Reproduction grills?

[suburbanfireman]

Does anyone know if there are any plans for reproduction plastic grills for the 2nd generation chargers?  It seems like a lot of people need them, and I would think that they couldn't be that hard to reproduce.  I need to replace the driver's side of my 68, and I don't want to pay big bucks for an old piece when they plan on releasing new parts soon.  Any info would be much appreciated.

[Old Moparz]

One of the members on here named Jude, (aka Charger Aficionado) has been in touch with a guy named Steve Sexton of Premiere Plastics who promised they would be available. Best thing to do is contact him & ask, or maybe he'll see this topic & post so everyone else can see too.

Jude's Profile: http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=540

If they do become available, the quality should be decent since I have bought a 1971 Barracuda grille that he made. Word of advice though, don't hold your breathe while you wait. Customer service is not one of their strong points.

Premiere Plastics Topic Regarding product Quality & Customer Service With Pics:
http://www.moparts.com/Tech/Archive/paint/10.html

[Old Moparz]

Also........Try to get in touch with someone from "L & P Reproduction" & ask them. They are making some good quality parts now, like the console, & are supposed to be doing grilles as well. They may or may not have a Charger grille, but could be tooling up for one.

Contact info in this link:
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,37.msg502.html#msg502

[dkn1997]

One of the members on here named Jude, (aka Charger Aficionado) has been in touch with a guy named Steve Sexton of Premiere Plastics who promised they would be available. Best thing to do is contact him & ask, or maybe he'll see this topic & post so everyone else can see too.

Jude's Profile: http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=540

If they do become available, the quality should be decent since I have bought a 1971 Barracuda grille that he made. Word of advice though, don't hold your breathe while you wait. Customer service is not one of their strong points.

Premiere Plastics Topic Regarding product Quality & Customer Service With Pics:
http://www.moparts.com/Tech/Archive/paint/10.html

did you install your 71 cuda grill yet?    I don't know if you saw that whole big messy thread about it over at moparts.  It got quite ugly.  The big debate was over injection molding or something like that.  also, people were accusing and saying that the ebay feedback on these was from shills of the seller.  who knows anyway, but I would be curious to see one installed.

[hotrod98]

I've been curious about the 71 cuda grilles myself. I have all of the pieces, inserts and moldings, to make up a complete one, but I have serious doubts about whether they will fit the repro grille or not.

[dkn1997]

I've been curious about the 71 cuda grilles myself. I have all of the pieces, inserts and moldings, to make up a complete one, but I have serious doubts about whether they will fit the repro grille or not.

I think people would feel better in general if someone they knew from one of the boards posted up with pics of their grill installed w/molding.

so far, only "bought it, but not installed yet" and "I know a guy who put one on and loves it"    The fact that the customer service is not all that it could be I think makes people want to see the proof before believing it.  At one point, scott smith from harms offered to take one and put the trim he already has on it, he just did not want to pay for it.  Had that been done, then it could have put the matter to rest.

[JimShine]

Wow. cool to know silicone molding works for this type of stuff too. I have relicated old knobs and such using silicone, but never considered a whole grille. The materials must have been outrageous.

[Old Moparz]

One of the members on here named Jude, (aka Charger Aficionado) has been in touch with a guy named Steve Sexton of Premiere Plastics who promised they would be available. Best thing to do is contact him & ask, or maybe he'll see this topic & post so everyone else can see too.

Jude's Profile: http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=540

If they do become available, the quality should be decent since I have bought a 1971 Barracuda grille that he made. Word of advice though, don't hold your breathe while you wait. Customer service is not one of their strong points.

Premiere Plastics Topic Regarding product Quality & Customer Service With Pics:
http://www.moparts.com/Tech/Archive/paint/10.html

did you install your 71 cuda grill yet?    I don't know if you saw that whole big messy thread about it over at moparts.  It got quite ugly.  The big debate was over injection molding or something like that.  also, people were accusing and saying that the ebay feedback on these was from shills of the seller.  who knows anyway, but I would be curious to see one installed.

Click on the link I posted above to read that Moparts thread that was archived. I'm almost sure it's the same one you mentioned, but it's only my posts & one of Scott Smith of Harms. That thread was originally mine by the way, & there is enough info & photos in it that it's pointless to retype, or paste it here. Any rumor about schill bidding is news to me, because the seller has always had a buy it now offer of $599 on them. The seller had only 3 feedbacks, all of them good, but is now an unregistered user & hasn't listed anything under that account since my grille in Oct. 2004. Unless there was another thread started that I am unaware of, I doubt the rumors have much credibility.

