Anyone have experience with Rennspeed Motorsport 'glass parts?

[widebody911]

I'm looking at buying a fibgerglass front bumper for my 911. Rennspeed Motorsports has the one I want - the RSR front bumper for $250; shops like AIR, GT-Racing, etc have them for $450 - is there really a $200 difference in quality? From my experience, they *all* have to be tweaked to fit. Otherise, I could use that $200 for something else - like a set of Pagid Oranges!

http://www.wholesaler-usa.com/rennspeed/newparts.htm#Front Bumpers, Splitter & Spoiler

[jriera]

Thom, I don't have any first hand experience (but I may have soon).. in the meantime look at this thread --> http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33909&highlight=rennspeed or do a Search for Rennspeed.. looks like a few of of felow posters have used Rennspeed.

regards

[Jack Olsen]

Peter at Rennspeed is a great guy. I have his bumpers on both the front and back of my car. The fit was very good.

[911pcars]

Jack,
How many hours of fitting is considered a "good fit"? When working with FG, it's not like installing a metal panel made by a more precise stamping process.

I'm installing their RS rear bumper at this very moment. This is my first rear glass bumper to install so I don't have a large database of experience in this area to provide. Like all glass parts, there is some "tweaking" involved. It's the amount of tweaking that is the question. After cutting, filing and grinding some flashing, I made a rough install with clamps and supports for a trial fit. The bumper ends stick out by a couple of inches beyond the fender flare and must be forced into a flush position. I'm kinda worried about the constant tension. Should I be or is this SOP? In addition, the bumper ends appear to be a little longer which results in the ends protruding into the wheel well opening by about 1/2". There's only so much material available to trim to fit. The FG brackets that bolt onto the chassis are about an inch away from the mount surface; looks like I'll need some spacers to span the difference. That's where I am at this time. So far, about 2 hours fitting, staring and thinking about the next step. Any suggestions before I proceed?

As a basis of an "apples and oranges" reference point, I spent (no kidding) about 12-15 hours on my Perf. Products ducktail (fitting and prepping for paint). I don't think I was too anal about this, but I wanted the horizontal surfaces to be on the same plane, even seams all around and a "good" fit within the decklid opening with corners that line up. I didn't start with any of these characteristic but after a lot of FG dust had cleared, finally got to my objective. In addition, the factory plastic grill didn't bolt on. PP has their own knockoff decklid grill that fits their ducktail spoiler. I had to modify a stock one to fit as well (but included in the 12-15 hour fitting).

Assuming the FG mold is a high quality copy, as the mold "wears" the resultant FG panel becomes less precise, so it's important for the manufacturer to stay on top of the QC to reduce the eventual body shop labor involved in getting a good fit. In this regard, it's up to the deligence of the manufacturer. For the retail shops that sell (but don't manufacture) fiberglass panels, how are they to know, much less their customers?

Sherwood Lee
http://members.rennlist.org/911pcars
www.seinesystems.com

[tobluforu]

I bought my rs's' front bumper and rs rear from him. the front looked great and fit great. I had to drill some new holes and mount it a little weird.The rear was a different story. The rear of my car was hit. Which I found out when i took the whole damn car apart. It took me a good 7 hrs to get it to fit right. And, the rear bumper was a little tweeked. Almost like it was not molded right.
But, all in all i'm happy.

[spinner]

tobluforu

Are those 15" fuchs? What size tires do you have on?
Those black wheels against your blue exterior is really cool.

Paul

[tobluforu]

Yep, 15" with r rated 205\50 tires. 1\4" spacers in the front. Powder coated-semi gloss black which comes out looking satin(sp) in finish.

[911tmaster]

toblu your car is so beautiful!!!

[911tmaster]

toblu what is the difference between the rs and rs's' bumper??

[tobluforu]

The rs does'nt have the thin lip that you see on the bottom of my bumper which is supposed to produce more down force. It also does'nt have the brake cooling holes that are almost useless unless you take the battery boxes out. Go to gt-racing.com and compare. I like the looks better. Thanks for the compliments!!

[PorscheDV]

ive dealt with peter at rennspeed motorsports personally..

i just dont have enough positive things to say about him..great guy..runs a top notch shop...has a genuine interest to help..you just CAN NOT beat the prices!

and the bumper i got was one of the best quality ive honestly ever seen! he even let me pick how thick i wanted..the thicker tends to be best fit, since it resists warping and shrinking as the resin sets...

[nicorun_974]

Their product are really poor quality. I bought conversion signal light boxes for m'y 73 rs backdate. They didnt fit at all. Impossible to use them, i had to trop them away. They didnt answer my emailer asking a refund. If someone help me to get back my $266,47 USD I will pay 50 usd via paypal.
Good advice : pay more for good quality and it Will finally cost you less.
I bought all my 73 rs parts to d moris in France and everything was perfect. Ni need to modify any part.

[RWebb]

Note the break in quality and service after 2002, based on the posting dates

I had all sorts of trouble with Peter at Rennspeed a few years ago. Never again.

BTW - do not confuse this low quality business with Rennspeed in Portland!

[strokher racing]

Any updates on their current quality? I sent them a very long email, and got a 2 sentence reply. I need 935 mirrors, flat style hood, sunroof panel and possibly some doors for my 964 turbo. I am also looking for the a pillar fillers.

[strokher racing]

Not like it matters lol They never answer their phone to place an order?

[chapo]

i have their bumpers and hood, I live within driving distance so it is easier to get a hold of them. Quality pieces, like any fg, some tweaking necessary. The absolute worst parts I got were AIR, pure junk rear bumper so flimsy i took it out of the box, then put it right back in. plus they were very unfriendly on the phone. Have also used MA Shaw, good parts, nice fit, a few $$ more but quality.

[77TARGAV8]

I bought this from him, I was surprised at how nice it was. About 2 hrs of work to fit to my liking. Was worth saving the 200+

[nardiporsche]

I bought my front & rear bumper and rockers from him... looked great and fit great.

JP

[chris_seven]

There are so many variables that it must be impossible to know.

I am convinced that even the phase of the moon has an effect

If the panel is taken out of the mould too quickly it will tend to change shape for some time depending on the weather.

How it is pulled out of the mould will have an effect.

Slight variations in the mix of the resin system has an influence.

I would also suspect that the skill of the 'fitter' is one of the most significant variables. Some people are very skillful and others may not be so good.

If the panels don't have air bubbles under the gel and have an even thickness and appearance then there will be some differences panel to panel.

I have seen a few Rennspeed panels and they look reasonably good.

[Eric_Shea]

I had big problems years back with Rennspeed. Sounds like he's gotten better which is awesome news. Always great to see product and service improve.

I bought 914-6/GT bumpers and a front valance from them. Summary:

Two left side mounts fiberglassed into the bumper.
Valance was "way" off and didn't match the flares. 8 hours of cut and finish needed.
Both bumpers needed "extensive" work to get them correct. I probably had over $800 in shop labor to fix them.

And... before we launch into the "that's glass" thing. I realize that glass, even the best of it, will need work.

I used another supplier for my RS bits and everything bolted on and needed, what I consider, "normal" amount of shop labor to fit and finish.

YMMV