Projects Making custom reproduction parts

I'm curious, has anyone here made a profitable business custom making reproduction parts for stock cars? There are numerous places that make parts for Fords and Chevys but very few for the non Ford and Chevy cars.

I've been running a business in the industrial sector for over 15 years and I'm getting burned out. I enjoy the work itself but my customers are too demanding and expect everything done yesterday and can't understand I need to make a living doing this type of work.

I'm kind a jack of all trades, master of none type of person. I can do a fair job of metal fabricating, welding, bodywork, and painting along with most other types of work needed to get a job done. I've always enjoyed fabricating parts I either cannot find or could build cheaper than buying. I have a part in mind that I know no one reproduces and the original parts suffer a great damage rate and cost a great deal of money to have professionally repaired. My replacement part will out last the car and owner. This is just one part, I have other parts in my mind. I will not reinvent any wheels and will not try to underprice anyone already making parts. I'll be going after parts no one makes. I'm not planning on one or two parts but parts I figure I can sell 50-100+ pieces of each.

Has anyone made a decent living doing this? What are your thoughts on the demand? I don't want to get too specific right now, these won't be super complicated parts, just parts I can fab in my shop with the tools I have and if necessary I'd buy additional tools.

 

Dude - You bet there's a market - and many right here can give part ideas. If you can do castings I would buy a set of polished Poly 318 finned valve covers - they were made at one time - but not now.

I did just find these wringle finish covers in a Google search:
http://www.pentastarparts.com.au/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=4806

I am aleady in line for this sweet thing:
http://chryslerpower.com/webstore/Poly-SS-Manifold

 

I envision starting with parts I can produce using the tools I currently own; welder, plasma cutter, shop press and other tools I have been using for years to fab up parts for myself and my customers.

The part I am planning to make now I will have the pieces made by a job shop, the multiple parts (82) need to be laser cut and I can outsource them cheaper and better than if I try to do them myself.

The way I see it I am having a hell of a time making a buck now at a business I'm getting to hate more every day, I might as try to make a buck at something I like doing and hopefully there's a customer base who will appreciate the work.

The problem I have with my current customers is they are all in my industry, they know what it costs and the amount of work it takes to do the work but they will bitch on a constant basis I'm charging too much. This is a very competitive industry with a lot of competition but my customers keep coming back to me.

 

I make/made repros of some rare parts, but it's only a hobby for me. No way I could support myself doing it. The market is not big enough for the parts I make.

Really depends on what part(s) you wish to make. If it would sell so many, how come nobody has made them yet?

 

Spend time looking through wanted sections and also see whats actually SELLING. You will get everyone and their dog saying "if you make these, you'll sell a billion of them". If you dont research it, you wont sell a single one. Even the guy that suggested it, often wants it for peanuts.

 

I'm sure 49-51 Merc sheetmetal would sell - inner and outer rockers, floorpans.

 

Follow your passion! A successful business man told me, "If everyone is growing tomatoes, grow asparagus." Basically you are carving out a niche for yourself because you will be providing something that everyone else isn't. If there is a demand the customers will come to you.

 

That is the truth, and even with research it won't guarantee anything.... A few years back I came up with a low-cost 'repair kit' for a certain model of motorcycle carb after hearing from dozens of people how much something like this was needed (fixturing and TIG welding is the alternative.. $$$) . I prototyped it, showed it around and got rave reviews. I went ahead and built about 30 kits and put them up for sale.... I've sold exactly two, the rest are gathering dust in a drawer somewhere. Luckily the material costs were low, so I'm mostly just out my time.

 

I've been running my own business for 15+ years, everything I do I look at the cost effect of it. I will not buy a tool unless I know it will pay for itself. I don't buy jobs, I have never underpriced a project to get a job. I've discounted a few but only within reason and for long time customers who have given me many jobs before. The jobs I have lost to competition usually were 80% or less than what I quoted. With the part I am proposing to make I have been keeping an eye on eBay and see poor quality used parts sell for anywhere between $500-800 needing another $800+ to restore them back to presentable condition. I am a member of a couple of discussion boards in which the members have showed interest in the part. I have talked to a person who specifically deals in used parts for this specific group of cars and he told me he thinks there's a strong market for this item as long as I can do a good quality job of making them. He has a strong demand for this part, no one is making them and the ones he does come across are few and far between.

I'm presenting the above to show I have been doing market research, as best as I can without enlisting professional marketing experts. I need this part for one of my vehicles so I'll make one first for myself and see how it goes. What it takes cost and time wise.

Mr57, aren't these parts similar to Ford parts? I don't know. I just thought they would be or at least close enough to massage to make fit. I want to make parts no one else makes. I could never compete with places like Dennis Carpenter and the like.

Cerberus, very good words. Thanks.

 

I hear you Steve, I've kind of experience something like that. For some reason people seem to like to complain and whine rather than do something about it.

 

Yep, research is only a help, not a guarentee.

