Materials of products

Materials of products

IMPORTANT: For ordered products that must be pre-machined and sprayed, always check the fit first. This can be updated in advance before you incur costs to have the products spray painted and then find out whether or not something is a completely correct fit! Aftermarket, for example, can never be compared to original VW parts. Always check the fit of side skirts and bumpers in advance!

Products in the webshop are mainly made of the following materials. Explanation is on this page.

ABS plastic / PP-EPDM
PUR
Polyester / fiberglass

ABS plastic / PP-EPDM
Thermoplastics are ‘plastic’; they soften where they are heated. As a result, they can be pressed or bent into a certain shape. After cooling, the material retains this shape. Consider, for example, spoilers, side skirts, bumpers and all kinds of other plastic parts of a car. Unheated, these plastics can, for example, also be sawn, milled or welded.

Examples of thermoplastics are:

PVC: polyvinyl chloride
PP: polypropylene (also known as polypropylene) (original VW bumpers contain PP)
PE: polyethylene (also known as polyethylene)
PS: polystyrene
These plastics are durable, light, reusable and highly resistant to acids and salts. This high chemical resistance makes them suitable for use in the automotive industry.

NOTE: the styling parts as a front spoiler for under the bumper, before mounting on the front lower edge that has been cast down or sprayed in a mold, apply a layer of black window sealant, distribute it from the horizontal to the vertical part and the forces that come on the raised edge will be distributed to the horizontal part and this prevents tearing or pieces jumping out!

Advantages of plastic

  • is strong
  • sprays well
  • easy to repair (welding)
  • is flexible
  • can withstand frost and heat, only at high temperatures with a hot air john, for example, will this
  • material deform

Disadvantages of plastic

  • can tear in weak spots

The so-called “Hybrid bumpers” that are manufactured from 2 original Volkswagen bumpers are made of PP-EPDM, welding if done properly ensures a strong connection between the two bumpers, the heating makes them even stronger in those places. However, this process takes time and results in beautiful bumpers if they are correct in terms of lines and are also neatly finished. Do not glue, seal or screw these types of bumpers together, as shown in the videos and photos, and then finish with a lot of polyester filler, then it will also tear too quickly if a bumper has to deal with force from, for example, a football against it. Make both bumpers fit, attach them to each other and then weld the parts together, when you start finishing you will use as little filler as possible and you will get a much stronger and tighter end result. It is best to do this with new bumpers and not with used ones. Also make sure that the bumpers are not made too low, a blow on a threshold is enough to tear the filler and paint layer.

 

PUR
Polyurethane, abbreviation PUR. Polyurethanes are polyester and are produced by polyaddition of isocyanates and alcohols. They are a widely applicable duroplast. This material is mainly used for spoilers. Please note if it freezes this material can tear through, if you have a front spoiler for example, be careful with frost or dismantle it temporarily.

Advantages of PUR

  • at temperatures above 0, this material is strong and can take a beating
  • is often supplied with a layer that can be processed directly for a sprayer, so it is a suitable surface

Disadvantages of PUR

  • hardens when it freezes and can then crack
  • Rear spoilers and under spoilers under the bumper are mainly made of this.

 

Polyester / fiberglass
Consists of fiber mats and glue. Very nice material for a rear spoiler that suffers little, or to make an Audi installation in the back or to finish your own design and idea for larger speakers in the door. But this material is less suitable for bumpers, side skirts and similar parts that sometimes have to deal with a beating. When hitting such a part, the fibers can tear and this is also reflected in the paint layer if the top layer cracks. If you hit the curb with a plastic bumper, a pig’s back, threshold or whatever you can encounter … it springs in and springs back. ABS plastic can of course also tear if you hit something sharp or ask for too much deformation of the material. A polyester bumper tears very quickly, which is thicker, heavier and can handle less resistance in contrast to ABS plastic. Repairing both materials is easy. You can weld the plastic and sand the polyester and apply glue and fiber mats. In both cases you will have to spray the surface to make it 100%. Chance that

polyester tear is much higher than in the case of plastic. It is with good reason that we do not use bumpers and side skirts made of this material.

Advantages of polyester

  • you can make your own parts
  • you can easily repair it yourself

 

Disadvantages of polyester

  • deforms with heat
  • cracks quickly
  • is heavy
  • always spray after repair
  • works with different lower temperatures
  • fit of newly delivered parts is never 100%
  • Rear spoiler are made of this material in the webshop, otherwise we prefer to avoid this material because of the properties it has.

 

Do you use your car daily and also for work? if there is a chance that something can be hit, pay close attention to the basic materials from which products are made! A football can also cause damage, children do not always pay attention to other people’s things once they are playing, hitting a ball wrong can shoot it in a completely different direction with all the consequences that entails. If you can park the car indoors and use it purely for show… then it doesn’t really matter what you use to achieve the desired result.

Good luck styling your car!