It is common knowledge in this forum that polyurethane bumpers are superior to fiberglass for several reasons:

1: better flexibility
2: don't tear
3: less paint chips


now tell me exactly why you think polyurethane is better. What differences have you actually seen between polyurethane and fiberglass.

what are the main weaknesses of the fiberglass that you would like to address. Please be very specific.




I ask all of this because I am currently communicating with a polyurethane manufacturing companies R&D department to kick some ideas around about coming up with a coating that could possibly be sprayed onto fiberglass bumpers to add a level of protection as a flexible middlecoat.
It seems that a protective layer of polyurethane could improve structural integrity while providing a flexible surface for the paint to be sprayed onto. Now obviously the overall rigity of the fiberglass would still come into effect. It would probably be advisable to spray a very thin coat on the upper portions of the bumper while applying a thick durable coating to the lower lip and face of the bumper.

Why bother? well this could provide a cost effective alternative to the tooling and large customer base required to get a polyurethane run of your favorite bumper into production.

Will it work? Remains to be seen...what do you think?

Downside, the polyurethane layer will add weight and thickness, ofcoarse the goal will be to keep the coating lightwieght and smooth to allow a uniform painting surface.

the target price range is under $100 but that is just an arbitrary number at this point.

I'm just kicking this idea around at this point but please feel free to point out every conceivable flaw with this idea.


cheers

 

Nice idea, not sure if it would work though.

If you smack something with a polyurethane bumper, it just bounces back cause the whole thing flexes. The FG obviously cracks cause it doesn't flex (of course the quality hand-laid fiberglass is MUCH stronger than cheap quality FG, which most people don't realize). Just speculating, but just spraying a coating of a flexible substance on top of a non-flexible substance probably won't make much of a difference. Might help with rock chips though.

Today I am actually picking up my polyfiber bumper from VIS racing. Lightweight and doesn't sag like FG but strong and flexible like polyurethane.

Make sure you post if you get the poly-coat thing going and let u know of the results!

 

You should post some pics of the polyfiber before you paint. ;o) I'd actualy like to hear more specifics about polyfiber in general as well.

Who knows if it will work, what I'm basically invisioning is similar in composition to a spray on polyurethane bedliner only it will have a smooth uniform texture and will be applied as a much thinner coat.

 

Rob, here are some pros and cons:

Glass:
- Pros: light, repairable (fiberglass work), fitment only requires sanding, rigid (won't sag, melt, get wavy)
-Cons: cracks easy

Urethane:
-Pros: very resilient, doesn't break/crack
-Cons: very heavy (compared to glass), cannot be repaired if damaged (severely), fitment is difficult (sanding doesn't work...it's shaved away, then sanded), sags/gets wavy w/ heat over time

VIS Polyfiber: light like glass, resilient and flexible like urethane, but can be fixed like glass if it somehow cracks (very hard to do), won't sag or get wavy. It does require shaving and sanding though.

If you'd like to see what VIS polyfiber can withstand, I finish my last exam on Monday. My whole bodykit is VIS polyfiber...

Hellspawn, that's not MY C-west front polyfiber bumper you're picking up, is it??

~Ramy

 

Here are 3 pics of the polyfiber rear bumper I had...this is how it looked, right out of the box. No prep work, nada:

 

so I assume that they can mold polyfiber in the same fashion that they mold fiberglass parts unlike urethane wich is extremely expensive to tool up for? I'm also assuming that it is some type of variation of fiberglass using some type of elastomer inplace of epoxy resin? Looks very nice NewB ;-) I'd like to see a couple shots of the innerside of the bumper as well if possible.

If this is the case I may divert my attention towards getting some polyfiber parts made.

how does polyfiber stack up cost-wise?

I'll be out of the jungle in two weeks once I take my last final for the semester. I'll definitely have to swing by.

 

I was actually under the impression that it's a weave... High quality glass parts are weaves as well. I have a genuine Knightsports/Racing Beat front bumper, and if you look on the inside of it, you can see it looks very much like a weave. But that bumper's glass. I also have a polyfiber bumper that's still unpainted, unprepped etc...you're more than welcome to take a look at it. Again, I was under the impression it was a weave, not just a mold w/ epoxy resin. But hey, who knows.

Personally, I would. All the positives, none of the negatives.

I have no idea what it costs in terms of actual raw materials, but VIS' polyfiber parts are dirt cheap compared to original glass parts. They run a little less than Chuck's fiberglass parts, so they're one of the cheapest good quality body parts you can get (I'm not including garbage like importfan.com etc). But again, Chuck makes his stuff here, vs. VIS who makes their stuff in China, so parts and labor are on two completely diff scales. Bottom line, I don't think it's super-expensive.

Cool...sounds good. Remind me to tell you the story about my sideskirts...then you'll realize how resilient these things are! (Thank God )

 

Nope, they called me up and said mine came in, and my name was on the box when I picked it up. How long you beed waitin on yours? Mine took about the 6 weeks they told me.

 

LOL...yep...you sure did get mine Someone else handled your order, and never passed the info on to Grant, who was handling mine. Grant works part-time... eh. Wutev. I've been waiting hmm...4 - 5 months now? lol. I waited 6 weeks twice because they never called me when mine came in, and they passed it on to someone else. The one you have was the third 6-week period, give or take a few weeks lol.

It's all good tho...I'm actually glad cuz I'm broke as hell as it is...I need a bit more time to save up the $$ to pay for it. I'm not pressed to get 'em now too cuz bodywork's LAST on my list now, and that bumper isn't going on my car now. I'm gettin it to keep as a show-only front bumper. The bumper on my car now is getting BEAT UP w/ all the 140mph + runs I do

 

Dude that sucks you have waited so long. This one was mine though, I paid cash up front for it in person and picked it up myself. My name on the box and it took how long they told me it would take to come in. Something obviously went wrong with your order, parts ordered from Japan don't even take that long.

I dealt directly with Sonny, who has been very helpful. I would suggest giving him a try and tell him that Troy reffered you. He will get your bumper for you when he says he will, like he did with mine, and he will call you and leave a message when it comes in.

 

It's cool man. I know Sonny...spoke to him too. But I know Grant, and have been getting parts from him for a while, that's why I prefer to deal w/ him.

I didn't pay for my parts cuz I'm waiting for all of them to come in (everything's here except for the front bumper...for now lol). It's all good...money talks

 

Polyurathane might be heavier than fibre glass, but it's hardly what I'd call heavy. (I can go outside and weigh one if someone's interested ) Newer bumper covers are really thin and use something else, I can't remember what it's called. I'd guess that they are as light or close enough to fibre glass.

 

if you're bored you should go ahead and weigh it.

 

after research and thought I've concluded that the coating is not going to work.