[piercemotorsports]

Checking to see if anyone would be interested---I cut the inside sheet metal out of the hatch to lighten it for a race car project---got it pretty light but it's very flimsy/distorts very easy. I figure once I get the lexan in it and bolt it to the car it'll be better, but there's no way I could mount a wing on it without going through to the floor/rear framerail.

I called Precesion Porsche Conversions who supply me fiberglass roofs/kits for the Boxsters we build and he said he could make one for less than a grand---probably closer to $700. I asked him what a hood would cost and he said about the same. He's not a production facility so he doesn't kick out ton's of hoods for $300 like you see on EBAY---but he'd be willing to do a couple of rear hatches for me...Any interest?

 

[ciento44]

Interested here. Can't nail down 100% right at the moment, but definitely interested.

Any chance he could do one for my Celica for around the same price? I've been trying to get a group buy on that for years, and i'm sick of trying to get the AllTrac community motivated.

Difference with the Celica is that it's quite a bit curvier.

 

[piercemotorsports]

We could ask---I was going to pay for the mold for the escort so you'd have to do the same for the Celica---it get's costly---I'll give you his # if you like. You'd send the hatch and a week or two later he'd send it back with a fiberglass clone.

 

[greddy1387]

idk about this but id love a carbon hatch

 

[Dave94LX]

Definitely keep me in the loop on this Jim! I tried to get a custom CF hatch made a few years ago, but the company went belly up before we could iron out the details. I was going to send them a hatch along with my Rod Millen Top Lip Spoiler, and get them to make both out of CF for me.

The only concern that I have is that the size of the 5-door hatch may be slightly different than a 2 door hatch. I have seen several people through the years swap coupe hatches onto the 5-doors, and they don't quite line up right.

 

[piercemotorsports]

The guy that ZX Tuner was using went belly up as well---a sign of the times...I'm not sure it's worth the money, but if people were interested-it's a pretty painless exercise-I drop it off and a week or two later their done! Hardest part would be boxing/shipping them out...I'm guessing that isn't going to be cheap either.

 

[Dave94LX]

I will do a little more leg work, to see if the coupe and 5-door hatches are the same. If they are... then I am definitely interested. I'll let you know what I find out.

 

[greddy1387]

well i am interested but id like 2 see some pics

 

[ciento44]

We could ask---I was going to pay for the mold for the escort so you'd have to do the same for the Celica---it get's costly---I'll give you his # if you like. You'd send the hatch and a week or two later he'd send it back with a fiberglass clone.

Yeah, if you could PM me his number, i'd like to give him a call just to feel it out so i have a better list of stuff to take care of when the car comes off the road in a month or so.

Thanks!

 

[300ZXRB26DETT]

This sounds great, but that price...I can say I am interested but this is not a top priority for me. Depends how much the rest of the car will cost me to finish.......

Definitely keep me in the loop on this Jim! I tried to get a custom CF hatch made a few years ago, but the company went belly up before we could iron out the details. I was going to send them a hatch along with my Rod Millen Top Lip Spoiler, and get them to make both out of CF for me.

The only concern that I have is that the size of the 5-door hatch may be slightly different than a 2 door hatch. I have seen several people through the years swap coupe hatches onto the 5-doors, and they don't quite line up right.

You should see about sending in that Rod Millen spoiler to this guy, I would love to have one on my car.........

 

[MATT91GT]

this would be real cool.

and dave yes you should send out that spoiler to get dupilcates made

 

[mechmunkee-j]

keep us posted dude, seriously, im definitely interested. would i have to ship out my hatch to him or would he be producing the entire rear hatch? if its just the outer skin, then i may not be as interested, but if its the entire hatch, then im interested

 

[piercemotorsports]

Once we have the mold done, they could be served up like pizza's so you wouldn't have to ship anything. I'm more concerned with weight savings for my own project, so I'm not sure about the skin VS. complete hatch---I'll keep you posted---I emailed picks of the hatch over to him on Thursday and haven't heard anything---I'll check in with him on Monday.

 

[jinx]

I might be interested if it's the whole hatch.

 

[piercemotorsports]

Talked with Tony at Precision today---great guy---he said the mold to do the skin and inner portion was about $1500---the mold just to do the outside skin was about a grand. If we do them in fiberglass then they should be in the $500 to $600 dollar range (the outer skin would about $350 or so---this would be bolted on and hood pinned, not functional, but a HUGE weight savings-over 50lbs).

The carbon fiber material just adds a few bucks per yard, but the vacuum bagging material is quite a bit more and he said for it to turn out nice/strong then we'd have to do it. This bumps the cost up a few hundred more per hatch which makes it ridiculously expensive/possibly not cost effective for the average project.

These things could end up costing close to a grand with shipping (anybody have any idea what it would cost to ship from Los Angeles to say the middle of the country??)---at that price would fiberglass be a better option---anyone still interested in carbon fiber at that price---anyone know another glass shop that can kick them out cheaper??? I still kind of need one/entertaining other possibilities/options...

 

[300ZXRB26DETT]

Talked with Tony at Precision today---great guy---he said the mold to do the skin and inner portion was about $1500---the mold just to do the outside skin was about a grand. If we do them in fiberglass then they should be in the $500 to $600 dollar range (the outer skin would about $350 or so---this would be bolted on and hood pinned, not functional, but a HUGE weight savings-over 50lbs).

The carbon fiber material just adds a few bucks per yard, but the vacuum bagging material is quite a bit more and he said for it to turn out nice/strong then we'd have to do it. This bumps the cost up a few hundred more per hatch which makes it ridiculously expensive/possibly not cost effective for the average project.

These things could end up costing close to a grand with shipping (anybody have any idea what it would cost to ship from Los Angeles to say the middle of the country??)---at that price would fiberglass be a better option---anyone still interested in carbon fiber at that price---anyone know another glass shop that can kick them out cheaper??? I still kind of need one/entertaining other possibilities/options...

It would be so nice to have the carbon fiber, but I dont think we can get much cheaper then that. I did some price checking online for carbon hatches for civics, and the range for some of those was 600-750$ before shipping. I found one place that had a civic hatch for 459$ shipped, but i could not find anything about making custom parts. http://www.hmotorsports.com/jdm_appearance1.html

I would be willing to go for fiberglass, if the you cant find a better price for a carbon one.

 

[piercemotorsports]

Ok so on my fiberglass guy's recommedation (he's really that cool!) I contacted the R&D/product development department at : www.extremedimensions.com. They said that they had looked at the Escort Gt hatches before but hadn't ever done anything with them.

Ryan said if I dropped a hatch off and was willing to buy 3 that he'd send it over seas next week and in 3-4 months I'd have them. If I pay some airfreight I could get them in 7-8 weeks. I won't have to pay for the mold/development---just the 3 hatches and air freight. They'll end up selling them through their distributors (they have over a 1000) and I'll get preffered pricing on the hatch.

They'll retail for $699 (Their idea not mine) and I should be able to sell them for a little less. This beats the hell out of me having to pay $1500 bucks for the molds and then paying another $700 for one hatch for myself---hoping I can sell like 20 hatches to break even over the next 3-5 years!!! Not only that but they'll be perfect, I've seen their products before and been to their warehouse---you could land a small plane in it!!!

Unless someone else has another supplier/builder here in the states, I'll most likely go with them.

 

[Dave94LX]

will this new route possibly be functional hatches, or still non-functional?

 

[piercemotorsports]

Completely functional---you may have to drill holes for the wing since there's several different versions, other than that it'll bolt on and glass will glue in.

 

[Dave94LX]

Very nice!!!