fender reproduction

["Dave Swingle" <dswingle@xxxx>]

--- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxx, heskin@xxxx wrote:
> 
> I'm sure I'm missing something here..
> why can't some enterprising person take an 
> existing LF fender (for example), make a new die from that, and get 
a 
> few hundred fenders produced? Are the starup costs just too 
great? 
> Are there legal issues with copying the design? Obviously, there 
is 
> enough demand. 

A couple of problems. Take a look at the repro steel fenders commonly 
passed off by body shops for conventional cars. They are made in the 
manner you describe (in China), and fit so poorly that the shops have 
to rework them for a proper fit. Try reworking a bad stainless 
stamping - without bondo. Stamping stainless is an even bigger 
nightmare than normal steel since it has a much higher spring-back 
factor. 

I'm not sure that I understand where the approprate level of "demand" 
would come from. That implies that several hundred people would be 
wrecking the front end of their cars, and soon enough that anyone 
making such fenders would recoup the investment. "Enterprising" means 
that the person would expect to make money in a short period of time. 
With the relatively limited number of cars driven often enough to be 
exposed to accidents, there are plenty of spare parts in the form of 
parts cars. As time marches on, the supply of good panels from 
otherwise worn-out cars will tend to increase. The stainless is 
probably the MOST re-useable part of a "parts car". I've been 
watching this for several years now, and have often seen front 
fenders, even the scarce "left" one, for sale for much less than the 
mythical $5000 price. I don't notice a lot of people posting to the 
list looking for sheet metal parts.

Maybe James would chime in here (maybe not due to competitive 
reasons) but I'd be curious about your view as to the yearly demand 
for replacement DMC body panels. I'd be that its less, way less, then 
100 panels of all 8 SS pieces used on the car, not just front 
fenders. 

Dave