Shawn,

There are some technical questions that your friend should ask the manufacturer. I wish I had been smart enough to ask them on my first glass car.

1. Do you hand lay the mat or use a chopper gun? There may be some good chopper gun plants out there, but I would never buy another chopper-gun laid car. Unless the technician is very well trained and has a lot of experience, chopper gun cars don't have uniform thickness. Chopper gun manufacturers will give you a rationale for their method, but I don't buy it. Running a chopper gun is a dirty, fairly low-paid job. It's tough to keep people at it long enough for them to get good at it. (Gibbon uses chopper guns.)

2. What's the Temperature Distortion Point (TDP) of the resin you use? It should be 180 - 190 degrees F. 220 - 240 would be better. If they say 140, run like hell. That's shower stall and camper shell stuff. If they say they don't know, that would raise a flag for me. They should know. This is important because a car sitting in the sun gets hot. If the TDP isn't high enough, the resin softens and the mat "prints through" or the body warps.

3. What catalyst to resin ratio do you use? It should be 1% - 3%. This is important because too much catalyst will make the body brittle. Too little, and it won't cure.

4. What fiber to resin ratio do you use? It should be at least 40% glass fiber to 60% resin. 45% fiber to 55% resin would be better. This is important because the fiber adds strength. If the answer is under 30%, fuggetaboutit.

5. Do you recommend a "sun cure?" That's letting the car sit in the sun or do you recommend baking it in a paint booth. This is a trick question. If they say that the car should be "sun cured," it means that they're not sure they got the right amount of catalyst in the mix. Very few manufacturers us a heat-cure resin. The simple truth is that if the resin isn't cured to start with, sitting it in the sun won't do any good. (Gibbon recommends a sun cure.)

6. Can I paint this car black without worrying about it "printing through" in the sun? Another trick question. If they say yes, it indicates that the TDP of their resin isn't high enough. (Gibbon recommends against dark colors.)

Based on the raw bodies I've seen, my next project would be from Redneck, assuming I got the righe answers to the above questions.