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  1. #1
    FEP Member
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    Default Fiber glass hatches...

    Anyone have any experience with fiber glass hatches I pick up my 86 GT tomorrow and the hatch is in good shape (a little rust on one corner but no holes) but I was thinking about replacing it with a fiber glass one. Anyone know what the fit is like on them
    Silver 86 GT

  2. #2
    Earl Ingstad evlgt85's Avatar
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    Default

    One thing about them is that you're taking weight off where you want to have weight. Weight over the rear = good. Depending on brand, they fit relatively well. Don't ever cheap out on fiberglass, you'll pay for it somewhere else. You have to run a lexan window if you want to use the hatch struts to lift the hatch. If you want to use glass, you have to lift it yourself carefully. The combination of the hatch struts and factory style glass will cause the fiberglass to flex just enough to bust the glass within the hatch. After seeing what some friends had to go through with fiberglass hatches, I'm not interested in one.

  3. #3
    Mike Croke
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    Haven't seen one in person but I'm curious why you'd want one. If you're looking to save weight on the car for performance reasons, then taking weight off the rear is bad on a Mustang. For drag racing, weight over the rear aids in harder launches. If road racing, the weight in the back keeps the front/rear distribution closer to 50/50. You'd have to remove a lot of weight from the front of the car before seeing any benefit of losing weight from the back.

  4. #4
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    Default

    Thanks for the info. It's not for weight reduction. I live in Canada and the hatches (along with doors) rust out really easy. I'm taking ownership of an 86 GT today and the hatch has one rough spot but for the most part is rust free (no holes). The car is going to be used in the summer only but I was thinking of replacing the metal hatch with a fiberglass one which would never rust (not that I would let that happen). Given the what you guys have said I'll stick with metal.

    Thanks again
    Silver 86 GT

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