303 replies to this topic

[FLD]

Someone needs to cost this properly. Those moulds (although high quality) might be too dear with projected sales. What would people be prepared to pay?

[smiley]

What would people be prepared to pay?

Will go near 1k i think, but jonny could give a better estimate on it.
Keep in mind that jonny can also sell it to europe, so it could make large volumes.
Will be a long term investment though, as expensive things can take long to sell, besides the happy few that want it asap.

Edited by smiley, 28 February 2012 - 11:05 PM.

[Exmantaa]

Any chance of any pics of the molds? Close ups ideally. I would have to ask the opinion of my GRP guys. Autoclaving the parts isnt an option for me I don't even know of an autoclave in this area. I dont think using GRP should be an issue though.

Any idea if he is willing to ship them over here?

Think you should look into vacuum bag GRP for this to make a decent quality product. And shipping can be worked out as we Dutch guys can liason to Germany, but we need to sort out some basic manufacturing costs first.
Still thrilled about this unexpected mold availability.

[FLD]

Vac forming will add a fair amount of cost. You'd have to go to epoxy which will bump up the cost a fair bit and then there's all the consumables. To get it in at a reasonable price I think it'll have to be regular CSM/polyester.

[Kenni]

I really like the look of that, but I cant see any benefits other than purely for aesthetics reasons. People say £1K region, but the buyer will need to account for paint and maybe fitting on top too. For that money, it'll be best spent on a lowering or even a supercharge IMO. Also remember, the buyer would need to purchase a hardtop too (if they dont already have one), to complete the look.

[Baron Von Scubadaddy]

I really like the look of that, but I cant see any benefits other than purely for aesthetics reasons.

Isn't that reason enough ??

[techieboy]

Ding. Unless you're racing the car and are going to make use of any aero benefits it brings, it's purely styling (and even then still seems a little dubious trying to make your car look like a 70/80's Trans Am )

[Baron Von Scubadaddy]

Que knight rider music ..................................

[Darcini]

(and even then still seems a little dubious trying to make your car look like a 70/80's Trans Am )

Oooh, meeow

[Kenni]

I really like the look of that, but I cant see any benefits other than purely for aesthetics reasons.

Isn't that reason enough ??

Maybe, if reasonably priced.

[FLD]

What would you consider a reasonable price then?

[techieboy]

Oooh, meeow

Everyones at it now



All of that said, the "German" version is probably the best looking one I've seen and the alloy hinge and support mechanism is a (expensive) work of art.

[TazN]

It seems this will really need some number crunching and abit more investigation to make sure it's going to work out ok. I'd be interested in it along with a hardtop if something comes of this. Depending on when/if this comes to fruition I can help levy some of the initial costs.

[techieboy]

And my favourite interpretation of the reverse coupe conversion that I spotted outside Courtenay's once

[siztenboots]

mid engined fastback, been done years before

[double r]

Same here , get em done :-D

Did we get anywhere with these?

[smiley]

The german guy is not responding to mails

[FLD]

I'm taking moulds from my plug right now. I'm trying to source a window section from a race plastics supplier I know and I have an engineer working on hinges. There are a few issues though..... rear clams are not all identical, I have a couple and the distance between the butresses can vary by a couple of mm. Not terrible for the OE car but panel gaps could be terrible with a coupe top. I've made the sides deliberately long to cover this but it would mean some end user sanding / fitting The roll bar cover can also vary in its positioning depending on how far back / forward the roll bar is. Again I've left this long but it requires end user sanding / fitting. The hinge design I have ties into the roll bar / roll bar cover bolts so may need end user drilling if I cant sort out a slot system. Whats a ball ache!

[Darcini]

Don't go too thin with the polycarb Matt, 3mm wobbled on mine, you need a minimum of 4mm and if it could be heat set to a curve that would also help.

[FLD]

Don't go too thin with the polycarb Matt, 3mm wobbled on mine, you need a minimum of 4mm and if it could be heat set to a curve that would also help.

Thats exactly my plan. Add a sort of bubble shape to it to give it some rigidity. Fingers crossed the plastics man can do it at a good price.