Sad to see people accusing & bashing, or starting rumors without warrant, because other than some customer service issues I had, the grille is fine. The trim fits, but I don't have all of it yet. I also haven't placed it in the front of the car because I have enough going on & the 4 month wait on the grille forced me to shelve the project.

Go read the link, it'll clarify a lot.

[dkn1997]

I read the thread over at moparts and as much as I recall, nothing was resolved at all, It seemed to degrade into a rumor mill and a lengthy discussion of how plastic is molded, etc...   I have not seen it in a while, I lost a bit of interest at about page 178 and after the word "injection molded" was said for the 80,000th time.

good luck with your grill and post up when it's in. 

[Old Moparz]

The archived post I pasted a link to is only part of the original thread at Moparts. You don't have to read 178 pages, only one page. (It's not that long.) It's only what I had to say, some photos, & one short post from Scott Smith commenting on what he had thought the molding process was. I agree, the postings back then on Moparts went on & on, & were quite redundant, but wasn't just about the type of molding process used.

If you don't feel like reading it, then don't, but it was asked, so I posted it. Did you contact anyone in the links yet about the grilles? I've got my hands full with other projects right now, so if I get around to putting the Cuda grille in the car, it won't be untill it's a bit warmer. I understand it's not a Charger grille, but several companies are competing for a stake in the repro market & promising them. I don't need a repro Charger grille, I have 2 originals already, & a Daytona nose. No need for me to call to see if they are making them. 

My guess, is that since all of the trim I had put on the grille had fit, the grille should fit the car. The only pieces not in the photos that I did test, were the 6 stainless "U" shaped ones around the 6 grille inserts. They fit & looked good.

These are from just over a year ago with as much trim as I had at the time:

[Mike DC]

We keep hearing about these phantom grilles buut they never show up.  The fact that a handful of new grills have been produced & sold lately does not mean that Charger grilles are "available" for everyone yet. 

I'll stop looking for used grille sections when Year One actually lists a part number, takes my money, and then delivers me a new one. Until then it's rumors.

.

[hotrod98]

Since the 71 cuda grilles are so fragile and expensive to ship, I plan to buy one the next time I see them for sale at one the big mopar shows. I prefer to look at it before I buy it anyway. I have all of the components to put an extra together except for one of the end "C" moldings. Would like to take my original out and put it up in the closet for safe keeping. I almost had a bird fly through it on the way to a show last spring. It makes you a little apprehensive about driving it down the highway, which is ironic since I sold my all original 71 cuda and built this cuda clone to enjoy driving. Sure hope I don't feel that way about drivng the wing car clones when they're finished.

[Old Moparz]

Larry,

The guy in Canada is now reproducing the 6 insert grilles, the 4 headlight rings in chrome & paint, the double headlight plates with brackets, & I'd be willing to bet he does the rest of the grille trim as well as the overall grille itself. He's having it made in China, but there has been a few Moparts members that are very happy with the parts they bought so far. One is A&L Auto, the resto shop that cranks out nice work.

Depending on my finances with my Cuda, I may get some repro parts & save or sell the originals later on for the same reason you mentioned. Fear of damage to such costly items. There is also a guy in NYC selling a lot of 1970 grille parts, but I haven't seen him do 1971 yet. I think the outer trim is available for the '70 which may mean the '71 could be available in the near future. The sellers have all been on ebay & easy to find.

Maybe one reason they aren't available through the bigger suppliers yet is due to copyright & the licensing fees. Some of the ebay sellers don't have anything listed currently, but here they are:

Here's the guy selling 1970 repro parts:
http://motors.search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZtrapaga57QQssPageNameZSTRKQ3aMEFSQ3aMESOI

Here's one of the guys selling 1971 repro parts:
http://motors.search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZmarksmoparts

Here's the one guy from Canada selling 1971 repro parts:
http://stores.ebay.com/P-G-CLASSIC-STORE

Yet another 1971 grille guy, which happens to be in the exact same location as the guy I bought from who is no longer a registered user:
http://motors.search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZwiyohpeyataQQssPageNameZSTRKQ3aMEWAQ3aMESOI


Find Charger Aficianado & ask him too, he's been selling the 1971 grilles on ebay.

