Door skins

T

Throttleton

Well-Known Forum User
New moulds are finished for doors, inners and outers but had a thought and wondered what everyone else thought.
Obviously it's a bit of a chew on replacing steel doors for plastic (unless race).
If you had doors which the inners were ok but the skins were tatty or bodged up and needed replacing I could put together a 'kit' of perfect door skins made from decent materials with the right bonding material included so a guy with basic tool sense can nip his old knackered skins off and bond new skins on.
Seems an easy upgrade.
 
How sturdy would the plastic doors be ?, My drivers door just doesn't fit as well as I'd of liked after having a new skin fitted, Would the plastic doors take all the gubbins from the steel doors OK ?. ie window winders/glass/locks/catches.

Can you make them with steel reinforcement to help in case of a side impact and to give them a bit more weight.

And last but not least, How much for a plastic tail gate ?.


Rob
 
Throttleton said:
New moulds are finished for doors, inners and outers but had a thought and wondered what everyone else thought.
Obviously it's a bit of a chew on replacing steel doors for plastic (unless race).
If you had doors which the inners were ok but the skins were tatty or bodged up and needed replacing I could put together a 'kit' of perfect door skins made from decent materials with the right bonding material included so a guy with basic tool sense can nip his old knackered skins off and bond new skins on.
Seems an easy upgrade.
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There will clearly be a market for both skins and doors but IMO both items willl devalue the vast majority of cars in a similar way that fitting fibreglass wings bonnets etc does.
Out and out competition cars excepted of course. But even with competition cars it will be important to check first and see if the particular set of rules for the events to be entered.permits them.
So my summary ... its not an upgrade its a downgrade with limited market appeal.

You asked.....
had a thought and wondered what everyone else thought.
i have responded.
And now i will get my coat.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Pete,

you could say the same about fitting after-market wheels to a Z but how many do you see with the orginals on gaining in value ? And never mind about those who cut their wings for ZG arches and do engine swaps.......

This is about people keeping their cars on the road in presentable condition if not better and at a reasonable budget. I hardly think most here really count what their Z is worth and anything done can be undone by a future prospecter !

My tuppence and I'm now off.
 
datsun dave said:
So Mr Dezart your car still has the original L24 engine.
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No ! And it's probably worth jack-shit now but :

a) it's on the road and driveable

b) it give me a lot of fun

Isn't that the point rather than keeping it's value ? Let those that wish speculate, life's too short and a Z is for driving !
 
datsun dave said:
So Mr Dezart your car still has the original L24 engine.
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What has this comment got to do with fibre glass panels???
start your own debate with Monsewer Dessert about engines elsewhere.
Its rude to hijack threads.
i
Throttleton asked for opinions on his doors/door panel ideas
Do you have an opinion on this worth airing??
 
SeanDezart said:
No ! And it's probably worth jack-shit now but :

a) it's on the road and driveable

b) it give me a lot of fun

Isn't that the point rather than keeping it's value ? Let those that wish speculate, life's too short and a Z is for driving !
Click to expand...

Same applies to you.
Its downright rude to hijack threads and turn them in to an irrelevant bunfight.
Go discuss engines and your car elsewhere.

Throttleton....
Here is the perfect example of why I rarely post on this forum now.
Virtually every thread gets hijacked by people with their own agenda and ego to massage.
 
SeanDezart said:
This is about people keeping their cars on the road in presentable condition if not better and at a reasonable budget. I hardly think most here really count what their Z is worth and anything done can be undone by a future prospecter !

My tuppence and I'm now off.
Click to expand...

Wow I actually agree with something Sean has said lol, I don't give a toss how much my car is worth as long as it goes and looks OK ish.




Rob
 
My Views:

Fibreglass panels should not be put on a decent road car. I agree with pmac.

A fibreglass door with a steel skin might be good :thumbs:

I have not seen a good fibreglass panel on a Z, however at the Le Mans Classic last year I had a look at an early 911 with top quality fibreglass panels (800kg). I had to tap them to check they were not metal.
 
Anyone needing doors for their z will welcome this with open arms as doors nor skins are available anymore. GRP or carbon tailgates, bonnets, wings, rear 1/4's etc will all have a market wether it be resto projects or competition cars. The early z is one of the very few classic cars where mods do not seem to affect its value, then again they have been under valued for so many years now anyway, give me a moded z any day, grp light weight panels can only be a bonus + they won't rot :thumbs:.
 
Rob Gaskin said:
My Views:

Fibreglass panels should not be put on a decent road car. I agree with pmac.
Click to expand...

