Plastic body panels

george man · May 11, 2021

Hi All,
Been away for a while but i'm eyeing up a new project!

I've seen lots of GRP doors & bonnets and ABS outer wings but i wanted to see if there are any other plastic, either grp or abs, body panels out there?
Why is it only the outer wing and not the wing top?

Who out there is running plastic panels? I'm interested in hearing your thoughts.

lightning · May 12, 2021

On the surface plastic doors and bonnets would seem a great idea as they are not going to rust, and they won't dent either.

But it doesn't look like anybody has tried them yet.

george man · May 12, 2021

I know a few people using the grp bonnets as they are significantly lighter than the puma steel ones but i'm surprised that standard doors are still poor quality!

Hicap phill · May 12, 2021

On my Bob tail range
Wings front & rear
Bonnet
Were All plastic. But never done the doors. Only done for lightness

george man · May 13, 2021

Hicap phill said:
On my Bob tail range
Wings front & rear
Bonnet
Were All plastic. But never done the doors. Only done for lightness

One of the reasons i'm interested in this is lightness. I can't find anywhere that does an entire front wing in ABS

300bhp/ton · May 13, 2021

How much weight do you think you'd really save with an ABS front wing over a Birmabright top wing?

Hicap phill · May 13, 2021

george man said:
One of the reasons i'm interested in this is lightness. I can't find anywhere that does an entire front wing in ABS

Just remember these plastic wings don’t bend as good as a wing on a tree

tottot · May 13, 2021

Many modern tractors have plastic ABS panels/mudguards and while they do not rust they do tend to get brittle over time and then shatter/split if knocked.
Weight wise not much in it.

george man · May 13, 2021

Not sure how much weight saving there will be... i was going on the fact the plastic bonnets are much lighter than the originals!
The reason i'm interested really is to replace damaged wings. If i had an original wing that was in good condition i would leave it but if i'm going to be replacing it anyway i wanted to look at alternatives! If there is a weight saving then it all helps!

300bhp/ton · May 19, 2021

george man said:
Not sure how much weight saving there will be... i was going on the fact the plastic bonnets are much lighter than the originals!
The reason i'm interested really is to replace damaged wings. If i had an original wing that was in good condition i would leave it but if i'm going to be replacing it anyway i wanted to look at alternatives! If there is a weight saving then it all helps!

Its only the fat Puma bonnets that are heavy. All other models and variants beforehand used Birmabright (aluminium alloy) instead of steel for the bonnet and are a lot lighter.

mudmut · May 20, 2021

How about Tomcat wings, not plastic but the only the only full GRP wing i`ve seen.
https://www.tomcatwebshop.co.uk/outer-front-wing-1250-p.asp

george man · May 27, 2021

mudmut said:
How about Tomcat wings, not plastic but the only the only full GRP wing i`ve seen.
https://www.tomcatwebshop.co.uk/outer-front-wing-1250-p.asp

Will they work as a replacement for a standard defender?

mudmut · May 30, 2021

george man said:
Will they work as a replacement for a standard defender?

Can't say I've tried it, would need to talk to the company but as the Tomcat is based on a Land Rover chassis I would say there's a good chance

Colthebrummie · May 30, 2021

This thread reminds me of some of my motorbike mates who spent hundreds of pounds replacing their bike exhausts for ones weighing a kilogram less. Most of them could save five times that weight by avoiding MacDonalds for a month.

Col

Hicap phill · May 30, 2021

mudmut said:
Can't say I've tried it, would need to talk to the company but as the Tomcat is based on a Land Rover chassis I would say there's a good chance

Look at the height of the front part of the wing. They look smaller. Yes a tomcat is on a LR chassis but there is a lot of tube to support these.
You will then have to cut holes for lights etc and affix the mountings

Plastic body panels

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