Bodywork Material. . .Polyethylene (UHMWPE vs. HDPE) vs. Polycarbonate (lexan)

[atomicjoe23]

I know this doesn't particularly belong in this section of the forum, but I didn't see a bodywork section. . .and this section is closer than any of the other sections.

What do you guys think. . .Polyethylene vs. Polycarbonate (lexan), and if PE then HDPE vs. UHMWPE.

Lexan is about twice as expensive per sheet as HDPE and UHMWPE is about 3.5 times as expensive as HDPE.

I'm not talking super flimsy stuff here. . .lexan, the stuff used around hockey rinks and HDPE is used in animal enclosures (of all sizes and weights). . .and the UHMWPE I think would be overkill for bodywork.

Looking at 1/16" thick material in 4' x 8' sheets.

Thanks!

[Bullnerd]

Whats the stuff used for vacuum forming/molding?I cant remember,but i worked with a guy that used to vacuum mold all sorts of cool stuff.i always wondered if it would work for buggy stuff.

[nutz4sand]

Just like those boat tops they get sewn up to match the shape of the top of the boat canopy I like the idea of a flexible body.

Have a canvass shop cut and sew a body up out of marine waterproof stuff.
Be light and easy to strecth over the frame and remove to work on it.

Or not. Just an idea I have suggested before.

[Bullnerd]

polystyrene,I think it is.

[atomicjoe23]

I'm not talking about the flexible stuff. . .this stuff is about the stiffness of fiberglass, but is considerably cheaper and easier to work with. . .assuming you don't need any curves. . .if it's thin enough you can even work it in a sheetmetal brake just like aluminum!

[ProtoDie]

Years past we used Black ABS plastic,,,,,,3/16 thick.

It was nice & easy to work with, you could heat your bends to hold shape.

In the sunlight & heat it would expand & contract with temp changes.
On a hot day it would get really wavy, and buckle where it was not mounted.
After 2 seasons it became very brittle from the heat cycles

After that we switched to aluminum for racing

For a show, I use clear Lexan,,,also 3/16 thick. Painted the inside with charcoal metal flake . It turned out sweet, and the clear Lexan added a (space bar)lot of depth.

Areas around the rivots would spider crack though, which supprised me , being Lexan.
These panels did not see any real abuse either,,,,,,,mostly shows.
The clear Lexan would also expand in the sun / heat.

I would recomend aluminum sheet metal. You can get pre-painted that they use on stock cars for pretty cheap. $80-100 a sheet I think.

Or bare aluminum then powder coat, or paint

Or bare aluminum with Vinyl wrap. This is nice for when it starts to look a little rough down the road,,,,you can throw a new skin on it.
It seems to hold up well to racing also.

Attached are pics showing each

The Burgundy & silver car has the vinyl wrap
black silver car in the sand is aluminum- powder coat
blk slvr on drive way is clear lexan with paint on the inside
kids cars are pre painted aluminum
blk slvr car in grass is black ABS plastic

[jumpin jellybean]

yes imo I would go with aluminum, even the thick plastic will buckle and crack as protdie said

[K-fab]

3003 series aluminum sheeting. 1/16 or .040 works well and is easy to work with.

[minibajaman]

For the Baja SAE cars I worked on we used 1/16" thick Lexan and painted the inside. It looks great when new, but scratches easily so is really only good for one season. It also would eventually crack around mounting holes on older non-competition cars. But for a race car it works good.

For my personal buggy I decided to use 1/8" HDPE. It is really cheap compared to Lexan, but only comes in black or white, and is not really paintable. It is more flexible than Lexan and less prone to cracking, but does expand more in the sun. It has worked well for me so far, but does not look as nice as fresh painted Lexan.

[millbilly]

Fiberglass. Easy to work with,Just takes time