How many people are in the market for reproduction grilles?

[Supercharged Riot]

I thought about being in the business for reproduction plastic parts which may include:
Im trying to get a feel of the demand right now.

Grilles
Dash boards
Interior trim
Others to be determined

[myk]

I wouldn't mind converting over to a '68 grille; is that something you might have in mind?

[70 sublime]

For me the grill question would come down to price
I would do what I could to fix what I have vs paying big bucks for a new one

[myk]

Personally, unless your grill is just completely shot, you'd be better off trying to fix what 'cha got.  A new grill would cost a fortune, I imagine...

[kpkube]

Going to repair the old one.  and depending on the price I would like to get a new one to store away just in case. 

[Cooter]

.
What is the top dollar ANY of you would spend on a complete 68-69 grille?
Reproduction.....

[cdr]

i already fixed mine so i voted  -------would rather fix mine

[Supercharged Riot]

I wouldn't mind converting over to a '68 grille; is that something you might have in mind?

Primarily reproductions for:
1968
1969
1970

But Id also look into reproducing grilles for other more popular vehicles (chevy & ford) to stay in business

[UH60L]

In the market?  Well, I'd love to have one for my '69 but I don't even have pocket lint to spend on car parts right now.....   

[TUFCAT]

didn't Bob Fist (from Europe) make some already? What happened to those parts? Have to think if he made them before, he can make them again with the same molds or dies? 

[JB400]

I don't know about anyone else, but, I'd sort of like the piece of mind to know that reproduction grills are available.  Mine is in decent shape, but I'd probably be willing to buy a spare.

[green69rt]

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,103229.0.html

Read the whole thing!!

[Kern Dog]

I would love to have a backup grille grille for my 70. Mine is in fantastic shape, but I still look for a spare at every swap meet. I had a case of sticker shock in the early 2000s when I saw nice uncracked ones listed for $600. When the market peaked in the 2006-2007 era, I saw them top $1000. I wouldn't pay that then, but if I caught a 4x to the front end and wanted to drive the car, I may have stepped up and bought one of them.
Today? I'd pay up to $800 for a nice UNpainted reproduction.
What happened to the guy advertising in the Mopar magazines, the one making 1969 grilles for $375 UNpainted? Seems reasonable if the quality is there. The 70 model had about 60% of the numbers built as the 69 cars, so I could see that the demand is less.

[tan top]

I thought about being in the business for reproduction plastic parts which may include:
Im trying to get a feel of the demand right now.

Grilles
Dash boards
Interior trim
Others to be determined

 good on ya for wanting to start up a new business   , no offence ! the  dash interior etc are pretty much covered now as far as I know , & the few bits that are not can some from other models & used stuff

 think  it is    68 -69 -70  grills that need repopping   at sensible money ,    & IMO the one to do is a 69 , makes more sense , no not just because I have a 69 , but for a financial point of view , you will sell them the most ,  with the  dukes of hazard mob , converting chargers in to  General lees , with the repop sheet metal they be able to use 70 chargers too , as well as 68s if they had the grill centre section .
I know there are haters of GL chargers ,  would never paint mine up as a general ,  but can appreciate all the work that goes into them , & love looking & reading about them as much as their owners !!    & goes with out saying  their owners love them as much at we love our chargers       & as long as a original rust free barn find is not used   , its only a paint job & interior to swap back 

  bottom line IMO if starting up a new business , your going to want to produce a part that's going to sell the most , to get the most return , as least initially  then look into repopping 68 then 70 grill assemblys 

[Cooter]

didn't Bob Fist (from Europe) make some already? What happened to those parts? Have to think if he made them before, he can make them again with the same molds or dies?  

Same thing that happens to many that go through the trouble of repopping parts only to have complaints bout prices...soon enough they just give up on the project...I'm sure Bobfist COULD produce more but why??? Nobody's gonna buy
Everybody complains about buying Chinese parts, but yet, when a GOOD repro comes Along, they want it for chinese prices. I don't blame Bobfist one bit. Nobody's gonna repop these grilles for like $500 complete....
We already had PP try that and what kind of company did they turn out to be again??? Good luck folks, but I'm not holding my breath for cheap grilles. I know what it takes to get a factory to do this stuff and once everybody gets their hands in the pie, there goes the low price. There's PLENTY dreamers wishing and hoping that some big company picks up the tab for all the BS involved and pops these babys out the door for cheap, but I fear that there aren't enough Charger owners willing to step up and put their money where their wishes and hopes are to make it worthwhile to repop em.