I also agree with the above as well, My car has had a fair bit of welding so isn't worth that much anyway, Well not to anybody else but me I suppose, So a bit of carbon would be great lol, With the extra weight the poor old girl has to carry about with my fat arse behind the wheel she'll be sighing with relief :lol::lol::lol:.


Rob
 
If you can fit all the OEM window and lock stuff into the doors and the doors follow the OEM shape/design exactly, then I would have little or no issues with fitting them if I was in need of some doors
 
Rob Gaskin said:
My Views:

Fibreglass panels should not be put on a decent road car. I agree with pmac.

A fibreglass door with a steel skin might be good

I have not seen a good fibreglass panel on a Z
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Complete rollocks in bold ! Why not ? And define decent 'cos specifically these panels are aimed at less than decent road cars :confused:?

And then you go and contradict yourself with a f/g door with a steel skin.....:confused::confused:

There is also the option of removing 'decent' metal panels and put safely to one side to protect from weather and track-days and all to protect future value as a steel version....thought of that ?

But it all comes down to the last statement "I have not seen a good fibreglass panel on a Z" - have any of you ? Aren't you STILL prejudging f/g panels as lumpy fish-ponds ?

Open your eyes and minds.

Pete - you're not hijacking this thread but worse - you're twisting the story - YOU mentioned that value would prohibit YOU fitting f/g panels.

I state that my comments on other non-oem parts fitted don't affect values or perhaps mre rightly, thier owners are not concerned so perhaps with a choice of not driving their Z or driving with f/g panels.......what should they do ?

Ah yes, import one.............:rolleyes:
 
Rob Gaskin said:
My Views:

Fibreglass panels should not be put on a decent road car. I agree with pmac.

A fibreglass door with a steel skin might be good :thumbs:

I have not seen a good fibreglass panel on a Z, however at the Le Mans Classic last year I had a look at an early 911 with top quality fibreglass panels (800kg). I had to tap them to check they were not metal.
Click to expand...

Ok Sean, I'll expand.

Would this car be as attractice to a buyer if it had FG panels?

1974 Original California 260Z (One owner 33 years), - Z Club Classifieds

If a metal door is not easily available use a FG one but with a metal skin (available?) so that the look, feel and perhaps fit of the door is more like the original. That's just a thought at this stage. If you have a very nice original car that gets damaged then surely you would 'find' a steel replacement door from somewhere :confused:.

Yes I suppose the only FG panels I have seen have not been top quality (I have not seen any from Throttleton). I have a FG rear hatch on my car and it does not fit as well as an original steel one and feels 'wrong' when you open it and it twists etc. I would not want one of these on a nice 240.

However FG panels have a place and I love them on my car - easy to work with (cut, drill, lift, cheap to repair etc) , no future rusting and of course usually a significant weight saving.

Carbon fibre appears the best alternative to steel, it is more rigid, lighter and the build quality is better but these products cost a lot more. For some reason I wouldn't be so against Carbon-fibre on a decent Z - is that the image, quality, cost, trend thing??

Sean, do you have any FG panels on your car?
 
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Rob,

The car you quote as per others of that quality would be devalued if they only had f/g panels…..BUT, if f/g panels were fitted to protect the cars’ original steel ones supplied with the car, allowing any owner to enjoy the car on the road and easily replace said f/g panels in case of……then they would enhance the cars’ value.

Why should a metal skin better aid the fit of the door ? As for feel, a nice way to have a period feel on any S30 door is to stick some rubber on the inside to weigh it down and give a nice ‘clunk’ when shutting as most of ‘em sound ‘tinny’ and rattle when you close ‘em ! But who does that ? It adds weight and might soak up moisture !!!

Cars of obvious value can always have steel skins made up – there is an alternative between no OEM parts and f/g !

Personally, I’m not impressed with c/f – great material, light, strong and belongs on race-tracks. My personal opinion only. I prefer the look and feel of e-glass (the best compromise of quality and price between pond-liners like everything people have seen before and currently have on their cars and c/f) which I shall be fitting hopefully over the winter period.

So no, I currently don’t have any f/g panels fitted but yes, I shall have ‘em. My steel panels are perfect, they shall remain so, nicely and safely tucked away in my dry, warm garage and I shall ‘risk’ the f/g ones on the tracks and roads (only needs a wild boar or deer to leap out at me and the panels’ll be in a right mess) with – as you stated the added benefit of Chapman lightness. The E-glass panels are lighter than the old, thick pondliner stuff which will help offset the addition of a rollcage planned.

With 100% f/g doors, I strongly recommend some form of serious protection for the occupants.

The main point to remember is that this modern f/g (E-glass) is miles away from council dustbins and that there should be a market not only for competition and track-day cars but road cars as well, whether that be to protect the original steel panels or to replace shagged parts within a reasonable budget.
 
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