Best body kit material?

[Over Boost]

When buying body kits what kinds of materials should they be made of? And which materials should one aviod? My friend is thinking about the AV3 for his E30. However I heard their fiberglass and isnt fiberglass bad?

[KenC]

ABS is the most durable.

[MR 325]

Fiberglass can be destroyed quite easily

I'd never rock fiberflass

[Over Boost]

Ok thats what I thought. Also dosnt fiberglass warp too?

So what does ABS stand for? What is it?

And does anyone know what the AV3 body kit is made of?

[KenC]

ABS is the plastic that the OEM kits are made of, as well as most quality aftermarket ones.

[Jand3rson]

ABS plastic is the best material for bodykits, plain and simple. Fiberglass CAN be good, provided it's a good mold, they used a decent thickness, and the parts are installed professsionally and installed well. You've got to be very carefull with FG though, as one good jolt will crack it to bits.

[MR 325]

Almost positive AV3 is fiberglass

[Madhatter]

abs is a thermoplastic and stands for acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, its not always the most durable material either as people seem to think (it has good low impact resistance though), depending on what blends are used it can be quite brittle (but very hard). Its the butadiene content which gives it its strength and allows it to be flexible. A good example of the difference in abs blends is to compare an original spoiler with lego building blocks.

If i could have a choice out of any material, polyethylene would probably be my choice both because of its toughness and how flexible it is (think plastic gas tanks), and also because of the cost, but there arent a lot of people who use it in the automotive field for external body panels.

Thats not exactly feasible, so i guess anybody using polymer thermoplastics would be good considering its probably the most common stuff used today on automotive bumpers and stuff, but ABS is pretty good too, much better than fibreglass weight for weight.

[Jand3rson]

Almost positive AV3 is fiberglass

It is. Not a great kit, either. Even on lowered cars, the front end is still higher than a standard late model valence, even with an iS lip. They didn't make it nearly low enough. About the only part of the kit I like is the rear.

[cale]

There is nothing wrong with fiberglass. If you choose a good kit, you should have not too many problems fitting it. ABS though is better to go with as you can get into a few dingers and still have perfect bodywork with paint scratches only.

[eurostyl e30]

ABS has more flex, which is cooler for a car that's daily driven. A bump or two against a parking lot divider won't kill your front valence or skirt.

It's also easier to prep unless the glass comes ready for paint.