I remember whe I first got my cnc plasma table years ago, I was hit up by everyone for their idea on something that needed to be made and had a huge market. I even had a guy in a wheelchair wanting me to make some custom part for his chair "because you will sell a million of them". At first, I designed and cut things. I quickly found out that everyone thinks their idea will sell. Most dont.

As for making parts and a living. It goes up and down. Ive come out with new ideas that we make great money on for 6 months, then nothing. Ive also had things I figured Id sell tons of, only to share the same story as Crazy Steve.

 

My business partner and I had a "great idea" that we "would sell a million of"...Took us two and a half years to get a working prototype from our supplier who had "leaked" the part and it's availability to all his other customers...It's a great piece, but we have very small market share because the big guys can out buy us and out sell us with "our" idea. We have been at it with another "gotta have" piece that has taken several years to again get a prototype to test market. I guess my experience tells you that I wouldn't quit my day job...you need something to pay the bills while you are chasing your passions. my 2 cents...

 

49-50' grille surrounds would sell too.

 

Thanks to all of you guys, great feedback.

What my plan is to still keep a foot in my current business and try to sell this part to supplement my income. I'm just not making it in my current business, barely staying above water and the stress of dealing with my customers doesn't help. I have too much invested in my current business, I have thought about just closing the doors but I can't, I'd lose my butt big time. I know if I tried to liquidate my building and equipment I'd get pennies on the dollar and not break even by far.

 

Comming up with somthing is cheap and easy-- marketing and selling is where the real big money is spent.
Make somthing for pennies to sell for dollars-- makeing somthing for dollars to sell for dollars does not make you dollars.
If sombody tells you that you can sell millions--offer to make them to him so he can sell them and make the big bux and see what he says.

 

Its tough, otherwise more people would do it. Plenty of talented fabricators out there. But unless something is being really mass produced its difficult to offset the man hours to make something that is basically a one-off onto the customer. I mean sure plenty out there wish someone would make an aluminum 4-Barrel manifold for a nailhead. But even people like myself who are prone to lighting money on fire often wont be willing to fork over $600+ for an RPM style manifold that would cost $200 for an SBC. Its just a tough sell.

Most of the small business type success that Ive noticed has been for taking something people like to do that is hard and make their lives easier. Ie. Im sure those who make LSX mount kits, and late model GM transmission swaps do well enough to at least support themselves.

Edit: BTW I dont mean to come off as negative since I think its an awesome idea, and I hope you not only follow through but succeed. (As Im sure most others who have posted also do.) Especially if you decide to produce something I want May the Force be with you.

 

This is truth. Everyone in advertising will have the magic formula and give you a tiny space or a few words for BIG bucks and then act so surprised when you tell them you didn't get much response. They will then tell you all of their other customers are doing Oh so well and they don't understand and in the next sentence they will have another magic formula to outdo the first one which may include we will (now) try doing the same thing cheaper as a favor of course or you need to spend more and have a bigger ad . Try selling the stuff yourself at venues you feel are good places to show your product and then if successful, Choose advertisers slowly and carefully.

 

In my business I get mailings, phone calls and personal visits from people who can increase and grow my business. I very politely tell them all to go down the street. All of my adult life I've worked with salesmen, almost everyone is full of BS. Sorry if there are any professional salesmen reading this but that's how I see them. With my business I've done all my own promotions, I've set up at trade shows a couple of times but IMO are one of the biggest waste of money and time. I've got the most success from doing cold calls and attending open houses put on my by my suppliers. I will listen in on conversations looking for key words that indicate the person could use my services. I'll go up to a complete stranger and offer them my business card and a little spiel of what I can do for them to make their business lives easier.

 

If you are planning on reproducing auto parts, first figure out how many of that vehicle are still around, then figure out how many need a certain part, then figure out how many folks will actually buy the part if you make it. While it may seem like there is a demand for certain things, and there may well be a small demand, but you have to face the facts, not everybody is into restoring old cars. We like to think our hobby is very large, but on a national scale, we are just a small percentage of the overall population.

Another this is production costs.....this is the very reason a lot of stuff isn't reproduced. The production costs are higher than the profits to be earned. Why do you think Dynacorn has their bodies produced overseas, then shipped to the US? They couldn't afford to have the steel stamped and assembled here, the labor costs would far out exceed the profits.

Not trying to discourage you, but I think it would take years to become profitable enough to earn a living doing this. Do it on a hobby scale first, keep the day job, and prove everybody wrong, or right as the case may be!

 

Life's a gamble. Sometimes you don't know if it's a good idea until you actually do it. I took that same gamble in 2009,yeah after the recession, and it's been ok business never gangbusters and it seems to always comes in waves I cannot make a living doing it but it's nice to supplement income. Best thing I learned is to make a quality product and cater to a LARGE market ( In my case, Model A's. There's plenty of them still around and it's a wear item) I thought that since there's a large number of '30-'31's there must also be a marke for '29-'29's also, NOT SO..after selling 3 sets and countless hours and $$$, there wasn't a market...it was a gamble I took and lost, you just never know what sells to the market sometimes..

