Replicas / Kit cars

C

chevy_power427

I've searched the forum, and have seen a few replicas been done by some of you guys. I was wondering how were they, fit of the panels, fiberglass wavyness, and construction of the frame. Me, and the mechanics shop next to mine have been looking at them lately, and probably we could have a customer that might be interested. We have looked at Factory Five, and I just discovered AC Autos which have a 56/57 Corvette kit, but I never heard of these guys.
 
Factory Five hot rod here. Chassis goes together easily. Body is fiberglass and is well....fiberglass. Panels are oversize and need to be trimmed to fit (which makes sense but people bitch about it).

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Also did body and paint on FFR Cobra for a friend. Lot less bodywork than the hotrod.


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Over the past 25 years or so I have worked on more than a few glass bodies. Unless you have plenty of time to spend you are miles ahead if you spend the extra money and get the best glass body you can find. They all will need some work but some will cause more headaches and frustration than others. Usually the cheaper ones need more work. It all boils down to how good the body was before it was molded and did they correct any flaws in the molds themselves before they started pulling parts out of them. I use to work for a guy that made high end fiberglass body kits and he always fixed the molds before making parts. That way the parts themselves just needed to be trimmed out and sent on their way. He is retired now and no longer does it. I learned alot from him and I am thankful to him for allowing me to learn. Theres alot more to it than most people will ever know. I hope my advice and experience will help you in your decision. Right now i am helping a friend with a 32 coupe glass body and we are having a fit getting everything to line up right but we are getting there. Good luck and keep us posted
 
But I imagine if comparing a kit car, like a 32 convertible, with the work required next to a junker that need to be stripped, sheetmetal work, frame repair...... It could be worth it. Having the panels oversize seems like a good idea to get good seams, a small detail I didn't know about. A cheap and bad quality is like everything else I guess, you get what you pay for. That Factory Five frame sure looks like something!
 
That is for sure, resale value is a thing too. Also we are going to have to see what are the laws around here to get these things on the road. They have become a lot more strict with cars around here.
 
if you are doing a 56=57 vette you will come out light years ahead with an oem body and numbers. i may do another one but i will buy a gm car to build.
 
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