Overpriced reproduction parts for what they are

[Fran Blacker]

If you try and engineer a part here in the U.S., it's very costly. When you off-shore parts, they want
a minimum order. That would include the R&D and making say, 1000 pieces. After that, it's all gravy
as long as you have a market for the other 999. We're getting near the end of the road with finding
these cars in barns, and as the market for the re-pop parts dries up, so do the availability of the parts.
My 68 GTX rear finish panel was originally $75.00 from Plymouth. Now, a re-pop is about $900.00.
I'm sure it will go up from there until there are no more available. That will be the end!

Bought rear finish panel in 1978 for my 66 Satellite $22.75.

 

[Dave6T4]

Add the trunk finish panel to the list for a 67 R/T

P&G Classics reproduced them once; about $900.00 apiece. Still likely cheaper than having an original repaired and rechromed. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet. Especially in on '66-'67 stuff versus '68-'70.

 

[Dave6T4]

Bought rear finish panel in 1978 for my 66 Satellite $22.75.

I bought a pair of NOS grill surrounds for my '67 R/T about 1988 for $250. Try doing that today. I had to buy a nicely repaired one about 7 years ago, after a fender bender, for $1100.

 

[Cheapsunglasses]

My 68 GTX rear finish panel was originally $75.00 from Plymouth. Now, a re-pop is about $900.00.

Yep, that’s why my GTX will probably never have a good tail panel or grill. I don’t care, the car makes me happy

 

[Islandkent]

You wanna play? Your gona pay$$$$$

 

[chtampa]

Is this something that can be printed?

 

[Matthew J]

I recently dismantled a very rusty 67 Belvedere II /6 untouched car. Knowing, so I thought, that the untouched or molested defroster ducts would be perfect, only to find both hanging by one ear. One crumbled completely when removing and the other only fared a little better. They are much needed parts on 66-67 B bodies.

Ditto for the unmolested originals I just removed from my '67 R/T. Both had one cracked ear. Both were fragile and brittle as hell. Plastics technology has advanced leaps and bounds over the past few decades. When it comes to plastic, the good ole' days.... weren't.

 

[Sam69sat]

Ditto for the unmolested originals I just removed from my '67 R/T. Both had one cracked ear. Both were fragile and brittle as hell. Plastics technology has advanced leaps and bounds over the past few decades. When it comes to plastic, the good ole' days.... weren't.

Same here. Have a set with one cracked ear on each piece. Getting ready to reinforce and epoxy the ears back on.

 

[murfman]

P&G Classics reproduced them once; about $900.00 apiece. Still likely cheaper than having an original repaired and rechromed. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet. Especially in on '66-'67 stuff versus '68-'70.

I’d buy one for that if it was available

 

[Dave6T4]

Ditto for the unmolested originals I just removed from my '67 R/T. Both had one cracked ear. Both were fragile and brittle as hell. Plastics technology has advanced leaps and bounds over the past few decades. When it comes to plastic, the good ole' days.... weren't.

I think it was @dadsbee that that recently showed a repair he did to his plastic vents. It involved a washer and some JB Weld.

 

[dadsbee]

 

[sam dupont]

Is this something that can be printed?

I looked into a printer to mass produce my widget. $2500 and it can print 12x12x12. My local library has three and they will train you how to print, so I was very interested. Learn at the library, then buy my own. There is a wide variety of filaments available. I was looking at a Glass Filled Nylon. With that, they claim you can print an intake manifold right in your shop. Good to 300 degrees. Cost of materials is 1/3 of the aluminum I am using, but it would take 2-3 days to print something smaller than a valve cover. An intake would take a week. While still desirable, my research led me to believe that printers arre fussy and problematic.

