AAR Fibreglass Rear Bumper. Shedding Lbs.

dvw said:

As we all have read previously. "All fiberglass needs a little work". Some just need days of work.
Doug

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IMO....junk fiberglass needs more than days of work. If you are going to pay good money for fiberglass parts, they should be in decent shape to start with. The first time I had any experience with AAR was in the mid 70's and from what I'm seeing, it's still good stuff. Sure, you can spend days making it look like it came on the car from the factory but the stuff is already good. It's the 'junk' that pisses me off. May as well build up your own molds and go from there instead of spending money on crap plus having to pay shipping charges too.....

55 pounds Just from bumpers
Damn

So anyways.. 3 more lbs off the Plymouth.
The last couple of days I've been updating my driveshaft hoop. The old one I had attached to the floor on each side and from there it went forwards and bolted up behind the crossmember. It ended up being a lot of 1/4" X 2 flat and with the bolts, gussets, welding, it ended up being a 10 Lb piece. So I fab'd up a new one that you can see in the pictures below. It looks far better and is actually 3lbs lighter even. The loop is 1/4 X 2 X 6.5", .188 tubing supports and being welded in place it will add some amount of additional rigidity. Check it out.
I hope that tech doesn't find any issues with it.

Perhaps I should run a bolt down through the top of the loop part?

That is one sweet ride...wow...

Thanks Mike! Same as your quick Coronet.

. Amazing work, Malex! Did you consider having the bumpers done in chrome somehow?

LemonWedge said:

. Amazing work, Malex! Did you consider having the bumpers done in chrome somehow?

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Hey Lemon. Thanks! Actually I checked into it lots and initially was going to go that route. I looked on the net and seen some Plymouths with painted bumpers and some looked pretty good though, so I decided to spray the front bumper and see how it looked. It was a hit with me and from there I called AAR and along came the rear bumper. I'm thinking the painted bumper will look good with my hood plans if that ever works out.
A friend with another 64 stopped in a couple of days ago to pick up the front bumper that I ordered for him from AAR. He's got a fibreglass hood on his 64 that came from WS Racing and that hood is a nice piece. He got a new respect for his hood after he looked at this one. Lol.
I could be calling AAR again yet this winter.
On another note, I took a trip into Montana today and grabbed some parts that showed up at my US shipping location. Check them out.

I'll be able to get my motor down a half inch now with this AR Engineering engine plate and the block won't be getting yanked on anymore by the steel motor mounts during transbrake launches. Also gives me proper spacing for when I start working on the hood to scoop spacing. And a good time to get that boat anchor Powermaster alternator gone and replaced with this mini unit. 12lbs for both pieces, my alternator weighs at least that much alone.
A few more lbs shed once the steel motor mounts and brackets are gone. I'm keeping track.

And a typical hard drive through slop and ice heading to Montana. I hate winter..

malex said:

Hey Lemon. Thanks! Actually I checked into it lots and initially was going to go that route. I looked on the net and seen some Plymouths with painted bumpers and some looked pretty good though, so I decided to spray the front bumper and see how it looked. It was a hit with me and from there I called AAR and along came the rear bumper. I'm thinking the painted bumper will look good with my hood plans if that ever works out.
A friend with another 64 stopped in a couple of days ago to pick up the front bumper that I ordered for him from AAR. He's got a fibreglass hood on his 64 that came from WS Racing and that hood is a nice piece. He got a new respect for his hood after he looked at this one. Lol.
I could be calling AAR again yet this winter.
On another note, I took a trip into Montana today and grabbed some parts that showed up at my US shipping location. Check them out.

I'll be able to get my motor down a half inch now with this AR Engineering engine plate and the block won't be getting yanked on anymore by the steel motor mounts during transbrake launches. Also gives me proper spacing for when I start working on the hood to scoop spacing. And a good time to get that boat anchor Powermaster alternator gone and replaced with this mini unit. 12lbs for both pieces, my alternator weighs at least that much alone.
A few more lbs shed once the steel motor mounts and brackets are gone. I'm keeping track.
View attachment 535214
And a typical hard drive through slop and ice heading to Montana. I hate winter..
View attachment 535213

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I thought WS Fiberglass closed up? Has he had the hood for a while?

fbs63 said:

I thought WS Fiberglass closed up? Has he had the hood for a while?

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Yes , W S Fiberglass has been closed for a few years and I make all the parts for your 63 dodge. Go to sledcityfiberglass.com and also give me a call and I will tell you the story on your parts. I have supplied almost 1000 cars with my fiberglass parts and have dealt with some really great and famous clients . Give me a call.

fbs63 said:

I thought WS Fiberglass closed up? Has he had the hood for a while?

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He's had it for a number of years. Apparently they are closed due to family loss. No luck on a front bumper for that 63 yet?

There's been lots of progress on the Plymouth the last few weeks, time to post some pictures.
Engine plate installed with a Denso 70 amp mini alternator. This upgrade worked out to a 17lb reduction. The solid mounts and huge Powermaster alternator that came off shed a lot of weight. I also removed the aluminum fan shroud that was built to run with the mechanical fan.



Overhead shot of the car with the glass bumpers and hood. New hood design and colour scheme.


Yes, the Hemi scoop and steel hood is gone, for now at least. This is that garbage glass hood that I bought and went to work on. It started out at 13 lbs and finished up it's now 32lbs. Took a lot of restructure and I bonded a 5" scoop onto it, which gives it good strength now. I reworked the opening at the windshield and have 1.5" space between the windshield and scoop. Wipers still fully functional. I also built it to attach to the stock hinges and it's a 10 minute swap to reinstall the old one. With the stock hinges the hood doesn't tilt back when opening/closing, allowing minimal space at the windshield.


Able to fit a 16 X 5" air filter - which is welcomed. Sand and dust at the local track is crazy and filterless engines there eat loads of grit. I also altered the scoop to drop downward towards the back. Lots of work.


New front runners are 9lbs less each, compared to the SR's that I was previously running.


A new set of QA1 aluminum front struts finishes off the front end weight reduction. Tires, struts, sway bar bracket removal from the LCA's was good for 22lbs off the front.


Front runners are 29" tall, I went with the tallest ET Fronts, full wheel wells are the look I was after with the TT rims.


Struts and tires installed.


Starting on a mold now to seal the carb to the hood. Once the fit is right I'll break out the resin and matting. When finished carb air will all come from the cowl area. Will be interesting to see how that works.


16" X 4.5" K&N filter nicely fits under the hood.


In total when all said and done, the 64 will be between 150 to 160lbs lighter than last race day and hoping to improve on my PB.

A couple of shots of my finished hood product. Track slip comparisons to the 5" hemi scoop will be good to see.

As always top notch quality.
Doug

Great work. We’ll be a heads up race next year with all the weight you shed.

Wookie316 said:

Great work. We’ll be a heads up race next year with all the weight you shed.

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That would be your lucky day Wooks.

I see your spray booth is coming in handy. Finish looks great! Nice upgrades also

WOW..... inspiring! Although I’ll admit I really liked the Hemi scoop look, the work you produce is something to admire! Keep the posts coming.

Great work Malex! Stay after it.

khryslerkid said:

I see your spray booth is coming in handy. Finish looks great! Nice upgrades also

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Thanks Kid! Yes today the paint booth is a fibreglassing booth.

69 GTX said:

Great work Malex! Stay after it.

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You know it Hoser! I see that you're doing some highly detailed work on your GTX. Very nice! I'm just about finished on the 64 now, dragging out the last couple of things. But. I'm considering a patina 64 Dodge 2dr that has my interest..