[4402tuff4u]

Don't be surprised if soon you will start seeing parts for our Mopars being made in China. It's just a matter of time. If you had the contacts, they would probably be able to make you a whole Charger. I was talking to a consultant engineer at work that is from China. Our conversation drifted to old cars since he saw my calendar and photo's of my car being restored and he said that he knows of chinese companies making parts for very old cars like in the 30's for car collectors. His father back in China has a plastic extruding business that makes phones, pc parts, etc....He said if you were to give him a grill, his father would probably be able to duplicated it after some tooling is done and the cost would be small compare to what these grill will probably go for here. I don't have one to give away for duplication and I don't want to get into that business anyway.

[hotrod98]

I bought one of the shifter bezels for my 70 chal convert from P&G. It looks pretty nice, but I haven't installed it yet. I hope these guys are around a while. I've seen a few people repro some nice pieces and then just disappear or they just quit making the parts for some reason. The guy reproducing the c pillar belt moldings for the 67 belvederes had a fire at his shop that destroyed his dies so he just never made another set of dies. Things like that happen. Gene Gregory is thinking about not converting shaker hoods anymore. He wants to go on to something else. He's going to make the 3rd gen back glass louvers and wing car noses and said that he wouldn't have the time to do the hoods. I guess a guy gets tired of doing the same old thing all of the time.

[Pistolpete]

Hey 440
if youwant to PM me that contact (who has contacts in China) I have someone on my end that is looking at starting some impot export from there, if I can convince him its feasible he may look at getting into the biz. (he's a mopar guy)

let me know what you think?

[4402tuff4u]

Hey 440
if youwant to PM me that contact (who has contacts in China) I have someone on my end that is looking at starting some impot export from there, if I can convince him its feasible he may look at getting into the biz. (he's a mopar guy)

let me know what you think?

I'll talk to him and get the info.

[4402tuff4u]

Pistolpete, you have a PM.

[dkn1997]

The archived post I pasted a link to is only part of the original thread at Moparts. You don't have to read 178 pages, only one page. (It's not that long.) It's only what I had to say, some photos, & one short post from Scott Smith commenting on what he had thought the molding process was. I agree, the postings back then on Moparts went on & on, & were quite redundant, but wasn't just about the type of molding process used.

If you don't feel like reading it, then don't, but it was asked, so I posted it. Did you contact anyone in the links yet about the grilles? I've got my hands full with other projects right now, so if I get around to putting the Cuda grille in the car, it won't be untill it's a bit warmer. I understand it's not a Charger grille, but several companies are competing for a stake in the repro market & promising them. I don't need a repro Charger grille, I have 2 originals already, & a Daytona nose. No need for me to call to see if they are making them. 

I just wanted to see pics of the grill, thanks. I heard so many suspicious things that I wanted to see pics.  now I have and I am satisfied it actually exists.

[Charger Aficionado]

  Dude.  I just dropped my NOS '69 Grille to PPR...  I didn't want to sell it, but had to...  I'm having alot of changes going on, so...  I saw that last one go for 3,800 on ebay, but took less since it was going to him...  I will also be getting the first template grille, and that is exciting...  I did not give-up the sides until today...  They had to have the rivets drilled-out...  Well you guys will be getting a PERFECT piece!!!    I'm happy it went to him...

  Center portion is almost done!!!  Tailamps are almost done as well!!!  He opted to do rings out of plastic, but kept original mounting brackets so you can slip your metal ones on instead if you prefer!!!  Cool idea. 

  Anyone have the link for the NOS Charger Grille that went on ebay???

[Old Moparz]

Tailamps are almost done as well!!!  He opted to do rings out of plastic, but kept original mounting brackets so you can slip your metal ones on instead if you prefer!!!  Cool idea. 

What part of the tail lamps are you referring to, & which years?

[Mopar2Ya]

Does Premier Plastics have a web site or ph#? Anyone know of any place reproducing the '70 Charger grill?

[Charger_Fan]

Does Premier Plastics have a web site or ph#? Anyone know of any place reproducing the '70 Charger grill?

Nobody's repopping '70 grilles as of yet, hopefully Premier does those after they're done with the 69's.

[Charger Aficionado]

  Tailamps are '69 and '70s...  Metal ring around the outside... 

  He has a mint set of my buddy's tailamps and his '70 grille, and my bud is rushing him...  I sold them to my buddy, and then we asked to use them (ouch).  I know he will not rush him too bad, but still I think the pressure is just enough to where he will hurry along a little... He is thinking of moving his operation (PPR) to Dallas area because of property prices, but I hope not, he's a good bud now... 

[Charger4404spd]

When will the 69 grills be ready? Whats the price? Are the taillight chrome trim pieces being done?