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Autobody topic: easiest way to fab aluminum?

to have it look as good as the original? not sure. the english wheel can make some absolutely amazing curves, but takes an extremely skilled person to use effectively. now if you had the dies for the panels and a hydraulic press....😉

i'd just check a junkyard for salvageable body panels.

OTOH if you aren't worried about street-legalness, you could try making some molds for fiberglass panels based on what you do have. it wouldn't necessarily be perfect unless you spent A LOT of time making the molds, but it could work out pretty well.

that's all i got for now
 
Short answer no. Takes a big machine or an amazing amount of time and expensive tools cf is a much better option
 
Fenixgoon said:
to have it look as good as the original? not sure. the english wheel can make some absolutely amazing curves, but takes an extremely skilled person to use effectively. now if you had the dies for the panels and a hydraulic press....😉

i'd just check a junkyard for salvageable body panels.

OTOH if you aren't worried about street-legalness, you could try making some molds for fiberglass panels based on what you do have. it wouldn't necessarily be perfect unless you spent A LOT of time making the molds, but it could work out pretty well.

that's all i got for now
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Doesn't have to look as good, just so long as it opens and closes and doesn't look laughably ridiculous, I'm fine.

In fact, fiberglass is a good idea, could you make a fiberglass door? Panel?
 
It's an old '93 Accord. Not exactly my preferred platform, but it's a great car.

I'm wondering if I replaced all the doors, trunk, and hood with fiberglass, would I be losing 250 pounds of curb weight.
 
Not likely, and it would not warrant the effort. It is very hard to replace factory stamped parts with anything, and retain the sound deadening, fit, finish.
 
skyking said:
Not likely, and it would not warrant the effort. It is very hard to replace factory stamped parts with anything, and retain the sound deadening, fit, finish.
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Yeah, I guess in the back of my mind, I kind of knew this to be true.

Still, I had naively hoped it would be an easy process.

Although I did learn that fiberglass is easier than aluminum. 😀
 
janas19 said:
Although I did learn that fiberglass is easier than aluminum. 😀
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Far easier, but it's just not worth it to do on your car. Replacing a door would be much harder than you're probably thinking, they are pretty complex. On top of that it wouldn't be safe, a homebuilt door will be far more fragile in a crash.
 
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Bignate603 said:
Far easier, but it's just not worth it to do on your car. Replacing a door would be much harder than you're probably thinking, they are pretty complex. On top of that it wouldn't be safe, a homebuilt door will be far more fragile in a crash.
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This is what I was thinking. If I was modifying the doors that heavily, it would turn in to an off road car for me, and at that point why even put doors on it at all? Even more weight saved, less effort! Although I would guess driving an Accord with no doors probably feels a bit dicey, depending on where you are driving off road.😛

Didn't '93 Accords have airbags? There is another 20 pounds or so with that.
 
If you really want to drop the weight, gut your doors. You'd likely have to make a fiberglass or aluminum door very thin in order to save an appreciable amount of weight.
 
If your dead-set on doing this, do the trunk first. If it looks, great, move on the trunk and/or doors. Otherwise, replace the new trunk with the original and find a new project!

As other has said, replacing the doors is a safety issue. If you dont plan to daily-drive the car around town, then stripping the doors and doing a full weight-reduction would be the next logical step. Fiberglass hoods and/or removing extra seats and sound dampening/carpets would be good too.
 
JulesMaximus said:
Chances of this not being the outcome are slim to none.
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I don't know for sure. If I get a door from a junkyard, strip off all the paneling and wiring so it's just the sheet metal, maybe I could cast a mold, fill it with a resin or fiberglass? Just thinking out loud 😀





Captain Howdy said:
This is what I was thinking. If I was modifying the doors that heavily, it would turn in to an off road car for me, and at that point why even put doors on it at all? Even more weight saved, less effort! Although I would guess driving an Accord with no doors probably feels a bit dicey, depending on where you are driving off road.😛

Didn't '93 Accords have airbags? There is another 20 pounds or so with that.
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Lol man, I'm going to be driving this on the road. No way I'm riding around town with no doors. I'm just bouncing ideas off you guys, if it's just unviable then fuck it, I don't care.






