Fender flare material

[johnbendik]

I was showing off my Eagle to a stranger the other day, and he made the comment (I'm paraphrasing here) "I wonder what those flares are made of?  It's amazing that they're still in such good condition; most plastics would be brittle and falling apart by now".

When I think about it, that's a pretty good question.  It is amazing that those things are still strong and flexible (and look pretty much brand new) after 30 years in the sun and weather.

Does anyone know what those puppies are made of?

Just idle curiosity,
JB

[eaglefreek]

Kraton https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraton_(polymer)

[johnbendik]

Thanks, eaglefreek.

Even the name is bad*ss... 'Kraton' sounds like an evil alien warlord  bent on conquering Earth. (As opposed to his much nicer little sister, Krayon).

Followed your link to some other sites and read some interesting history of the stuff.  It started out in the US government's 'synthetic rubber' program during WWII, when the war effort was consuming way more real rubber than we could get our hands on.  It was eventually privatized and developed further by the company Kraton Polymers.  The product was actually named after Kratos, Greek god of Strength and brother to Nike.  It's still considered a relatively hi-tech substance, 70 years later.

For anyone else interested, here's a link to the history on the company's web site: http://www.kraton.com/about/history.php.  They have a mention of the AMC Eagle.

JB

[Amc1320]

Yet more proof Eagles were ahead of their time!

[amcfool1]

it's only a matter of time...one day...Eagles will rule the universe......until then.... keep a watchful eye on the sky......you never know, when an Eagle will pop up on your local Craigslist or newspaper...be prepared to act......it's still not too late!  gz

[macdude443]

Last night I was talking to a guy at a cruise-in about the rear-end caps deteriorating and he mentioned that they may have used a material consisting of soybean oil?  He said he had the same problem with plastics on his early 80's something-or-other.  Any merit to that?  I know they switched to something else, as the later models don't seem to have deteriorating plastics.

[carnuck]

The material wasn't made UV proof because either they didn't know, didn't care (who keeps cars 30+ years? ) or it was planned obsolescence.

[Amc1320]

It does seem the earlier end caps become brittle while the "newer" ones don't so much. I think they changed the formula around 83 or 84

The world may never know for sure....