Weight/thickness of stock Camaro front fenders?

[nova]

I wasn't sure where to ask this so if it needs to be somewhere else, Mods, please move it, thanks.

I need to know the weight and thickness of the front stock fenders of the '93-97 Camaro's.

I'm working on a little project and need this information to determine if it will be cost effective.

[12secondv6]

Damn, I don' know this, I'm usually pretty good on weight of certain parts
Sigh, sorry

[nova]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by 12secondv6:
Damn, I don' know this, I'm usually pretty good on weight of certain parts
Sigh, sorry<hr></blockquote>

Hmmm. Thats Ok.

Does anybody have one that they would be willing to weigh for me.

[12secondv6]

Try and call some of the f body salvage yards, ask them if they can help ya out?

[nova]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by 12secondv6:
Try and call some of the f body salvage yards, ask them if they can help ya out?<hr></blockquote>

Yeah, I guess I'll have to do that.

[LTNone]

do you mean just the plastic outer fender -the part you see?

I have one - I will try to weigh it tonight - but it can't weigh more than 5-10 lbs.

[nova]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by LTNone:
do you mean just the plastic outer fender -the part you see?

I have one - I will try to weigh it tonight - but it can't weigh more than 5-10 lbs.<hr></blockquote>

The part that surrounds the front wheels and tires.

I'm attempting to produce some carbon fiber parts and I need to determine if the weight savings will be worth the cost because the things are gonna be rather pricey to produce.

[LTNone]

Well, the fender I have is from a 94 Z28. It appears to have only the original layer of paint on it, and it weighs just 7 pounds on my spring scale.

I did not measure thickness, but you can probably do that at the bottom edge of the fender without removing it from the car.

I hope this helps. Let us know if you decide to make them.

[nova]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by LTNone:
Well, the fender I have is from a 94 Z28. It appears to have only the original layer of paint on it, and it weighs just 7 pounds on my spring scale.

I did not measure thickness, but you can probably do that at the bottom edge of the fender without removing it from the car.

I hope this helps. Let us know if you decide to make them.<hr></blockquote>

7lbs, thanks a lot. After further thought I realized thickness really isn't much of a problem.

By my rough estimates I believe I can make a fender that only weighs .5 lbs. Thats a little less than a 93% weight reduction.

[LTNone]

I know nothing about carbon fiber, but what about the hood, or the hatch? These would be a lot heavier than the fenders, and you could get more bang for the buck.

With the fenders - saving 13 lbs on a 3000 lb car (a low estimate of total car weight), you would only get a 0.43% weight reduction (a little more than four tenths of a percent) savings on the total car.

I'd guess the hood weighs at least 35 lbs, if you could save 30 lbs with that, it would be a 1.0% weight reduction on the car.

Just my $0.02. Either way carbon fiber fenders would still be sweet.

[Arctc Wolf]

Our hoods r steel, so a carbon fiber hood would work well. the front fender, rear quarter panel, and doors would be fairly easy to make in carbon fiber(compared to the front facsia and rear facsia). an outer layer of firberglass would help protect against flying debris hitting and shattering the carbon fiber parts. Another though, carbon fiber t-tops, cuz that glass is a good 10-15 lbs. each.

[nova]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by LTNone:
I know nothing about carbon fiber, but what about the hood, or the hatch? These would be a lot heavier than the fenders, and you could get more bang for the buck.

With the fenders - saving 13 lbs on a 3000 lb car (a low estimate of total car weight), you would only get a 0.43% weight reduction (a little more than four tenths of a percent) savings on the total car.

I'd guess the hood weighs at least 35 lbs, if you could save 30 lbs with that, it would be a 1.0% weight reduction on the car.

Just my $0.02. Either way carbon fiber fenders would still be sweet.<hr></blockquote>

I'm working towards making larger parts such as the hood. I want to get my process perfected before I attempt something of that size since CF and epoxy is rather expensive to screw up with. I eventually want to replace nearly all the body panels.

I also believe I can eventually replace some structural components such as front and rear bumper supports. If the stuff is good enough for structural components of aircraft it should be good enough for an car.

It helps that I'm working with a Ph.D. aerospace engineer with a specialization in composites. I come up with ideas, run them by him and he tells me if they would work at all or would need modification.

[LTNone]

You have obviously put a lot of thought and planning into this effort.

Good luck - though I don't think you'll need it.