26 - Friday, February 22, 1991 ~ North Shore News

AUTOMOTIVES

1 T&L TIREWORLD

Plastic cars have arrived i the best prices

IMAGINE OWNING a car that is
free of parking lot dents and
dings, even after years of owner-
ship. Or a car that hasn’t already
rusted out before you've finished
paying for it.

And these are only two of the
advantages of the com-
posite-bodied cars and vans com-
ing out today. Auto designers,
long locked into fairly conven-
tional shapes and angles, now can
design vehicles with beautiful
complex curves and shapes that
simply aren’t achievable in steel.

costs, capabilities and levels of
performance and workubility.
There are so-called engineering
Plastics, which are used for gears,
bushings and other functional
parts. Sheet molded composites
can be compression-molded in
much the same way that sheet
steel is stamped. One of the things
that made steel difficult to replace
was the fact that body paris could
be quickly stamped out on high-
speed stamping machines. Today,
SMC materials can be rapidiy

molded and so more widely used.

Other composite materials are
now used for bumper covers and
fascia. Whatever the plastic used,
it has to be considered as a com-
plete process, since it most often
replaces steel, which is cheaper as
a material but usually requires
more processing.

A recent, study of plastics use in
the automotive industry predicts
that by 1996, there will be 272
pounds of plastic in the average

car, up from 225 in 1985.

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The sheet molded composite : :
(SMC)-bodied car is just part of , Ie bd MINOR AUTO
the automotive picture for : .
plastics. In the interior of your car i REPAIRS
you will see little other than =e ‘ . ast
plastic, from the dense material in << 7
your steering wheel, to the plastic °
dashboard, to the viny! upholstery ; ¢ ; ee oe , ": YY, .
on your seats, to the woven nylon NSE GS. Was eae > y ry UNIRO AL .
carpeting on the floor. Plastic : a. Sen, AS : , 7 : ey TIGER PAW &IS :
hoods, deck lids, fender exten- el ; ~ Sat: 1
sions and fascia panels have been
used on cars for a couple of de-
cades.

Composites not only offer the
benefits of being ding-free and
non-rusting, but they also have
advantages for automakers. They
are lighter, thereby enhancing fuel
economy. Composites have
replaced steel in many  high-
volume applications, making
lower-volume production runs
more feasible. Many of the low-
volume specialty cars and replicars
on the market have plastic bodies. oa BS :
The result is a burgeoning number | LP Sf SS * ; ‘ a Balancing $6 00

of low-volume car makers. Cita ;

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distinguished and successful cars

There have been several

with plastic bodies, most notably

the Corvette. Then there was the @ it H

Avanti, introduced by Studebaker

in 1960 with a fibreglass-reinforc-

ed body, which survived , a
Studebaker and still looks mod- ‘
ern. After Studebaker folded,
Nate and Arnold Altman bought
the dies, founded Avanti Motor
Corp. and continued making the
Avanti in South Bend. Now the
New Avanti Motor Corp., headed
by John Cafaro, builds the same

a a . ; _ a

car in Youngstown, Ohio. ' . § 0 0

The gradual move of the auto

makers from metal to plastic has 1990 MAZ DA 626 an

been a complicated one, involving ‘ oe oe Pagers |
PDt. & FREIGHT $595.00 -

bewildering cost comparisons,
varying performance requirements f :
and a rapidly evolving technology. OVER Hers BS & TRUCKS REA OW OO COME ON DOWN AND

One problem is that talking about

“plastic” is like talking about Th f

“‘metal.’’? Just as there are many

metals, there are many plastics, (u T Si if (a)
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each with different characteristics,

Alano hosts speaker

THE ALANO Club in North
Vancouver is hosting a free public
lecture Wednesday, Feb. 27 on
nutrition in relation to chemical
dependencies.

Called Nutrition: A Key to
Preventing Relapse, the lecture
will be held from 7:30-9:30 p.m.
at the Alano Club, 176 East 2nd
Street.

Registered dietitian and nutri-
tionist Vasanto Crawford will give
the presentation. Crawford
specializes in creating personal
nutrition programs tailored to the

needs of adult chiidren of alcohol-
ics and individuals recovering 14 Door Rodeos, 5 speed
from alcoholism and other drug AM/FM stereo
dependencies.
“Quitting drinking is only the several to choose from
beginning of the solution,’ said
Val Byers, lecture coordinator.
**One area often neglected is that
of what we eat. Crawford will
show us that becoming well-
nourished can be part of the
foundation for complete recovery
from alcohol and chemical
dependency."’

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