About Me

I am a retired MSgt in the Air Force with 21 years of service in Aero Space Technologies, I started out as a Crew Chief on F4 Phantom, a few years later I went on to F16 Fighting Falcon and was Dock Chief, Flight Chief and Squadron Production Superintendent. Thought my career I owned and worked on numerous Corvettes, customizing fenders, flairs, hoods, fender louvers, Ferrari doors, wings, wraparound skirting and full body restoration and convertible conversions, I built two full show Corvettes, I have over 30 years experience in fiberglass construction.

State of 1989 Batmobile Kit

Many people ask what are the differences between the different kits and builders. Most of the kits out there originated from Bob Butts molds that were taken from Jay Ohrburg's car. Bobs molds were sitting in Bob's property landfill for over a year before being sold to Yancy & Pruitt. Over that time the molds became warped for obvious reasons. One builder took one of the pulls from these molds and after sitting in the hot sun and elements for well over a year and molded the car without fixing any of the flaws from the original molds.

Batmobile Kit in sun

Another builder made molds by making each panel separately and then glassing each panel together after being pulled from the molds causing misalignment and panel variations. Also with the molds being passed around many components are distorted or entirely missing, side latchment doors, side mechanics, trunk lid, gun doors and side round exciter grappling cover. Depending which kit you are looking at most of the problems are the same and not limited to a dip in the hood centerline.

Mark Towle's Kit Mark Towle's Kit To complicate matters even more, one talentless hack in Canada has made already inferior kits even more problematic by splash molding from this kit. When one of his customer bought 1989 batmobile kit from this talentless hack who doesn't know any difference between the materials used for different types of molding. When one of his crew leaned over the kit, this is what happened.
Thin Kit
This is what the 1966 batmobile kit by same hack looks like. The buyer couldn't wait to sell it off as soon as he bought it. "Thin & Crispy" just isn't limited to doughnuts. Thin & Crispy

The major items to look for is the body panels straight or wavy check rear fender areas, hood dip, front sides around the Frisbee launch doors, the rear upper top intake mold line usually has a "V" type dent across the middle. Most gun doors I have seen are very warped. Check for canopy and trunk lid for misalignment. Look at the headlight and intake area head on and check for one side not matching the other side. When the body is sitting on a flat surface are all the sides and corners sitting flat and level or is a corner pulling upward a sign of warp age.

Check for the front grills forward of the canopy their should be 27 openings for the grills on both sides. See if your builder has incorporated these grills or include grill inserts that can be molded into the body. Keep in mind no fiberglass kit is perfect and you can expect to find flaws in almost any kit on the market today. But you shouldn't spend more in fixing flaws in the kit that what you paid for the kit.

Also ask what materials are used in the construction of the kit. Is it blown or hand laid is just mat used or is a combination of mat and sewn cloth used in the lay up process. In larger areas a special structural mat can be used to strengthen the structure. What type of resin used in the process. There are several types of resin used in the kit car industry; the majority of structural components are made with three main types, namely polyester, vinylester and epoxy.

Polyester is the most commonly used and the cheapest and most widely used. Vinylester is five times stronger than polyester, water proof and flame resistant and fairly expensive. Epoxy is the strongest with the least amount of shrinkage, used in aerospace industry and competitive automotive, and boat racing and the most expensive and used by experienced professionals.

Bad Batmobile Kit Mold

I have just scratched the surface of materials used in the construction of a fiberglass car; this is a general items to look for.

Originally posted by me here.
Same information has been quoted on 1989 Batmobile Kit site.

 

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This is an informational site about 1989 Batmobile and dysmal state of kits out in the market. I do not sell any kits or products related to 1989 Batmobile.