has no issues, the owner of the car lives long and propers, the seed from his loins is fruitful in the belly of his woman, etc. I also promise that if anyone's fiberglass flares separate from their car or cracks I will not say "I told you so!" since I gave that phrase up in the 3rd grade.

Later,
Don