Should we reproduce old speed equipment

My thoughts are that only the fella with the car it is going on is going to try and pass it off as an original part. Anyone with enough sense to pour piss out of a boot is going to know that a new part is not the original part.

I do know that the fellas I mentioned earlier that are repoping some pieces on a per order basis are pretty proud of their pieces and they have the company name stamped into them.

I am thinking that someone who is going to be upset because a fella with engineer boots and 3" cuffs owning a repop speed part has bigger problems than with the repop parts industry.

 

If you wanted to run a 12 port GMC, for instance. You could look around and with luck maybe find a 60 year old race part the has been thrashed by lots of guys who only cared about making the next round. And it never was very well made in the first place. Or you can buy a nice new Aries head made by people with pride in their finished product and untouched by frantic crew chiefs. Well I bought the original Howard head. Which was cool because at least I got to meet Howard. But the Aries head was lots nicer.

 

I think that idea is even better than a repop... make one of your own... didn't Grancor do that? Fifty years from now someone will repop a Wixski !!!

But I have nothing against repop copies, as long as future buyers can know it's a copy. And they would sell.

 

Yup, an improvement on my previous post....

 

reproductions are great if there is a real need for them. I kinda gave up on a duece roadster and traded it off because I didn,t think I could afford to obtain new windshield frame and uprights etc. Back then there wasnt much in the way of repro parts or info on making that stuff. I would rather buy a flathead manifold that gave better performance than getting one thats a knockoff of a rare desirable one. What can you say? Its rare? It isn,t. But if you need a certain part then thats good.

 

this is tough !!!! i have some fairly rare parts here and there that i have collected over the years and i've let a couple go that i knew i would never use , and i've passed on some but for the most part if i see a cool old cast piece of finned aluminum speed part that may work on an engine ,or hot rod that i may not get to for years , i still have to have it ! that being said here is my best example , i have a cast ,finned NICSON timing cover for a SBC motor , i know , i know SBC are a dime a dozen , rare and SBC should never be used in the same sentence blah blah !!






FIND ONE!! i have only ever seen the one i have and that is it , never another for a SBC , not for sale , not in use , not even in pics on the internet,lots of them for HEMI's or FE fords ,big pontiacs, and other motors , but not for SBC ....Dave (littleman) has been running an add for one in the wanted section of the classifieds on here for years ,and hasn't found one!! i would hate to see that repopped ! i love that when i roll my next project out and this cover is leading the way it won't be something many people have ever seen!!

Although i did buy a set of MOON tall finned valve covers to replace my original Tall cal customs because i liked the look of the moons better , and i would love a set of affordable kinmonts so i guess i see it both ways .

jp

 

Making hotrods in 2011 is the same thing as re-popping old vintage speed parts! hahah...we're all reproducing things from the past....unless we're restoring an original hotrod (most of us aren't)

For any nay-sayers....I'll break it down a bit.
Gathering all old original hot rod parts to create a "period correct" hotrod, built in 2011 to look like it could have been built in 1950, or for that matter, even just creating a traditional hotrod that represents the hot rod era, is by definition "reproducing" or "creating a likeness" or in some cases "copying" something from the past.

Therefore I don't see any arguments around the fundamentals of originality, or "keeping it real" holding any weight.

We're all here because we like hotrods, many of us are hotrod owners, some of us are hotrod builders or mechanics....Hotrods are cool and if we can't afford an original period car, we build one. If we can't find a decent original body, we make one from scratch using original or repop parts....etc

If guys are making repop speed parts that meet a demand, who cares? Let em pop away. And if guys buy the stuff to be cool, and try to pass the shit off as original, who cares? Foney guys are foney, the parts they do or don't use don't have anything to do with that.

Steve W.

 

in the original post it was said the original parts were something only the rich could afford.
the question was should these parts be reproduced to make them more available.

the key word is available, not less expensive.

how many reproductions can you think of that are of the same or better quality
and less expensive than the originals?

 

Even a repop U Fab intake is going to cost more than the original. Metal costs more now.

Those new Ardun heads are higher than a cats back. I think probably part of that is that they are not mass produced so it does cost more to make them. If they would do a big run and bring the price down to be comparable with a modern aluminum head thay would sell more of them.

That said maybe the small run high price is to make them something more desirable. Face it what doesn't cost has no value.

 

The Ardun repops are like twelve thousand bucks. They'd have to make a shitload of them to get them down to two thousand, I'm guessing there aren't enough flathead guys out there to meet that kind of demand.

