fiberglass cladding

[toolmann]

curious on the general opinion of fiberglass reproduction pieces.
iv been hunting around for a rr corner. i want to have a piece by spring soo my truck can come out of hibernation all together. i have a pretty solid lead on a couple pieces(patients is not my stong suit),but in the intrum figured id keep looking. iv been quoted BIG MONEY for 'new' oem pieces. used peices are reasonable,but have the same issues as any 13 yo piece would have. fiberglass seems to have some advantages...
finding an oe piece that is stock color(argent) that i can just 'bolt on' would be ideal,which is what im holding out for....
anyway...any opinions on fit/finish of fiberglass??

 

[phoonTy]

Re: fiberglass cladding

I've heard good things about Paul's Select Fiberglass Cladding

Of course, it has to be painted to match. If you want OEM color, as you said, you'll have to hold out for someone selling theirs, as it's the only way to get it already painted.

 

[SYO237]

Re: fiberglass cladding

Pauls Select seems the be the spot to go for fiberglass repros.

No matter what, you are going to have to fit and prep the fiberglass piece. Ive seen quite a few trucks where it fits like sh!t if it had just been painted and bolted right on the truck. Most of the edges will need to be knocked down and straightened. The few pieces ive seen in person always have a wavy edge.

 

[CKEITH]

Re: fiberglass cladding

i have a rr corner that has had a tab repaired i will sell for 175.00 shipped if you are interested.

 

[Black Knight]

Re: fiberglass cladding

I have a piece from Paul and just like Adam said, the fit is poor, but I think he does that intentionally so that you can have it brought down to fit your truck, definitely can't argue too much on the price IIRC mine was cheap compared to what a OEM is. One thing is to me the fiber glass one feels more rigid then the OEM piece so if you get it attached good it should be fine for a long time.

 

[toolmann]

Re: fiberglass cladding

yeah,i spoke to Paul early in the week. he was very informative. took a few minutes to talk about his stuff. and seems reasonable. fit/finish is a concern & i dident find much info after reading butt loads of post in 'search'...altho ppi ty has a promising project that hasent been updated for awhile(unless i missed it). another source out west made me dizzy with big numbers for new oem cladding! im not a cheap skate,but yikes!
i can fix my piece,but it shattered like a potato chip(as Paul put it) and wont be up to snuff(imo)

thanks for the post,guys. anyone else??

 

[toolmann]

Re: fiberglass cladding

I have a piece from Paul and just like Adam said, the fit is poor, but I think he does that intentionally so that you can have it brought down to fit your truck, definitely can't argue too much on the price IIRC mine was cheap compared to what a OEM is. One thing is to me the fiber glass one feels more rigid then the OEM piece so if you get it attached good it should be fine for a long time.

thanks for posting!
his pricing is reasonable. and as for durability,can hurt to have something alittle more rigid. im just wondering how much finagling will be required to get proper fit. i expect some,of coarse. color matching 13 yo cladding may be tricky as well. i appreciate your imput.

 

[jjorgensen52]

Re: fiberglass cladding

I have a paul's front bumper on my truck, very happy with it. Did need a little work in fitting to make it good, but well worth it in my opinion. The factory cladding doesn't fit right anyway

 

[toolmann]

Re: fiberglass cladding

I have a paul's front bumper on my truck, very happy with it. Did need a little work in fitting to make it good, but well worth it in my opinion. The factory cladding doesn't fit right anyway

thanks jj. of coarse,upside for you was painting everything! i dont want to paint anything i dont have to. all my panels still have factory(crappy) paint and will have till i absolutely have to do something....scratch here n there i can live with. fortunately i have no tin damage. freshly painted panels/pieces would throw off my groove,man.
the added strengh would be nice tho..

 

[pinellas50]

Re: fiberglass cladding

I have a driver's rear corner from Paul in the back seat as we speak. A buddy of mine is a wizard when it comes to fiberglass and he is going to test fit the piece and do any adjustments to it that are necessary. The quality of the product is awsome. I didn't notice any imperfections on the piece I got but I will be looking at it much more closely in the next few days.

If this piece works well, I don't see myself every trying to replace anything else with OEM pieces. The fiberglass is 1000% stronger than the stock stuff.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[toolmann]

Re: fiberglass cladding

I have a driver's rear corner from Paul in the back seat as we speak. A buddy of mine is a wizard when it comes to fiberglass and he is going to test fit the piece and do any adjustments to it that are necessary. The quality of the product is awsome. I didn't notice any imperfections on the piece I got but I will be looking at it much more closely in the next few days.

If this piece works well, I don't see myself every trying to replace anything else with OEM pieces. The fiberglass is 1000% stronger than the stock stuff.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Thanks!

 

[pinellas50]

Re: fiberglass cladding

Most of the edges will need to be knocked down and straightened. The few pieces ive seen in person always have a wavy edge.

I took it out of the box tonight and looked a little more closely at it. I'll have to agree with you on the edges SYO237. Or really the line that runs front to back through the piece and wraps around to meet the rear bumper. I don't know how else to explain it. Anyway, it is much less pronounced than the factory line. I'll see what my guy can do to get it closer to the factory look.

This isn't a huge thing, but I do think that anyone in the "know" would recognize the difference. And it may be nothing if the piece is massageable enough.

 

[epix]

Re: fiberglass cladding

I took these pics about 4 years ago of Pauls cladding.. left is fiberglass right is stock

and installed/trimmed to fit/painted

 

[pinellas50]

Re: fiberglass cladding

I got my fiberglass piece fitted today. It wasn't a bolt on affair. Mainly material had to be removed from the top of the piece. About 1/4" of material. It fit fine then and is off to the paint shop next week.

I'm happy with it. But purchasers need to know there will probably be a little tweaking with it.

 

[db239]

Re: fiberglass cladding

Thanks for the info, I recently ordered the bumper ends and was also wondering about fitment.

 

[92boostedty]

Re: fiberglass cladding

i got a rear fiberglass piece it didnt fit good and the body guy had to trim it down to fit...he didnt do a good job...i would just buy oem. also the paint was all messed up on the top of the piece i dont know if it was b/c it was fiberglass or what but it didnt come out good...i guess if you get one just make sure you take your truck to a good body shop. he made it fit good on the back but there is a space on the top :roll:

 

[spooldup]

Re: fiberglass cladding

i have a good amount of oem pieces if you are still in need of parts.

 

[Joey Allen]

Re: fiberglass cladding

If your tikky about fit Paul's will need some work. I worked for 1 year going piece by piece for my Ty's complete kit. Although prepping and fitting took many hours I really like how they turned out. The front fender pieces took the most work, but you can't tell a bit of difference from OEM.

 

[dogboy]

Re: fiberglass cladding

anyone got a way of contacting paul/pauls select cladding ?
as the link to sport machine seems to be down and im after some cladding

 

[db239]

Re: fiberglass cladding

Here is his email. He usually checks it once or twice a day.

paulselect@mvdsl.com