Fiberglass Body Panels - Lateral-g Forums

marxcamaro · #1 12-12-2008, 11:11 AM

I am wondering if anyone has any opinions on the fit, construction and customer service of fiberglass body panels from VFN, US Body Source, Harwood, or glasstek. Thanks in advance for your opinions.

Jim Nilsen · #2 12-13-2008, 01:08 PM

VFN is very good for fit and will build the panel to suit you for strength and weight if you want to order and wait for it to be made. Now is the time to order too. If you wait any longer than a month from now they go full speed ahead on racing bodies for teams and it takes longer. I like them the best and for me I can also pickup istead of ship which is always a plus if you can from any supplier.

The finish on VFN is mostly good but you have to work the surface as with most glass to get perfection.

Harwood is good too especially for finish. The price reflects it and is usually more than VFN.

Glasstech has always been talked of well in most places.

And never buy Unlimited parts unless you are going to crash the car in a movie set and CG the footage LOL

Cread01 · #3 12-13-2008, 02:49 PM

I was very happy with the harwood products I have bought. I had 3 different harwood hoods.

Unlimited was about the worst purchase I have ever made. bad fit. supports in the wrong spots so the hood wouldn't close. body lines bad. then when I tried to return it they gave me so much of a hastle I ended up keeping it.

James OLC · #4 12-14-2008, 09:55 PM

It will ultimately depend on what panels you are looking for as some are available from some supplies while others are not. I have been a fan of Harwood in the past but this last year I got two bolt on hoods that, while they looked good, they absolutely did not fit a first gen Camaro. Bad QC, bad jig, I don't know but they were both a half inch offset.

I really wish that they would have fit - would have saved me the nightmare with the CF hood.

murtah · #5 12-31-2008, 03:28 PM

Concur on Harwood. I have a spare 69 harwood hood with 2inch cowl. Did not even come close to fitting and if you look at it from the side you can see a bow in the middle. 550.00 piece of junk.

They used to have a good rep, but quality assurance, the mold, etc sure is off now. Price is actually higher for the lower quality piece. They will tell you that it fits well when you call them, though. I think their business model for this hood is to cut corners, save money and then roll the dice on whether the customer re-crates and ships it back.

ProTouring442 · #6 01-01-2009, 11:33 AM

Sometimes, I think it's the luck of the draw when it comes to fiberglass. While others here have had good luck with VFN, I have not. I purchased fiberglass bumpers from them for my 442 project, and they had more voids in the fiberglass than one might find in a good Swiss cheese! They were also a bit twisted and poorly trimmed. YMMV and all that.

Shiny Side Up!
Bill