Can you "dent" glassfibre??

[britten_mark]

A couple of years ago after purchasing my car I noticed a slight dimple, about a fingernail sized thing, in the dummy filler flap. I mentioned it to the lying, duplicitous twit of a dealer as part of a series of complaints about damage to the car whilst in their dealer "prep" but all I got was "it's a moulding flaw".

Now I always thought glassfibre was rock hard, and if it were to fail under impact would leave a crack, so didn't pursue it.

On getting my car back from a service last week I notice the same type of mark on the rear lip, along with a couple of superficial scratches commensurate with someone climbing in the boot to get at the engine(why oh why didn't they keep the opening clamshell rearend of the prototype!). It definitely wasn't their before as I just polished it. Can this sort of thing be caused by a knock, and if so how heavy?

>> Edited by britten_mark on Friday 24th June 19:11

[dknighto]

I put a hell of a knock on one of the panels on my esprit and can't say I've seen any dents. Only cracks

What you may be seeing could be the result of an air bubble that collapsed in the fiberglass. This is still unlikely because the gelcoat on top of the fiberglass is so brittle that it normally spiders with any deformation.

Any dammage that would actually physically alter the fiberglass would likely cause some delamination. Delaminated fiberglass sounds different when tapped with a finger or screwdriver handle. Good fiberglass makes a sharp knock while delaminated fiberglass makes kind of a dull thud.

-Steve
'91 SE

[lotusguy]

Mark,

It's not the Fibreglass, but the Gelcoat. This can move and you can see slight depressions or dents over time. I had one such as you describe from entering the boot for a repair - didn't even break the paint, just sorta shifted everything.
Happy Motoring!... Jim'00 Boxster

[britten_mark]

So is this a natural occurence Jim, like a latent flaw, or can you do it accidentally?

[ozzie dave]

Its a latent flaw , occurs on many GRP cars . often shows up after warm/hot weather .