Hi all,

I’m looking to get some work done on my XK8 arches and took it down to a local painter today.

They suggested cutting out and fibreglassing all 4. What are everyone’s thoughts on that as my initial reaction is no, it would have to be replaced with metal.

would you buy and xk8 with fibreglass arches?

I don’t intend on selling the car anytime soon but I’m mindful that it may or may not make it a tougher sell when the time comes.

cheers

 

in all my years of performing rust repairs and looking at other people's work, every person who substituted glass for metal regretted it. It always fails due to imperfect bond with the remaining metal. The only benefit is initial installation is much cheaper and easier.
In most cases the rust breaks right through the repairs.

 

OK for a quick cover-up, but if it's for rust repair rather than purely cosmetic reasons, you may well find when you get deeper into it that the worm has spread to structural areas where glassfibre just isn't a cure.

 

My latest thoughts (given the replies) and where i’m thinking in my own head is to maybe leave it for this year now. Get some decent use until sept/Oct and get a proper job done in spring time next year and get everything taken care of.

 

Thinking out loud, if I was looking at one of these personally and it had A load of fibreglass, that would put me off. Perhaps that’s just me but I suppose I’m answering my own original question in that case.