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65 Roadster Mark 3 |
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| Composite Body and Panels | ||||||
| The Factory Five Racing kit comes with a hand-laid vinylester composite body complete with hinged doors and trunk, pre-drilled mounting holes and positioned hood. Lamination thickness is 3/16” all around with .015” coat of sandable black gel coat outer finish. The body shell and panels weigh about 190 lbs. There is an optional carbon fiber composite body also available for the ultimate racer. This option shaves about 75 lbs. from the overall vehicle weight. | ||||||
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| The handmade aluminum bodies fitted to vintage cars varied significantly from unit to unit. Of the various replicas out there, perhaps as many as half maintain a healthy respect for proper vintage lines and proportions. Some kit manufacturers make drastic changes to base dimensions such as track, wheelbase or ride height, and end up with a car that is just simply not an accurate replica. When we designed and crafted our body/chassis we took extra time to make sure our car was true to its early 60’s design lines. The FFR body is a very precise replica of the original. | ||||||
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Fiberglass |
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The average weight of a fiberglass replica body with interior panels can exceed 700 lbs.! The reason for all this weight is the fiberglass is commonly used as a major part of the structure. By using fiberglass for the exterior body shell only, we removed the stress and significantly reduced the weight while maintaining rigidity with the underlying matrix of ¾” steel tubing and aluminum panels (the right material for the job). The result is a body that weighs in under 200 lbs., yet is strong and rigid. Our body, is much more resistant to stress cracking due to its non-stressed mounting design and correct gel coat thickness (heavy gel coat can lead to “spider cracks” since there is no strengthening fibers). |
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| Is our car lighter because of a thinner body shell? No. The body is a common thickness (3/16” nom.) for hand-laid composite body shells. The weight savings come from the use of aluminum instead of fiberglass in the cockpit, footboxes, trunk and wheel wells. The body specifications are quite simple. Our body incorporates approximately 110 sq. ft. of surface area and weighs about 190 lbs. total. Our aluminum chassis panels weigh in at about 75 pounds total. Cars using fiberglass inner cockpit and panel liners have about 100 sq. ft. of additional fiberglass. This would account for an increase in overall weight of about 200 pounds (providing the lamination was the same), but more commonly adds about 350 lbs. to the vehicle weight since the cockpit is usually thicker as it’s being used for structure. To make matters a bit worse, companies that use “chopper gun” fiberglass have a hard time controlling laminate thickness and can end up with even heavier parts! | ||||||
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Manufacturing |
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| From our very first molds in 1994, we have made more than 25,000 molded parts along the way! The quality of the part comes down to two simple things… 1) The quality of the raw material and tooling, and 2) The skill of the people who actually lay-up, cure, and trim the parts. To control the quality, we manufacture all of our panels in-house in our 6,000 sq. ft. molding building. | ||||||
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Our molding technologies have grown tremendously over the years. We put as much QC work into our fiberglass parts as we do our steel frames. You’ll notice that the parts carry control numbers that correspond to the date of manufacture, mold number, and molding department member who made the part. Each part must survive a 12 point QC check for defects. |
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You can count on us to deliver a part that is engineered to be the correct strength and fits right. The FFR Mk3 body shells are shipped attached to the frame. The parts are unfinished (taken right out of the mold and require bodywork). Recently we changed our process from molded edges on panels to a high speed router trimming method. This eliminated air voids on tight radius areas and enabled us to make the parts match the openings better (the panels are actually made too big, enabling you to build your completed car with the tightest gaps on all hoods, doors and trunks). Let’s say it this way. There isn’t a single replica company out there that can provide the quality of composite parts that we do on a regular basis. We have the most experience, the best technology, and the volume that enable us to do it right for less money. |
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