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What's with all the plastic body panels?

23 messages,  Last post on May 22, 2006 at 9:06 AM

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#21 of 23 Way back in high school... by andre1969 May 12, 2006 (10:46 am)
I pounded out the rear quarter panel on my 1980 Malibu when someone did a hit-and-run on it in the school parking lot. I also dented the door of said Malibu when one day I didn't close it right, but instead of unlocking it and slamming it again, I just pushed up against it to force it all the way shut.   Now that was an era when they were starting to roll the sheetmetal thinner to save weight (although I'm sure much of it's thinner still these days) but even with my '68 Dart, I was able to pound a dent in the front fender out when I got sideswiped by a newer Ram. And I'm proud to say, my '68 opened up that new thing like a tin can! A few months later a Tacoma hit the same spot on the Dart, and as it bounced harmlessly off and I could see an easy $1-2K worth of body damage on the Taco, I just thought to myself, damn, I'm going to have to punch that fender out again!   As for plastic body panels? Well those type that Saturn uses/used to use, where the color is all the way through, that will hold up better than metal when it comes to scraping, chipping, peeling, etc. And naturally, if you put your fist into it, it's just going to bounce back. For a cheaper way of demonstrating this, go try to punch out a rubbermaid trashcan a few times, and then after that go and pick a fight with an old fashioned steel trashcan, and see which one dents quicker. Now with repeated bashings, the plastic will eventually fatigue and crack in places. You'll start to see the stress marks, just like with a plastic snowshovel that gets overloaded a few times too many.   But now, plastic panels that get painted are VERY fragile. They'll probably hold up okay to something like your fist, but stone chips, door dings, etc will make a mess of them in short order. And often, once that paint on the plastic starts to peel, it'll never stop. The bare spot will just get bigger and bigger, exacerbated by airflow when you're driving, weather, bugs that hit it, etc.   As for going to the doctor after punching out a car door, well that depends on how hard you hit it. It's only going to give in so far before your fist does, so if you were to hit one with all your might, you might break something. Unless you are a wuss and just can't hit that hard.
#22 of 23 carlisimo by bottgers May 16, 2006 (4:19 am)
A box by any other name is still a box and there's not much you can do to change its looks. An element would look like a box no matter what material or color its panels are made of.
#23 of 23 Re: What's with all the plastic body panels? [bottgers] by plasticar May 22, 2006 (9:06 am)
Replying to: bottgers (Apr 04, 2006 4:16 am) The parts you are describing are not considered body panels. The big grey or black pieces on the element and avalanche are called cladding. the biggest problem with these claddings is that they are made of the a material called Pollypropylene (PP). This is just a step up from the stuff they make milk bottles of. PP has some great properties... ... if you are making toys. It has very little cold weather impact resistance, warps in hot weather, becomes brittle over time and can be scratched easily with a finger nail (don't start "nailing" car now!). The reason auto makers use PP is that it is easy to process (mold), can be molded in color with good consistency and it is very inexpensive (compared to other plastics). In theory, it should only cost about $30 to replace a typical piece of cladding, but the part suppliers want their $$$. The parts are cheep, It requires little labor to replace and no special skills are required to replace them. Yet you will probably pay $150 to replace one. Go figure.   Most plastic body panels (not cladding or bumper fascias) are molded of higher grade materials and are usually molded black and are painted. You can't get the color match or the gloss level auto makers desire without painting. These better materials are expensive (so much for "cheap plastic"). They will not dent or crease. they will crack or even shatter when hit very hard (i.e. an accident). The only cars with molded-in color body panels are the Smart cars in Europe and then only the yellow, black, and red ones are not painted. These are also hard coated to protect from UV and add gloss.   hope this gets the plastic facts straight.

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