JCH13 said:
If you really want to drop the weight, gut your doors. You'd likely have to make a fiberglass or aluminum door very thin in order to save an appreciable amount of weight.
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Yep.




ExarKun333 said:
If your dead-set on doing this, do the trunk first. If it looks, great, move on the trunk and/or doors. Otherwise, replace the new trunk with the original and find a new project!

As other has said, replacing the doors is a safety issue. If you dont plan to daily-drive the car around town, then stripping the doors and doing a full weight-reduction would be the next logical step. Fiberglass hoods and/or removing extra seats and sound dampening/carpets would be good too.
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Good point, I figured either the hood or trunk would be easiest.

The safety issue is legit, so I'd probably leave the driver door stock.

Probably not worth it to swap out the steering wheel.

Thanks on the feedback, guys.
 
Janas what exactly are you trying to accomplish? This is an absolute 100% total waste of time on a 1993 accord. If your doors/hood/trunk have an issue then go to a junkyard, there are 1000's of those things all over the place.
 
I'm trying top figure out what OP is trying to accomplish. If you're going for weight savings in order to increase fuel economy, you're going to spend a lot more moeny making fiber glass doors than you'll ever recoupe in gas costs.

If you just want to lighten the car for free, remove all the seats, pull out the carpet/padding/tar resin stuff if it has it and put the driver seat back. and enjoy.
 
SpatiallyAware said:
Janas what exactly are you trying to accomplish? This is an absolute 100% total waste of time on a 1993 accord. If your doors/hood/trunk have an issue then go to a junkyard, there are 1000's of those things all over the place.
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Hardcore weight reduction.

Stupid me, I didn't realize it was cost-prohibitive IF I wanted to maintain a close-to-stock appearance.

What I mean is I could accomplish the body weight reduction technically and cheaply, but... it would probably look awful.

Or I could do it properly and nicely, but it would not, I repeat NOT be cheap...

Sigh. Technically correct, cost-effective and looks good - those 3 together are just so elusive 🙁
 
JeffreyLebowski said:
I'm trying top figure out what OP is trying to accomplish. If you're going for weight savings in order to increase fuel economy, you're going to spend a lot more moeny making fiber glass doors than you'll ever recoupe in gas costs.

If you just want to lighten the car for free, remove all the seats, pull out the carpet/padding/tar resin stuff if it has it and put the driver seat back. and enjoy.
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Yeah but that's just so ricer. 😛
 
janas19 said:
Hardcore weight reduction.

Stupid me, I didn't realize it was cost-prohibitive IF I wanted to maintain a close-to-stock appearance.

What I mean is I could accomplish the body weight reduction technically and cheaply, but... it would probably look awful.

Or I could do it properly and nicely, but it would not, I repeat NOT be cheap...

Sigh. Technically correct, cost-effective and looks good - those 3 together are just so elusive 🙁
Click to expand...

Right, but why do you care about weight reduction on a 93 accord?

If it's mpg or handling then we can help in other ways. Explain to us exactly what you're trying to accomplish, not the method you want to use to get there.
 
SpatiallyAware said:
Right, but why do you care about weight reduction on a 93 accord?

If it's mpg or handling then we can help in other ways. Explain to us exactly what you're trying to accomplish, not the method you want to use to get there.
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MPG. Basically I hate paying so much for gas, and I'm musing on the possibility of lightening my car.

It's a great car, I just wish a tank would take me a lot farther.
 
janas19 said:
MPG. Basically I hate paying so much for gas, and I'm musing on the possibility of lightening my car.

It's a great car, I just wish a tank would take me a lot farther.
Click to expand...

The amount of money that it would cost to do lightweight versions of your doors and hood (even if you did the work yourself) would never pay for itself in saved gas.

The more cost effective solution is to take out everything you don't need, stay up on your maintenance (air filter is a big one), fill up your tires regularly, and to not drive like an idiot.
 
Weight is not the issue with fuel economy, aerodynamics and engine efficiency and rolling resistance are much more important. Head over to ecomodder.com, they have all the tricks on squeezing more miles cheaply. Key word is cheaply.
It does not pay to spend $1000 to save $500 over the useful life of the rig, and they know that.
 
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