AAR Fiberglass screwed up

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AdamR

AdamR

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Well after a month and a half of waiting my parts came from AAR fiberglass.

First the quality of the parts are awsome, as is the fit. To bad 50% of the parts they sent me have other issues !


Heres a few pictures of the hood. Real nice pice but my car is a 69 and my receipt shows I ordered a 69 bolt on hood. They sent me flat 67-68 bolt on hood.

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Heres a picture of the underside. The finish is really nice and perfect for mounting my bolt on 5" Hemi scoop that I bought from them 2 years ago.

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I think to fix this Im going to order a glass header panel from them and see if I can trim it to work with my 69 grills. I actually like the flat nose better then the 69's beak. Its not what I ordered but I'd rather change plans alittle then go threw the hassle of shipping this thing back and waiting for another. Hopefully they will give me a better deal on the header panle to fix there mistake.
 
Problem #2 my BOLT ON trunk lid.

It seems that they forgot to make it bolt on.

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The hood has a pice of metal in the bracing were the hinges bolt up. Looks like someone forgot it. No I have to choices.

1 Send it back and wait again.
2 Cut a hole in the bracing and use nuts, bolts and washers.

I personally dont like either choice.

Heres a picture of the out side of the lid. Again, nicely finished.

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I also bought 2 glass bumpers wich were without problems.
 
Sorry to hear that you are having problems with your AAR fiberglass parts.

Another option you might want to consider is to call them and find out what their show schedule is and whether or not they are coming to a venue near you. They have been coming to a track close to me here in VA for a few years in a row on MOPAR weekend and they bring a tractor trailer full of their fiberglass parts. I'm sure they would exchange it that way and you wouldn't have to deal with shipping issues. You can also inspect the parts to insure they're done right before you take them home. I just checked and their 2006 show schedule still wasn't posted on their Web site (www.aarqualityfiberglass.com)

BTW, let me know if you need any of these for your bolt-on fiberglass hood:

A_body_low_tension_hood_springs.jpg
 
The closest show they come to is Engishtown NJ, 2.5hrs away and a few months away.

As for the springs, I'll probably be getting a set from you soon. I also need to figure out what to do about the trunk lid springs. It uses the same type but 2 per side. I'm wondering if I can get away with one spring on each side.
 
Adam, do you have a picture of what the stock rear trunk lid hinge/spring setup looks like? I've never really looked at the rear trunk springs closely. Got my curiosity going...
 
I like thier attention to detail! I still won't order anything from them. I never heard good things from them.
 
Halfaed, I agree with you. When buying from them over the phone, customer service and the buying experience could really use improvement. When buying from them at shows, I've been thoroughly impressed. They also have their products on hand and ready for inspection.
 
A.D., I'll try to get some pictures of the trunk hinge set up.

I bought my scoop from them at a show and they were great to talk to in person. Trying to get them on the phine isnt easy. They are only open from 9-6 Monday -Thursday. Wish I had a work weak like that.
 
Heres a picture of the hinges. I think only Fastbacks use this set up. Each side has 2 springs inside. They are smaller then the hood springs.
 
Seems like glass work is a real crapshoot at times. My glass man just told me he's moving out west to weld on the pipelines. Crapp. Keep diggin' Adam.
 
I recently found out AAR was bought by Penstar Reproductions in Warminster, Pa. You might want to contact them with your problem. BTW, I am looking for a nice 69 cuda hood. I have a very nice Dart lite hood with the aluminum underside I would be willing to trade. The hood is very straight with original paint. Thanks.
 
fastback said:
I recently found out AAR was bought by Penstar Reproductions in Warminster, Pa. You might want to contact them with your problem. BTW, I am looking for a nice 69 cuda hood. I have a very nice Dart lite hood with the aluminum underside I would be willing to trade. The hood is very straight with original paint. Thanks.
Click to expand...
What year is your hood for?
 
halfaed said:
What year is your hood for?
Click to expand...
I think the Dart Lite was '76 only, not for sure, but the hood will fit '69 barracuda and '73-'76 dart and dart sport. It is currently bolted on my '69 fastback.
 