[Tilar]

Like was said above, Bobfist has the 69 center sections already. If someone were to do the 68 and 70, and then do the outside surrounds and the headlight doors we'd have complete grills for all 3 years.

People need to understand that it's not the cost of the grill itself, it's the cost of getting it to the point of being ready to run a complete accurate finished product through the line. Myself and a handful of others have invested in and created a product that should go to production this fall. Individual cost to actually make one start to finish is less than $300 each, but so far we are into this thing for almost 300k and that isn't including anyone making even as much as a dollar for their time. You can pick up one under each arm and carry them off, so you don't get a lot for your initial investment.

That said, If it were a nice piece and I need one at the time, I'd buy one, or at least the parts I needed to repair mine.

[green69rt]

I think I paid $600 to PPR for mine (yes, I'm one of the few that got what I ordered, but kind of scared to put it on because of plastic issues).    That was about 4 years ago.    I see restored ones selling for $1200, maybe more.  What would some pay for a new one in good plastic, unpainted .  Fist made a run and sold the center section for around $1000 and had a hard time selling them ( Some sold thru Ebay, who took a cut ).   

Are there a 1000 folks out there willing to shell out $1500 for a complete new grill???   Hard to believe but there may be    What about $2000, even less believable.

[XS29L]

Checking the latest Classic industries catalog , page 266-267 shows 1971-72 Duster "sharktooth grill 1232.99 ,  1969-70 Road Runner & GTX grills at 409.99-494.99 ,  1970 Cuda 1294.99 , 1971 Cuda 1099.99  .     What is my point ? This if I need to send 600 bucks for an AMD hood for my '68 Charger I fully expect to pay at least 1000-1500 for a complete grill, this would be for a part that is O.E. quality. I don't need a grille right now but who knows what the next project Charger look like.   Build Them And They Will Sell .

[rick@laysons]

"Build them and they will sell"

Easy enough to say....if it's somebody else's money going into it for all of the production cost.

[Cooter]

"Build them and they will sell"

Easy enough to say....if it's somebody else's money going into it for all of the production cost.

Finally, amen....

[Tilar]

Are there a 1000 folks out there willing to shell out $1500 for a complete new grill???   Hard to believe but there may be    What about $2000, even less believable.

I'd say no to both scenarios, BUT If you take the $1295 figures from above or even the $1500 you mentioned and break it down into parts, He would probably sell center sections all day long for $700 each, and the outside surround sections that have the ears that break off so many times IMHO would sell easily for $350 - $400 each. If you take that into consideration that would be $1400 - $1500 for most of the grill parts, and that doesn't include the headlight doors. Remember these new parts still need painted which takes a lot of time to do a really nice job. 

[kpkube]

Here is a USED grille listed on ebay: Price:US $1,969.69

$1,969.69 for a used one or $1,969.69 for a brand new one???

[Cooter]

Here is a USED grille listed on ebay: Price:US $1,969.69

Yeah, and asking and getting are two different things. Using evilbay for pricing would be like using BJ auctions for realistic prices on Chargers. Just cause one or two guys have the stupids to pay that much don't mean they set the bar for what is the norm.
I was selling a fully restored grille like that one for the askng price of $1500.00, but was looking to get  $1100.00....
I bites....why would someone even attempt repro stuff if the completely restored grille won't sell at $1100.00???

[Daytona R/T SE]

The most I ever paid for a complete used 69 Grille was $25.

I've got several that I've rat-holed over the years, so I can make enough grilles from
The parts I have on hand to last me a lifetime.

I suspect there are a lot of guys like me that would spend the time repairing their own before
Dropping big bucks on a new one that may or may not fit.

[Ghoste]

I'm with Cooter on using e bay for a price guide.