Mr K
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,993
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cost. all reliants were hand made..... and I'm pretty sure no manufacturer has produced a glass car using robots (unless anyone knows of any?)
reliant did a lot to speed up production and reduce the labour costs towards the end, but they were always having to face the fact that they were hand made cars and they couldnt get away from that without masses and masses of development and expense.
a lot of cars use plastic panels! even from the 80s, hond CRX wings and head lamp surround / slam panels are all plastic.
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Ahhh,, Hand made thats something to be proud of  and hand made in Britian? two cooly faces? did not think of that  |
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 it doesn't matter if it's a Morris Marina or a Toyota Celica - it's what you do with it that counts |
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mot men tend not to like grp as a structural repair as it a different material to the rest of the car and could be considered a bodge on a steel car,also grp replacement cant be considered if the original wings are structural as its hard to bond them on with sufficient strength.imps are a case i point as part of the strength is provided by the front and rear wings.fitting plastic front wings could be dangerous in a crash and fitting rear wings can cause the shell to droop over the chassis.
and yes grp can be done by machine,ish.you can spray the gel-coat and csm-resin mix on but you will still need a certain amount of hand finishing to get rid of air bubbles etc,even if you have an auto-clave.
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look at the pounding offshore power boats take and tell me fiberglass isnt strong.
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Volvo back as my main squeeze, more boost and some interior goodies on the way.
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I hadn't thought of the hand made thing. That explains it.  Lotus & TVR still use it don't they? |
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Hey i'm happy already!  |
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it doesn't matter if it's a Morris Marina or a Toyota Celica - it's what you do with it that counts |
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Thinking about it, the last Reliant three wheelers were built only a couple of miles from here, and from speaking to a guy who worked there, it was a REALLY labour-intensive process - and that in turn made the cars quite expensive. I don't think the workers ever got their final pay packet in the end when it all went pear shaped (the business, not the fibreglass! ;D) - cheap cars = low overheads = less money tied up = non-bankrupt car companies...  |
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My fleet:
Suzuki GSX-R600Y SRAD with bald, melted tyres
A borrowed Mondeo
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"Major auto manufacturers dismissed plastic bodies following an unsuccessful Ford experiment in the early 1940s, but William Tritt demonstrated that a body made of polyester resin and glass strands was practical, economical to produce, and superior to steel in many ways. Tritt introduced the Glasspar in 1951 and made about 300 sports car bodies by hand over a period of several years. Despite its advantages, the plastic car seemed destined to remain a low-volume vehicle because of slow production and limited capital investment; only one Glasspar body was made per day. But in 1953, General Motors decided to make Corvette bodies of fiberglass and consulted with Tritt about production methods. By the 1960s, GM was making more than 20,000 fiberglass-body Corvettes per year by using dies and presses instead of making bodies in molds."
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Volvo back as my main squeeze, more boost and some interior goodies on the way.
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gtm libras are all-fibre...and stiffer than an elise.
I want one...
*n
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Top grammar tips!
Bought = purchased. Brought = relocated
Lose = misplace/opposite of win. Loose = your mum
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Panda Matt
Part of things
Datsun Owners Club Wannabe
Posts: 734
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Seen people warned off glass wings on the MR2 forum lots recently, and I even posted up pandamatt's fastback as an example of how invisible they can look.  I'm a big fan - no rust and potentially lighter weight = teh winnzor . As people have said, GRP (and carbon - its the same technology basically) is too expensive for large scale production. ~3000 units and it's cost effective vs. metal. A secret - most 'Carbon Fibre' production cars will also contain GRP. (In some that I know about the insides of, it's actually roughly 2 parts glass : 1 part carbon, but hey...) Other contributory factors that prevent large scale production are public image - as discussed here and the questionable recyclability of the components. New cars have to be a certain % recyclable, or the car manufacture has to pay a levy on the difference. Themoplastic plastics (e.g. clio wings or smart car body panels) can be recycled. Thermoset polymers used as the basis for mass bearing panels (Lotus, TVR's when they still existed, Reliants etc... - the stuff used in GRP) are not recyclable to their original state. Small scale, technologically proficient, clever and good cars = composite materials, sexy, better in every way to metal  Bulk manufacture for drones = Steel. or if you're keeping up with the Jones'; Aluminium ...whichever you think is best... (Mark, for info, I'm at the prototyping facility this week for training - part of which I need to make a 'homer' - pics to follow hopefully!) |
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so if someone set fire to a Clio the front wings would just melt?
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This is why I love this forum, great work. factoid gold, brilliant. -Citroen BX's have loads of plastic plastic too, bonnet, tailgate wings etc? and thats why they are good on juice, fast, and and paint falls off. another point I thought of, a glass body should not lock in someone in a crash like a metal one could do, just a thought, not a fact though  |
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it doesn't matter if it's a Morris Marina or a Toyota Celica - it's what you do with it that counts |
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i`m all for fibreglass. i reckon EVERYTHING should be made in glass! but i`m just biased cos i`ve been earning my living doing `glass for the last 16 years!! when i was looking for my latest project i wanted a `glass car cos of doing modifications,repairs etc and thats why i chose the kitten. i`ve made the original rear arches 7 inches longer and i`ve got to either modify the front arches or extend the front end. cheap and easy if you know what you`re doing! ;D
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Panda Matt
Part of things
Datsun Owners Club Wannabe
Posts: 734
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so if someone set fire to a Clio the front wings would just melt? No, they'd burn. Thermoplastic |
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