I have an old Alcola ad I got out of a National Geo. It shows a duster hood, trunk (and doors I think). All you could see was the outsides of them. Any body know the whole story on that. I didn't care about the Alcola part but it looked like they made Alum. hoods, and all (at least the skins of them)
Adam
 
I know the Feather Duster and Dart Lite had aluminum hood and trunk lid innerstructure but not sure about any other outer sheetmetal parts. Also the bumper reinforcements and the overdrive 4 speed case were aluminum. They shaved about 150 pounds off the regular models.
 
Got a call from AAR, Allen seems like a great guy. I told him I wasnt so worried about the hood because I found a good deal on a 68 Header panel and grills and I liked the front better anyways.

As for the trunk lid I just need to remove a piece from my original lid and it screws in to the new one.


So if your looking for glass dont be affraid to use them. Cant beat the quality.
 
[QUOTE='68-340-S]I have an old Alcola ad I got out of a National Geo. It shows a duster hood, trunk (and doors I think). All you could see was the outsides of them. Any body know the whole story on that. I didn't care about the Alcola part but it looked like they made Alum. hoods, and all (at least the skins of them)
Adam[/QUOTE]

As mentioned, just the underside bracing was aluminum on the hoods and trunks. That saved around 12 lbs on the hood and 5-6 on the trunk. The bumper reinforcements between the shock brackets and actual bumpers were aluminum as well as intake manifold and the case on 4-speed OD units. Those saved quite a bit more. No other parts I can think of were replaced with aluminum, but they probably found other ways to save a few pounds, like limiting options.

The Dart Lite and Feather Duster were 1976 only. I have seen some instances were the trunk was all-steel even though it appeared to be original to the car. Perhaps they ran out of the aluminum-braced versions at some point.

fastback, You have a PM!
 
Cool, I wish I had a full set of those panels.....wait that would mean i'd HAVE to buy another car to put them on. Wouldn't that make my wife happy! LOL
 
Adam, wish I would have seen this link earlier. I just got done changing my trunk lid and was going to tell you about the little clips with nut plates in the old hood you need to take out and swap. I just (last week) got both bumpers from AAR. It took a little longer than expected to show up but they are great!!! Looks like your throwing some serious cash into your car, can't wait to see the final result, keep me posted.
Adam
 
Thanks 72Dart, Just glad I dont have to wait for another. Im hoping I can get some of this stuff bolted up soon. I also need to get the scoop mounted up to the new hood. Hoping this thing will at least be in primer this year but theres a long ways to go before that.
 
Another update.

AAR told me I need to remove the tapping plates from my old deck lid to put in the new glass one. I stopped at the garage yesterday to pick a few things up and checkk the old deck lid. The tapping plates are not removable ! They are spot welded inside the bracing. After checking the Factory service manual it looks like they are removable from Coupes and Verts but not from Fastbacks. So it looks like if you have one of there glass trunk lids you will need to buy a set of tapping plates from a coupe or Vert trunk lid.

:wack:
 
Adam... love the progress you're making, but I still don't understand why you tore her down in the first place! LOL!

Thanks for the heads up on the 'glass stuff... I'm looking at almost an $1800 order from them for my '67 Fastback Project 10 Seconds Car... :)

Mike
 
AdamR said:
Another update.

AAR told me I need to remove the tapping plates from my old deck lid to put in the new glass one. I stopped at the garage yesterday to pick a few things up and checkk the old deck lid. The tapping plates are not removable ! They are spot welded inside the bracing. After checking the Factory service manual it looks like they are removable from Coupes and Verts but not from Fastbacks. So it looks like if you have one of there glass trunk lids you will need to buy a set of tapping plates from a coupe or Vert trunk lid.

:wack:
Click to expand...
Hmmm, that sucks. I wish I had some extra plates but mine just came right out, sorry you didn't have the swap as easy as I did. I just looked in my Year One catalog on a whim to see if they have one, but it doesn't look like they carry them. Let me know who has them if you find any companies that sell them, but I doubt anyone will make them.
 
lemonboy69 said:
Adam... love the progress you're making, but I still don't understand why you tore her down in the first place! LOL!Mike
Click to expand...


Shes a little rusty

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