Fiberglass fenders any negative trade offs?

[Thumper]

I have a 72 240z with no right fender and hood. I am going to replace the hood with a carbon fiber one, but I am wondering if I should get fiberglass fenders with the headlight extensions. Or should I just find a halfway decent steel panel at a junk yard and fix it up. If I bought one side I would replace the other side as well. I'm willing to cough up the money but I am unsure of any long term problems I might have with the fiberglass. I am also worried on how the fiberglass fenders will look next to the steel doors once painted. My car will be a daily driven 240z with an occasional solo II event or drag event thrown in. TIA

[Dan Juday]

Fiberglass has several potential pitfalls.

If the glass is not layed up evenly the panel can "move around" or deform with changes in temperature.

Cracks. Stress cracks from poor manufactuing practices, poor fit, and simple body flexing. Cracks from small rocks being flung off the tires onto the underside of the fender making stars on the top surface. Cracks from bone heads leaning against your fender.

There's poor fit problems.

If you buy top quality parts ($) and pay a top quality body shop with lots of fiberglass experiance (more $) you can achive acceptable results.

But IMHO, steel is by far a better choice for a non-modified street car. This coming from a guy with four fiberglass fenders on his Z.

[frank280zx]

Dan Juday just covered it IMHO... mostly you can see if a 'plastic' car has been painted in the summer or winter cuase of teh changes in tempreture.. a winter painted car wont look perfect in summer and vise versa..

 

i go with steel !