 

[ckessel]

Not related to our stuff but hobby in general. Back in 16/17 I had the blessing/bad luck to be tasked with putting a 67 Camaro together that the car owner and friends had taken apart 10 years earlier and had made shop tours losing parts. He got ahold of front and back glass trim, glass all around, window lift channels plus more. You would figure that the supplier, Classic, would have it together for a Chevy. Nope. Trim didn't match the corner contours and was so soft I put dents in them pushing them on with the palm of my hands. The lift channels were thinner and softer material than oe units and would not hold onto the glass and bowed when being put on the glass with the rubber strips. The door glass did not have the same arc os original and had a 1/4" gap in the middle to where it met the rear quarter glass. It went on an on from there. Over priced, poor fitting junk!

 

[Islandkent]

I looked into a printer to mass produce my widget. $2500 and it can print 12x12x12. My local library has three and they will train you how to print, so I was very interested. Learn at the library, then buy my own. There is a wide variety of filaments available. I was looking at a Glass Filled Nylon. With that, they claim you can print an intake manifold right in your shop. Good to 300 degrees. Cost of materials is 1/3 of the aluminum I am using, but it would take 2-3 days to print something smaller than a valve cover. An intake would take a week. While still desirable, my research led me to believe that printers arre fussy and problematic.

A member on here "Dano 1" has a 3-D printing business who is game to making custom parts on his upscale printer. Just saying. Not sure whether he could beat the 150 dollar mark do to the one off market. That being said I'm sure he could program his printer to copy one if he had a copy/pattern to go by. Here is a link to his company...
www.nextgendesignsnc.com

 

[chtampa]

All repop parts have gone through a quality cycle so there is no need to beat up on them. Just give a review to warn others of what to expect and be diligent when members ask for recommendations. Every part that comes out at first is ****. Then the ones that follow get better and better until they are just bolt on and everybody raves about them. Something is better than nothing.

 

[Brewzer67]

I wish there were more expensive reproductions available for my 67 R/T. Wheel lip openings, 1/4 skins, bring 'em on... It sure beats the alternative.

For the 1/4 skins look up Joe Phillip's Restorations on Facebook. He is hand making them for the 66-67 Charger's, Coronets, and I think Belvedere's. He also does the trunk floor extensions, and door skins. Top quality stuff and fair prices. I have a post going chronicling the rebuild of Brewzer and you can see the panels there. I had him make me the 1/4's and the trunk extensions.

 

[zyzzyx]

The problem with big pieces of pot metal is they constantly corrode and off-gas. That's where
all of the bubbles or pits come from. The only way to repair them is to strip off the chrome and
drill out ALL of the pits and fill them with a soft filler material after the part has been given a
coating of copper plate. I don't know about any of you, but if I tried to do that myself, I'd be
visiting Nurse Ratched!

 

[Bold & Old]

For the 1/4 skins look up Joe Phillip's Restorations on Facebook. He is hand making them for the 66-67 Charger's, Coronets, and I think Belvedere's. He also does the trunk floor extensions, and door skins. Top quality stuff and fair prices. I have a post going chronicling the rebuild of Brewzer and you can see the panels there. I had him make me the 1/4's and the trunk extensions.

 

[Geoff 2]

Prices work on amount of product sold. More sold, lower prices. Think cans of Pepsi...

I doubt whether the supplier/manufacturer of 55+ yr old car parts is going to be swept off his feet with orders....

I would just be thankful that somebody is making the parts.....whatever the cost.

 

[moparedtn]

If you try and engineer a part here in the U.S., it's very costly. When you off-shore parts, they want
a minimum order. That would include the R&D and making say, 1000 pieces. After that, it's all gravy
as long as you have a market for the other 999. We're getting near the end of the road with finding
these cars in barns, and as the market for the re-pop parts dries up, so do the availability of the parts.
My 68 GTX rear finish panel was originally $75.00 from Plymouth. Now, a re-pop is about $900.00.
I'm sure it will go up from there until there are no more available. That will be the end!

Yep, it's a fortune or refinish a good core on those - and there aren't any good cores.
The one I have on Fred is a very nice refinished original and it comes with a heck of a story:
A story about my '68 GTX trunk finish panel