I take it that most of us on this site have at least heard of V-Fiber and Duraflex body kits, but does anybody know if they actually hold up the way the companies say they do? After watching the videos that both companies showed, it seems they can withstand a hell of a beating. If anybody has any input let me know!
Hope is not a plan. Change is not a destination.
A friend of mine has a duraflex kit on his del sol. He hit a raccoon a cpl weeks ago, it didnt shatter, but it is cracked. It held up a lot better than expected, but nothing compared to a Urethane kit. Urethane it would'a bounced off, the duraflex still cracked. Fibreglass itself would've shattered, especially if its cold out.
Just my 2 cents, hope it helps.
I know its not a close up shot (I was shooting 8 cars that day in 1 hour) but this is 2 weeks after he hit the raccoon on the passenger side.
- T.
Yeah I know it's nothing like urethane, but I can't afford $1200 + shipping + paint for a body kit. That's pretty good for any body kit though, I hit a pheasant with the factory bumper on my cavalier and it gave it a nice big dent. So that's about what I wanted to hear
Hope is not a plan. Change is not a destination.
from my experiences it's really no different than regular fiberglass. I know they have those videos showing them bending and twisting it, however I guarantee if you get the kit and try it.....that isn't quite the case.
A quality fiberglass kit manufacturer product will be just as good if not better than the duraflex.
Again, just my experiences, but from what I've been told it's a marketing ploy.
Derek Trout wrote:Yeah I know it's nothing like urethane, but I can't afford $1200 + shipping + paint for a body kit. That's pretty good for any body kit though, I hit a pheasant with the factory bumper on my cavalier and it gave it a nice big dent. So that's about what I wanted to hear
So just for example sake, say you buy the duraflex kit or even a fiberglass one. You get it painted and on the car, say $500-$1000 max including paint. And then someone rear ends you (bumper WILL shatter regardless, its nothing like hitting an animal lol on that one) or you lose control and hit something solid from the side or front, or whatever. In the end causing you to have to replace either pieces of the kit or even the entire kit, then you have to replace it and you're spending double what you already did/intended and you're beyond or at the $1200 point. Would it not have been more beneficial to just save the extra money and get the right one ?? There are other alternatives to the price y'know. Find the parts used ? If you have a common colour car and you're picking a rather popular kit then its usually fairly easy to piece together a used kit.
I paid $900 for mine and bought the pieces over time as they became available/found. I was lucky 3 of the 4 kit pieces were already my colour. I got the rear and sides first. Then I got rear ended on my way to work one morning, my urethane bumper folded down and kept the lip in tact, the shop that repaired my car refabricated the lip to a new bumper and painted it so even if mine did need paint it didnt anymore lol That was luck. Then I found the front bumper but it was in tan and flaked apart as the original owner hit a guard rail with it. I prepped it and painted it myself.
So all in all even if you buy them piece by piece over time, good things come to those who wait. We're also going into fall/winter unless you live in a southern state that never see's snow you have lots of time to save and piece one
Just my 2 cents, again, hope it helps man.
- T.
Ive got a duraflex BC2 bumper, and i hit a car goin about 5 mph yesterday, didnt even crack, it flexed, but didnt crack. My buddy hit me at the same time, same speed, hes got a fiberglass bumper on his civic... it split wide open
So I'm basically hearing that it all depends on the kit almost? I've been looking around constantly for a used kit up around where I live, but nobody has a tuned cavalier 2 hours north of minneapolis lol. I found one guy in the last 3 months that had a kit for sale, but all the fiberglass was pitted and chipped and needed probably 6 hours of work. And he still wanted $300 for a no-name unpainted kit.
Hope is not a plan. Change is not a destination.
Derek Trout wrote:So I'm basically hearing that it all depends on the kit almost? I've been looking around constantly for a used kit up around where I live, but nobody has a tuned cavalier 2 hours north of minneapolis lol. I found one guy in the last 3 months that had a kit for sale, but all the fiberglass was pitted and chipped and needed probably 6 hours of work. And he still wanted $300 for a no-name unpainted kit.
You're also buying somewhat in the off season
Spring is best for parts. What kit are you looking for anyways? And the best way around it is to either travel further or ship it. Hell I had my side skirts shipped halfway across my country for $50 lol
I'm looking for a drift style kit. And I've thought about having a kit shipped from somewhere, but I like to see the condition of it first if its used. Just can't trust a lot of people these days lol
Hope is not a plan. Change is not a destination.
Derek Trout wrote:I'm looking for a drift style kit. And I've thought about having a kit shipped from somewhere, but I like to see the condition of it first if its used. Just can't trust a lot of people these days lol
I know the feeling lol Sometimes you just gotta take a risk or just do very extensive research and hope to trust the guys word. lol
- T.
Derek Trout wrote:I'm looking for a drift style kit. And I've thought about having a kit shipped from somewhere, but I like to see the condition of it first if its used. Just can't trust a lot of people these days lol
If you're wanting cheap, you're going to have to work with damaged parts. My body kit was extremely cheap but it took numerous hours of fiberglass work to get it halfway decent. It really is beneficial to learn fiberglassing though
Yeah I agree there, I have done small amounts of fiberglass work (which turned out all right) but I just currently don't have the time or space to be doing any work. I've got a really small dorm room to store all my parts and tools lol so I don't really have the space to work on a body kit for a couple weeks....I'm also not allowed to run any type of power tools (stupid U of M) unless I wait till I go back home for Christmas break.
But would any of you guys know anybody I could get a decent used kit from? If I know its a legit kit that wouldn't take 15 hours to re fiberglass properly then I would be interested
Hope is not a plan. Change is not a destination.
