Steel vs Fiberglass value

[D ROCK]

The body on my 77 is more rust than steel. Have been looking for a tub for awhile now with no luck. Thinking of going to a fiberglass body. Motor, transmisson, and frame is all good. Just the body is done. How much will the value of my rig decrease if I go glass. Whose fiberglass tubs are best, and what are problems with fiberglass? ?:?

 

[Redneck]

I to was faced with the difficult decision you are facing. My decision was to go with glass for several reasons. First I am a terrible welder and there was just to much rust to deal with. Second fiberglass is easily repaired if damaged. I have researched and found there are only 2 companies making fiberglass. One is Malotte in California and the other is Kentrol in Ohio. I will be using Kentrol as they are the only company making all of the body parts required for a full restoration. (Kentrol is also a lot closer to me in Missouri than Malotte in California) Malotte does not make doors, only door inserts. I did not want to mix and match glass and steel, all or none. As far as devaluing your Bronco, only you can make that decision. Steel body is probably more desirable but are you building it for your use or to resell? I am building mine for my use and don't care how much if any the fiberglass body may devalue the vehicle. If done correctly fiberglass can look as good and in some cases better than steel. It all depends on the time and effort you put into everything. Being retired I have all the time in the world to get things right.

 

[DebosDave'72]

I think there are folks out there who don't like the fiberglass for a resell, but if it is done right, there are plenty that do appreciate it... no rust, easily repaired, it is a little lighter.... I wouldn't worry about the value, if you have a rust bucket now, it doens't matter what kind of tub you put on there, either will be worth more than a rusted out one...

DD

 

[1977]

What about the hard top?

Are you able to use it if you go 'glass?

I assume that you use the same winsdhield frame too?

I guess the factory doors are history as well?

I think I'd go glass as a last resort....IMO

It's not going to stand up to a tree like steel will either.

 

[broncolove]

What about the hard top?

Are you able to use it if you go 'glass?

I assume that you use the same winsdhield frame too?

I guess the factory doors are history as well?

I think I'd go glass as a last resort....IMO

It's not going to stand up to a tree like steel will either.

You can put all the steel body parts on a fiberglass tub. Hood, grill fenders, windshield frame, top and doors. I have done it on a few.

Fiberglass hold up much better to tree hits than steel. I have bumped mine more times than I can count on my hands and show no major damage. Fiberglass don't dent. If the body on my 69 was steel it would look like a golf ball. It really takes a hit much better than steel, and is easier to fix if you crack it IMO. It takes quite a hard hit to crack it. Kentrol is a good choice. Heavy duty tuff stuff. Its heavier than a factory steel tub.

Here is a picture of my all glass 69

 

[broncolove]

Here is a picture of one I did that is a glass tub with steel grill, doors, tailgate and windshield frame. Its The Blue One ;D

 

[broncomanbrad]

I bought my fiberglass tub for a couple of reasons. I think you probably are aware of most of them. Resale value was NOT on my list. There's no way I'll be selling my Bronco once I'm done building it. It may take me a long time to finish, but it will be perfect (in my eyes only). If for some strange reason I have to sell it there would be no way that I could get as much for it as a steel Bronco of the same shape. For example: a couple of months ago there was an unnamed person on Ebay with a beautiful EB for approximately 10 grand. If the ad didn't say that the Bronco was fiberglass (and if it had a little better color scheme IMHO) it would probably have been gone before the auction ended. I don't know why someone who wanted a nice Bronco wouldn't have picked it up.

I looked at it this way.
Fiberglass tub - $4 grand
One piece front end - $1 grand
Frame and steering components - $1 grand
Engine, tranny, transfer case - $1.5 grand
Tires and rims - $500

Those are some of the major things that you'll need for a Bronco and I was being pretty generous. There is no way you could build a nice fiberglass bronco for less than $10,000. If I hadn't already spent my money on my Bronco, and been broke, I would definitely have found a way to get that one.

I think that constitutes as rambling there so I hope I made at least a little bit of sense.

 

[broncomanbrad]

What kind of aux. lights do you have on your green one broncolove?

 

[broncolove]

What kind of aux. lights do you have on your green one broncolove?

ProComp 130's from 4wheelpartswholesale

 

[t.lay]

Your resale value IMO is more a function of the quality of the components and overall fit and finish than the medium you're working in. If you're building for yourself - you're the only one you have to please. I want to use mine in the winter without worrying about rot - I went with glass - with Malotte. I wanted a functional tailgate and liked some of the tweaks they have made (bigger rear wheel wells) since I've got 36" swampers. They were easy to deal with.

I've got decent steel doors and front end so I'm mixing and matching. Fiberglass is easy to work with- it's also tougher than people think. There's a lot of corvette owners who can confirm that.

 

[1977]

You can put all the steel body parts on a fiberglass tub. Hood, grill fenders, windshield frame, top and doors. I have done it on a few.

Fiberglass hold up much better to tree hits than steel. I have bumped mine more times than I can count on my hands and show no major damage. Fiberglass don't dent. If the body on my 69 was steel it would look like a golf ball. It really takes a hit much better than steel, and is easier to fix if you crack it IMO. It takes quite a hard hit to crack it. Kentrol is a good choice. Heavy duty tuff stuff. Its heavier than a factory steel tub.

I kinda like the idea of having a hardtop......any issues there?

Also, how well did it fit out of the box.....ie how much work did you have to do to make it fit correctly?

Thanks for the other gouge though....