 

I wouldn't quit the day job,work some restoration pieces into your shop and see how they sell. Scarebird is on this board, he sells disc brake swaps primarly thru ebay, contact him and see if you can discuss things privately on the ups and downs of this market.
Consider you'll have to invest in your new product before you see a payoff, you may need to hire additional help to keep your current product line running and launch the new one.

 

Why don't you put it out to the group what the product is you're talking about? Then you can get a real gauge of whether its worth your effort, time and money.

I know someone could steal your idea, if they're even capable of producing it. But let's face it, someone else may start making them after you've started producing them anyways unless you can copyright it. And if they have a source for producing overseas, you will be hard pressed to price match. You may get one chance to get a whole bunch of them out into the market.

 

x2!!

 

As a veteran of more than 20 years in the early Ford parts reproduction business during the great heyday of the 70s-80s I can tell you that there is no research you can do or pay for that will give you a clue as to the size of market or demand or demand for any given part for an old car, especially for any brand name other than Ford or Chevrolet, and those two are often a blind guess. Your gut and experience are as good as it gets.
It is no surprise that any offering of a part is met with great enthusiasm but the market is ethereal and you might find a "demand" turning out to be one or two guys repeating their interest again and again.

One other thing, custom and reproduction don't go together. Reproduction parts are exact duplicates of original parts whereas custom parts are made differently, thus "Custom". An examples, a 32 Ford grille insert made with horizontal bars rather than vertical bars is custom; a 32 Ford grille shell with no radiator filler opening is custom.

 

I didn't want to be too specific on the part partially because I want to do more development and research, and I will admit like any other business I don't want to my hand so some one else can use the idea. Also, I didn't want to use this forum as a sales tool. I post this subject to get feedback on the basic idea of doing this. All of the replies have been great and very insightful, and encouraging.

I'm not a marketing person by profession so all my research has been amateurish using my observation of the hobby and my gut feeling. I am following every avenue I can think of to gauge whether there is a demand for this part and I think there is. I've talked to used parts guy who has a good feeling of the market, I've talked to different people on discussion boards and have talked to a couple of local people who have all said they'd buy one. The biggest obstacle would be price and I think I can keep the price at around the cost to recondition the old part which is very seldom not damaged.

I'm like any other potential business person out there with a new product or service, I see a need and hope it's just not a mirage. I was told over 15 years ago that the business I started wasn't going to work, there was too much competition but in the last 15 years I've seen a lot o my competition come and go. I just am getting burned out dealing with my customers, customers I've helped with free time and materials that they seem to forgot I've helped them with. With the parts business I know there are ass customers but the part is one item, your customer sees it, decides to buy it and most times the customer goes on his merry way. With my business the projects last weeks and in all that time the customer is constantly demanding more and more and it's usually not just one customer but two or more at a time.

 

A few guys come to mind that have done this. Gary Glasgow, of Night Prowlers, had the Dodge Lancer hubcaps done, in both 14 and 15 in. so they were geared toward cusotms. Bill Layman did the copy of the Appleton spotlights. Had a nice run of them, and then sold the rights to Wayne, the Dice King. Lee Lenses are still being reproed, as well as 56 Packard lights, fiberglass bubble skirts, teardrop dash knobs, Porter Mufflers, and so on.
So there is a market for Rod and Custom parts, depending on how much demand there is. You just have to figure out the demand!

 

I was making some repop bumper guards which would bring $2K a set for rough restorable ones, but once people know new ones are available, the demand drops.

Those eBay numbers are going to change once you offer your new pieces. Stuff gets bid up high when a couple guys need it and there are no other alternatives to buying rough used pieces. Once a new replacement is available, the need to outbid someone on a rough used piece is gone.

From just what I have experienced and using your numbers as a guide, with no idea what it is you're making, I'd say if you can produce that part with a retail price of under $500, they'll sell. If you're expecting to get $1600 for whatever this thing is, just because it's new, I doubt you'll sell more than one or two.

 

Not necessarily true..., my father in laws best friend is the local corvette guru for over 30+ years, that's all he does, corvettes. Those guys pockets always seem to be endless deep and will pay for a good product if it looks correct and functions like factory. Case in point, '58 corvette trunk spears, originally they were brittle pot metal and most were either destroyed through time or practically fell off when you slammed the trunk lid over time. He saw a market for them years ago since his only competition was ones made in Mexico that were far inferior quality, fit and finish he had my father in law make a small batch run of them and they sold out within a week!! he is getting $3500.00 for a set and can't seem to keep them in stock whenever we ran them in the shop. Case in point, do the research and know the market before you invest..

 

Prime,

I would put the part I'm doing on par with the Corvette part. The originals are very visible part of the vehicle that suffers from vibration and environmental deterioration. This part can make or break a restoration. Also, the group I'm targeting also seem to have fairly deep pockets, most do not do their own work, they farm everything out.

I really appreciate all the replies and private messages I'm getting. I want to hear all opinions, pro and con. You guys are a wealth of information.

 

Sounds great bobj49f2, You've been in the business long enough to know a viable product when you see it. A lot of people need to take in consideration, like real estate, it's location, location, location in the parts business it's market, market, market.