FVD Brombacher fit and finish?

[TeeJayHoward]

Has anyone used FVD parts before? It’s looking to be cheaper to buy new stuff than to R&R my existing ‘81 pieces, and I’m consider converting to carbon fiber while I’m at it. Are these parts like your typical cheap fiber parts where you end up sanding the curves for hours before you get something good, or are they “can be installed out of the box” modern OEM quality?

[Jonny042]

I've been wondering the same thing - I've read some reviews on the doors one of the 964/993 forums that were favorable. I'll see if I can find a link.

(Edit - doors reviewed were from Manthey racing. Good chance they were the same thing IMO)

IMO your existing parts must be pretty bad if you're considering swapping out to composites purely based on cost? If you're paying someone to do the work I'd be prepared to be disappointed with the results, or the costs, or both.

[962porsche]

any panel coming out of a box and being bolted right up with no work for a perfect fit is pretty slim!
even Porsche parts are this way!
think of it this way .
you ride motorcycles you know your going to crash you just don't know where or how bad.
now with any composite part think of your self riding in NY City with a much bigger chance of crashing and not knowing where or when.

[TeeJayHoward]

IMO your existing parts must be pretty bad if you're considering swapping out to composites purely based on cost? If you're paying someone to do the work I'd be prepared to be disappointed with the results, or the costs, or both.

I'm trying to get by with the least amount of work possible. The previous owner of my car removed the side markers and tried to bond the fenders to the front cowl. It looks terrible, and the amount of Bondo I can see tells me that I don't want to strip it down - I'll just be spending a ton of time on something that, while repairable, might not be worth the effort. A carbon fiber front fender is under a thousand bucks, and I'd expect about $1500-2000 in work to get someone else to repair my existing one. (Then repeat for the other side. Then the hood. $$$$!) I laughingly asked what it would cost to hand the whole bare shell over to a shop and have them strip and respray it. The result was more than I paid for the car. No thank you.

Something else I frequently worry about with carbon fiber parts is...
1) Is it full carbon, or just a carbon overlay over a fiberglass part?
2) Is it prepreg, or the kind of carbon that's put over a mold and then resin is brushed on and air-dried?
3) Does the part have all of the necessary mounting points for OEM mounting, or do they expect you to figure something out yourself?
4) Are the holes pre-drilled?
5) Is the final result a 3lbs featherweight or a 25lbs heavier-than-stock "ricer piece"

I've got an absolutely gorgeous carbon-Kevlar widebody kit for a 90s Subaru in my basement right now that fits perfectly straight out of the box. I'm sure you can buy a carbon fiber hood from Porsche for a 992 that will line up perfectly with no modifications needed. The dream was to buy something, paint it, and install it like one of those cars - But this isn't a modern car. It was built to looser standards then run through 41 years of potholes in an attempt to tweak the body in every axis possible. I need to just accept that and decide if it's worth spending the hours attaching, measuring, removing, sanding, and repeating... Or buying something new and adjusting it to fit before performing basically the same actions, just to a lesser scale.

Now, that being said, I'd still absolutely love it if anyone has used a FVD carbon part on their car, if they'd share their experiences with me.

[2.7RS]

You should look for aftermarket fiberglass parts from decommissioned race cars or cars from the 80's. You know forward date cars. Impact bumper conversions.

The were fitted and painted.

And nobody wants them anymore

[Dpmulvan]

Originally Posted by TeeJayHoward

I'm trying to get by with the least amount of work possible. The previous owner of my car removed the side markers and tried to bond the fenders to the front cowl. It looks terrible, and the amount of Bondo I can see tells me that I don't want to strip it down - I'll just be spending a ton of time on something that, while repairable, might not be worth the effort. A carbon fiber front fender is under a thousand bucks, and I'd expect about $1500-2000 in work to get someone else to repair my existing one. (Then repeat for the other side. Then the hood. $$$$!) I laughingly asked what it would cost to hand the whole bare shell over to a shop and have them strip and respray it. The result was more than I paid for the car. No thank you.

Something else I frequently worry about with carbon fiber parts is...
1) Is it full carbon, or just a carbon overlay over a fiberglass part?
2) Is it prepreg, or the kind of carbon that's put over a mold and then resin is brushed on and air-dried?
3) Does the part have all of the necessary mounting points for OEM mounting, or do they expect you to figure something out yourself?
4) Are the holes pre-drilled?
5) Is the final result a 3lbs featherweight or a 25lbs heavier-than-stock "ricer piece"

I've got an absolutely gorgeous carbon-Kevlar widebody kit for a 90s Subaru in my basement right now that fits perfectly straight out of the box. I'm sure you can buy a carbon fiber hood from Porsche for a 992 that will line up perfectly with no modifications needed. The dream was to buy something, paint it, and install it like one of those cars - But this isn't a modern car. It was built to looser standards then run through 41 years of potholes in an attempt to tweak the body in every axis possible. I need to just accept that and decide if it's worth spending the hours attaching, measuring, removing, sanding, and repeating... Or buying something new and adjusting it to fit before performing basically the same actions, just to a lesser scale.

Now, that being said, I'd still absolutely love it if anyone has used a FVD carbon part on their car, if they'd share their experiences with me.

Your car was built by hand, not machines. Your not going to just bolt on new parts and have it look anywhere near good. Carbon cannot be cut/ adjusted et without it showing.
Your going about it all wrong, do some research, no cheap way to make your car look good. How about some pics?