Fiberglass

[go-fish]

Anyone heard of Showcars Body Parts? Looking at their AAR bolt on hood and the spoiler. It's less than US Bodysource and definitely cheaper than YO.
 

http://www.showcars-bodyparts.com/barracud.html

[ntstlgl1970]

Check out AAR Quality Fiberglass on the hood, it's a little more money but you save more on the back end because it takes very little prep time for paint....I had a YO pos hood, the one from AAR was night and day better. Plus the underside is finished. I can post some pics if you like..

[shadango]

AAR and showcar 9canada) both look to be about $100 cheaper on the 6-pack hood I am thinking of from carhoods.com (USbody) too.....

.....wonder why?

USbody (carhoods.com)offers the ramair isolator plate as well , although you have to install it....(whats up with that??)

usbody is located in Florida, AAR is on the pacific coast (Oregon)...showcar is in canada....wonder how much difference freight would be?

Reading thru AARs site, they say you have to let the gelcoat cure for 30 days on the car or have it baked at a shop prior to painting....4-5 weeks for them to ship your part....wonder if that is the same with all vendors?

[AZDAN]

I have an AAR hood that should be here by the end of the week. The company made some improvements to the mold and this is the first "new" hood. I will post some pictures and tell you what I think of the quality after I receive it. It is a bolt on hood. After I inspect it and post the pictures I will let you who/where I got it from.

[HP2]

In my experience, Showcars produces quite possiby the worst fiberglass on the planet. Maybe some of their parts are good, but my experience with them was lacking in quality. Yes, they have a large selection and a fair price, but also be prepared to spend hours of prep work getting the parts ready for paint, getting proper alignment, and overall correcting fit and finish. So it depends on what you want to do; pay a higher price to receive a bolt on part, finish prep and go, or spend days doing the finishing on the part before doing final prep and go.

In my experience, quality from worst to best
Showcars
MAS
Unlimited
everybody else

[shadango]

I definately want a hood that is as close to 'done' as possible.

cuting out the holes for the scoop is one thing....but fixing flaws, getting edges straight etc are NOT what I want to do...basically, like you said, I want  to be able to pretty much bolt on aside from the normal paint prep , which I will likely have someone do.

So, USBody is in your "everyone else" category, right?  Had any experience with them?

[go-fish]

I definately want a hood that is as close to 'done' as possible.

cuting out the holes for the scoop is one thing....but fixing flaws, getting edges straight etc are NOT what I want to do...basically, like you said, I want  to be able to pretty much bolt on aside from the normal paint prep , which I will likely have someone do.

So, USBody is in your "everyone else" category, right?  Had any experience with them?

I hadn't even considered AAR Fiberglass because about two years ago, when last looking, they didn't have them. I have bought an "elastomeric" bumper from then and was highly disappointed. In their defense, it wasn't billed as an "exact" reproduction or anything that was to be a bolt on deal. I do have faith that their fenders and hoods are about as good as you can get and their website suggests that their focus is Mopar, whereas, the other companies have a broader focus.

It looks like the hoods at AAR Fiberglass are less than 100 more but the best in quality. That is a small price to pay, to me, for not having very much, if any, prep time. It seems that #2 on everyones list is US Bodysource, which I have seen people project threads where the hood needed minimal prep. In my recent investigating and searching over the last few days, coupled with searches two years ago, Year One is #3 in quality but too high in price to justify buying from them. Seems that just about everyone that ordered a YO hood had it show up with a hood corner tabbed over.

It's looking like AAR Quality Fiberglass gets my money but if they fall through I'll go with US Body.

Thanks for the input folks. I'll be waiting for, the very secretive, AZDAN and his report on his new purchase.

[moprr]

I used rear fender for a dodge step side truck from showcars they looked good and solid but once mounted the contour was way out on one about 1".  I dont think i would take a chance with them again, I used them that time because they were local.  There delivery time was also a lot later then promised about a month.   

[HP2]

So, USBody is in your "everyone else" category, right?  Had any experience with them?

Unfortuantly, being the cheapskate that I am, I haven't tried any decent suppliers, so I can't provide a first hand opinion on them.

[grimmey71]

I bought parts from show cars and they needed so much work I had to chalk it up as a loss.  I just got an aar hood from aar fiberglass and so far so good.

[go-fish]

Cool Grimmey,

That's who I have narrowed it down to. Thanks.

[AZDAN]

I got the hood today . I bought off of E bay. meltzerberncars is the name of the seller.  Barracuduadan also got one from them, his arrived with some corner damage due to the shipping/packaging. My hood arrived undamaged and packaged well, maybe they made some improvements on packaging after his hood. The hood is good . I checked the fender side edges with a laser beam level and they are straight. I'm happy with the hood I got.

[go-fish]

I think I'm going to stick with AAR. It's only a few bucks more.