fiberglass or sheetmetal??

[66gt350]

Ok guys...need your opinions. Currently on my fastback, I've got fiberglass fenders and racing apron that's all one piece. I'm not racing anymore, so I'm trying to decide if I want to go back to sheet metal fenders, but go with the same type apron -- with or without bumper is the next decision. The front end is in ok shape. The fiberglass is pretty old. IIRC, the guy I bought it from said that it was made by maier racing back in about '76-'77. It does need some work. The headlight buckets is the biggest problems. It tough trying to get them to line up and there's about a 1/4 in gap between the fender and the bucket.

so, should I keep the glass front end and have it brought back into shape or sell it to someone who will actually do some racing?

thanks
-rob

 

[daveSanborn]

The one-piece fender/apron assemblies that I've seen are designed primarily for racing and as such are pretty flimsy. If you decide to refurbish the existing one-piece assembly, will it pass muster for a daily driver car or will it look out of place?

 

[66gt350]

Originally, this was four separate pieces that the PO glassed together. There's not a whole lot of flex or movement in the pieces. If I can the the headlight buckets to be flush against the fenders, they may be able to be passable for a daily driver -- that's more of what I'm doing with the car instead of racing.

I'll try and get some pics of the headlight buckets/fender interface when I get home tonight.

 

[Fast68back]

Any chance of it cracking or being a different shade/color after paint? If so, I'd switch back to metal

 

[66gt350]

Well, here's 'bout as close as I can get the headlight buckets to line up...
Passenger side.

The driver's side I guess I didn't save correctly, but it's better, just has a gap along the top, but is flush against the fender.

 

[garner67]

Depends on your goals and budget.

If you want a nice driver that you can take to an occasional show or track event, I'd personally go with sheet metal. Sure you could spent the time/money to get your fiberglass into decent shape, but the car would probably retain a better resale value with sheet metal.

my 2 cents.

Are you planning to paint it? If so, what color are you going with?

 

[66gt350]

The car was mainly a street/strip car with the focus on the 1/4 mile. But I must be slowin' down in my old age and I want it to be a daily driver. I think that I may have found some oem headlight buckets and a PS fender a couple of hours away for a decent price. So, I'm leaning on going with metal and sell the glass front end to someone who will use it at the track.

After I get everything else done to it, i hope to get it painted. But that's down the road after I get a power rack in her. I want to paint it the original shelby color scheme, but I don't like the original colors. So, I plan to get the brightest white I can, and add some silver metallic and for the strips go with the deepest darkest blue metalic I can get.