 

This man knows of what he speaks. Some of the old stuff can be reproduced and a profit can be realized, but if exact reproduction is to be achieved the end result will be out of the price range of most of us. Example, Ardun heads have been done...............anyone know how many sets have been sold...........and if the price is anywhere near what any average hot rodder can afford? NO!!!!! DO I WANT A SET? YES!!!! Will I ever own a set? what are the odds of winning the lottery?

Frank

Frank

 

As long as there is some subtle difference, so the repop
can't be passed off as an original, there shouldn't be a problem.
There will always be people who want the real thing,
and are prepared to pay for it.

 

as far as i can tell no one ever made a 3X2 for a low deck desoto, so one can't be reproduced, but one could be made to look like a period intake, there are two 1X4 intakes and both are just plan odd, one looks like a totaly modern intake and the other is weird.

 

I like the old stuff, and original old stuff is even better. I pick up what I can when I find it cheap, but the really rare stuff, is out of my league. Unfortunately, there is people with more dollars then sense. They have driven up the prices out of the reach of the average person. Since I am not doing a numbers matching restoration or a timepiece restoration or recreation of a one of one or some ultra rare vehicle, I am happy with reproductions for what I am working on. The ultra rare stuff, I would rather go to the preservationists. The rare stuff, is a hard to say. There is a lot of that stuff that is already preserved, and doesn't need to be "Saved", and should be enjoyed. The just old is where you can have some real fun. It is plentifully, and aside of those who thing everything that have is worth its weight in gold, if you are patient, you can get almost anything you want at a "reasonable" price. So should you reproduce the old stuff. There is only a VERY small amount of the stuff that would ever be worth it. There are a need for some old skool stuff for the younger generation to have fun with. If they don't know where it all came from, how would they know where it’s going. This is the stuff that defined a not only a generation, but an era that started a long time ago, and shows no sign of stopping. Things were meant to be enjoyed, so sometimes it is the old stuff, and sometimes it is the reproduction of the old stuff. I just don’t like the reproductions that are passed off as the old stuff.

 

Like many have said, I think it comes down to supply and demand. Alot of guys will also be keen at the start but slow to front with funds and actually purchase the finished goods. Example. Im also into vintage BMX's. A guy in the States recently spent a fortune and repoped some old Bully decals. Preproduction everybody wanted them. As soon as they were made... no orders! The other thing I would add is make sure the parts are made in the USA if thats where the original originated.
Andy.

 

I would love to see some reproduction parts hit the market; but i would also like to see the creation of parts that were never easy to find even back in the 50's. I am always searching for speed parts for the Chrysler 6's and 8's and if you could ever find any, it would be worth more than your car. For me, the hunt still goes on for the original stuff, but if reproduction stuff came to market, I would buy it, and run it as a new generation of hot rodders speed equipment.

 

make it and they well come

 

i like the idea of making it again, no fraud just new reproductions

 

i'd say hell yes we should make re-pop the old stuff! the only thing is that there should be differences. that was said before but i figured i'd throw it out there as well...

 

The new Arduns are an improvement over the old.What's wrong with that? I had to modify the old heads and that sprinkler system to oil the rockers and the too small return drain to the pan.No they're not original-they're better! That's what Hotrodders do,they modify and improve. Ask a guy that ran one!

 

Not any different to me than the "Steel 40 Ford" argument.... Repro IS Repro, period & that is great, really BUT it is NOT the same... Just call it & price accordingly....that's one guys opinion...

 

Repro has my vote..... As long as it's made here in the U.S. of A...

 

If it was good then, and if it's deemed to be in demand now...then repop.
Agree with "change it just enough" to thwart the unscrupulous.
.
.

 

Since this is an older thread, any new items being repoped worthy of mention?

 

vintage is vintage leave it at that.

 

Simply, yes.

 

Some things are being reman...but part of the production cost can be locating a foundary to make the cast items; I'm told that most are located off shore. Environmental laws have all but shut them down, and of course, the facilities have to meet current regs. Someone has to pay for all that....Guess who ?

4TTRUK

 

To some maybe but I either like something or dont no matter who else does or not.Some things are cool or not cool regaurdless whether it is rare or not and it seems silly to build with something just because it is rare.Wanting to have something that is rare is somewhat of an ego problem as in I`m cooler because nobody else has one or can get one so I`m special with the exception of those who just enjoy the hunt. If I cant buy what I like,I make it .I would buy anything I like whether origional or repo.

 

A while back Ryan posted pictures in the Jalopy Journal from an Almquist catalog and there were a lot of intakes branded Almquist,so what ever hapened to those molds? Here is an article on Ed:http://www.hemmings.com/mus/stories/2005/01/01/hmn_feature8.html Any HAMBers near Milford,PA? might be interesting to check out this legend before we lose him.

 

SBC Fenton and Say Why - And We I and valve covers
would be great !