Hey Ya'll, New Night Prowlers Owner here. Really sad news this week. The supply of '49-'50 Merc. repop tail light lenses has dried up. Having to pull them from the catalog. Also having trouble finding a supplier for several other lenses too. Guess folks are backing away from having to commit to 500 copies to get them done. On the other hand, we got a call from a guy who is working on getting the '51 Mercs done. Might have them by Mid-Summer. Also, Merc Headlight Rings will be here in May. We are thinking about repoping some other stuff. Just wondering what you guy need and what you think would be hot!
id like to see some repo 53-55 desoto gilles/teeth and the 53-54 olds grille and 54 pontiac grille 49-51 merc grille surrounds would be cool
Thanks for the input guys! Hubcaps, Tail Light lenses, and vintage accessories are hot! Always have been, always will be. In order to repop a Hubcap, the investment can range from as little as $3000.00 to over $60,000...and that doesn't include the cost of buying the finished product, shipping, import/export fees or anything else. So the decision to produce a paticular part is a big one. I am interested in finding out what genuine "Car Guys" want and need...some things are obvious...like Appleton Spotlights, but other items are more difficult to zero in on.
The Desoto Grill Teeth and Merc. Grill Surrounds are already high on the Most Wanted List! High cost of tooling has prevented anyone from doing it so far...
Man, I wish I could help...I'm a mold builder and toolmaker, and making tooling for reproduction hot rod parts would be a dream come true...the grill teeth could easily be sand cast aluminum, smoothed out and chromed...the sad part of the repop lenses is that the tooling already exists, it's just a matter of finding someone willing to do short run molding with that tooling if the tools themselves can be bought...I spent years in the plastic injection molding business, and I'd love to do things like that...
Another vote for grille teeth, I'm really surprised the popular kustom grilles aren't repoped like crazy already.
Market has changed.Theres quite a few guys around that do short run injection for both plastic and die cast.Place in alexandiria has built a pretty solid business on short run stuff.As far as building the tooling the guy already has a cost issue.I like how its always the cosat of the tooling thats a problem.Gota have something good to make good parts.
What place is that in Alexandria? I live 15 minutes from there and haven't found squat for work around here...and I wasn't offering to build the tooling, I was saying I wish I had a short run injection molding shop of my own to do things like that...repopping hot rod parts would be a dream come true for a guy like me...
Has anyone considered making the '54 Chrysler 331 "wet" 4 barrel intake in aluminum? Seems like that intake is the hot one to have, and making copies of it in aluminum I think would sell really well. I've had castings made, but I don't know how much more complicated it gets when you have internal runners to deal with.
i know it's a little bigger item but i can't believe no one is stamping new '49-'51 Ford front fenders. shoeboxes are as popular as ever and it's hard to imagine you couldn't sell tons of them since they all rusted at the bottoms and the headlights.
Seems like guys are always wanting a SBC intake that uses 2 two-barrel carbs, like strombergs. Some kind of really nostalgic looking intake could be cool.
He's an alliance vendor getting info straight from the people that use his stuff. I don't see it as spam at all. Rich
You're right, I apologize. But, Repopping original parts is a very fine line with potentially horrible results for our hobby. Currently, there's a thread discussing outrageous prices for Thickstun speed equipment. Imagine there was an influx of Chinese imported replicas. I would be one of the people left with de-valued genuine parts. Alliance Vendor or not, it's a fine line.
Ian Roussel makes aluminum Desoto grill teeth, and some wild trim pieces as well. His web site is ianroussel.com.
What he said. There are no 16 inch Kustom style wheel covers out there for us to put on early style Kustoms.
Could also mean expensive crap from overseas, BUT could mean good quality parts from an overseas manufacturer that understands the needs of his customer. Overseas manufacture doesn't always mean crap quality. By the same token , USA manufacture doesn't always mean top quality. Getting parts made in the USA is restricted by the lack of manufacturers willing to do short run (less than 10,000 pieces, or 5,000 pieces, or 2,000 pieces, depending on what they choose to call it) production. Short run production ups the unit cost, often too much for the chosen market of consumers. Should be a glass lens maker in the States to do those 49-50 Merc lenses though especially if the moulds are already done.
This is true !!! I have 1949 business coupe 16 inch wheels on my 32 and there is no full size custom caps, just original hub caps , trim rings or moon discs !!!!!!
i think you would make a killing on 56 packard tail light bezels, however, personally, i would like to see steel 49-50 mercury grill shells, and steel studebaker valence pans reproduced.
I know that Butch Bunn of Butch's Cool Stuff (formally Butch's Rod Shop) just came out with Merc headlight rings... saw them at a swap meet last weekend in Springfield Ohio. Retail was only $79.00 for the pair and wholesale is available. The website is www.butchscoolstuff.com You also might want to talk to them about making some other stuff that your looking for, I know that they are looking to manufacture other products.
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