Rear Quarter panels

[Euan Clayton]

I was watching Wheeler Dealers on Tuesday Night, where they were restoring a Z1.

This got me thinking about a possible solution for replacement rear quarter panels. i.e. since the outer panels on the Z3 are not structural, could these be vacuum formed in ABS. The front wings on my Renault Scenic are ABS.

I was wondering if anyone else has looked in to this possibility, since aftermarket steel panels do not seem to be available, and I was quoted £395 for one panel from my local BMW dealer, which then has to be fitted and painted. This solution might also work with the sill covers, although this may need some reinforcement around the jacking points.

I am also trying to gauge if there would be sufficient interest to have a run of these produced.

 

[Brian H]

@Euan Clayton, @Stormy_be is producing some fibreglass panels from what I remember but not sure how close he is to being able to sell these on to customers.

I think the idea is a good one, will it be a profitable one? …………...I suspect not, well not at least in the short term. If these parts could be reproduced to a good standard and at a reasonable price then I'm sure people would buy them, our cars are now knocking on a bit and the dreaded tin worm is starting to rear its ugly head.

 

[Euan Clayton]

This is the problem. It seems very difficult to get a good rust free example second hand, although I did see a couple on ebay from the states at $275 plus about the same for postage.

I reckon buying new, fitting myself and having them sprayed will cost about £550-600 per corner.

The biggest issue with plastic or fibreglass will be ensuring the quality is there and in the future, will having non original panels reduce the desire ability.

 

[Grumps]

I wouldn't think desirability would be an issue on non oem panels. If there of a good quality, finish, strength and fitment I would think you'd be onto a winner. I don't see it being a huge profitable business but a side line certainly. Rear quarters and outer sills are there things to look into. Marked up sensibly I think you'd do OK.

 

[t-tony]

The front wings on my Touareg are plastic so VW obviously think it's the way to go.

Tony.

 

[Euan Clayton]

Need to look into this further. Will try and get hold of one to try as a sample. Reckon it could be a good bit cheaper than 600 per corner.

 

[hard top]

As @Brian H has already stated @Euan Clayton contact @Stormy_be via PM.
Last year he was going to make a bonnet and bumper for me and has already advertised his sills on here.

This thread......https://zroadster.org/threads/help-please.7743/#post-114741

Edit: See you have a 1.9, Stormy's molds are from a 2.8 pre-facelift.

 

[Brian4]

Could be very expensive in ABS
the mould for rear wings will be at least £50k to make for each side which would be a similar price to the ones for steel wings when stamped originally.

The reason replacement wings are the price they are as we are now effectively paying the storage costs for those that were made when the cars were being built.
If none are now available they will be put on back order until there are sufficient orders to retrieve the original tooling and run the presses for a batch of new items.

 

[Euan Clayton]

Was reckoning on vacuum forming. Certainly injection moulding would be very costly.

 

[Brian4]

If you can find some info could be useful.

 

[Stormy_be]

As stated above, I do make fiberglass reproductions (and even starting with some carbonfiber).
For the moment the process is still very costly on man hours. The finish and strength of the end product is not an issue.
The hours needed to have a spot-on end product is the thing I'm working on for the moment.
As I only want to deliver a top quality finish, but of course I don't want to work for free or even with a loss.

So pieces can be ordered/produced, no problem there.
They will be top quality.
Time/delay of the production is something that is not (yet) as it could be...hoping people can live with that for the moment.

Regards, Koen

 

[Euan Clayton]

Any idea about cost,Koen?

@Stormy_be

 

[Cooper]

Get them made in China! Fly over there to make sure the quality is set up like you want and..... out they come! Get every panel moulded, perhaps in India? I have a lot of international contacts I will start asking around.

 

[Stormy_be]

Any idea about cost,Koen?

@Stormy_be

I would need to check.
I will let you know this evening.

 

[Stormy_be]

Rear quarter panels are 220€ each (ex VAT) in fiberglass finished in gelcoat colour of your choice.
For info: for the moment I only have moulds for pre-facelift wide-body rear quarter panels.

Regards,
Koen