Walt White Coupe

Does anyone know if the frunk hood material is normal body panel fiberglass or carbon fiber? I would like to put my E-Zpass transponder in the frunk but I know from my C7 that carbon fiber will not pass its signal. Has anyone put their transponder in the frunk?

sanddigger

yes......works just fine

johnodrake

The hood panel is SMC (sheet moulding compound) same as the fenders, etc.

tadda

So what actual "material" is it made of? That was the OP's question and I'm curious as well!

C5racecar

SMC = glass-fibre reinforced polyester material. It is basically the same material as fiberglass, but not liquid and cloth, it comes in sheets, ready to apply heat and form into a mold. If the frunk was carbon fiber, that would be an option you would have to pay for.

Rapid Z

Glass re enforced plastic that is pressed in a mold more or less. All C7s had 100% C/F hoods C8 does not.

JerryU

Molded Fiberglass Company makes some of the composite body panels for the C8's. They were the ones who got GM started in fiberglass for the 1st 1953! In the Museum there are pics of Robert Morrison the founder of the company who Chevy credits for the innovation. Today Molded Fiberglass only make the more expensive, very light products that have a density less that water. They float. But the standard body panels are close to a density of 1 (water.) They typically are ~40% fiberglass with polyester reasons and a filler. That filler is now hollow glass microbeads to provide the light weight.

My wife and her brother brother lived down the street from Robert Morrison and he recalls going for a ride in Morrison's 1953!

SIDEBAR
Corvette Body Materials

Fiberglass isn't the primary body material on Vettes these days, but the car continues a tradition of non-traditional, lightweight bodywork that began with the very first one off the assembly line in 1953. In fact, the reason conventional fiberglass isn't used any longer is because it's been replaced with better, lighter composite materials.

WhiteDevil828

I placed my EZPass at the very front of the frunk and have had no issues in 2 months. Tag has been read with every pass.

Walt White Coupe

Thanks so much for everyone clearing that up. I was hoping I could use the Frunk for my E-ZPass.

Zymurgy

As already stated, it is SMC (Toughened SMC Class A bonded and painted) per the following: https://www.compositesworld.com/arti...orvette-part-2

NJMikeC8

I also have my EZ-Pass mounted in the frunk, only difference being that it is at the edge nearest the windshield. No issues in over 6 months.

kvozel

I believe Everyone that says it worries fine, but how do you test it? Just drive thru and hope?

Walt White Coupe

^^^^^
Sounds to me like the testing has already been done and that's good news. The C6 with the same fiberglass worked fine.

Vetteman Jack

Sounds like you will be fine with the transponder in the frunk.

JerryU

Yep that Link shows the material I mentioned that floats made by the folks who got GM started with fiberglass, Molded Fiberglass (MFG) in Ashtabula OH:

Body structure: part B

"The new Corvette features not one but two trunks that, combined, hold 12.6 cubic-feet/0.36 cubic meters of cargo. Both trunks are produced in 42 wt-% chopped fiberglass/vinyl ester-unsaturated polyester (VE-UP) resin, but use different processes driven by geometry and mechanical requirements. The front trunk (frunk) is compression molded 0.95-specific gravity (SG) “float” sheet molding compound (SMC), while the rear trunk is formed via the proprietary PRiME (Prepositioned Reinforcement ensuring Manufacturing Excellence) process, a liquid compression molding (LCM) variant. The float SMC and the PRiME process were developed by processor Molded Fiber Glass Co. (MFG, Ashtabula, Ohio, U.S.). MFG produced all structural SMC and LCM’d parts on the car."

Note, as that article states most body panels:
Exterior body panels are all bonded (inner/outer), painted, toughened 1.2-SG SMC (22-28% FVF fiberglass/UP resin, depending on component) from Continental Structural Plastics (CSP), a Teijin Group company (Auburn Hills, Mich., U.S.). Note even a lower % fiberglass content!

Still have friends in Ashtabula (where I managed and R&D Lab.) One own's another molded fiberglass products company said the higher volume body panels are not sufficiently profitable for MFG to consider investing in the added capacity to manufacture.

C8J

Simple forum search and you will find

On a serious note, look here.
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...te-status.html

JerryU

That article was not only interesting and informative it made me think how these densities relate to other structural materials. Since Specific Gravity is not Top of Mind for most (including me) I made this table for comparison!


Picked Iridium as it's one of the densest, highest specific gravity materials and it's used for some spark plug center electrodes.

Fast Dawg

Interesting thread. When I lived in Illinois I had the big plastic EZ Pass that I needed to drive around Chicagoland. When I moved back to Georgia and got a PeachPass it's just a piece of tape with a metal strip in the middle of it that you attach just under the rear view mirror. You can't see it when you are driving and it barely shows when you are outside the car looking at the windshield. You almost have to be looking for it to spot it.