Original Maverick Toolings Found! All sheet metal to be reproduced!

if i ever win the lottery i shall donate to the maverick repop fund i would lose like a galzillion doll hairs even though we want this how many would buy these repop parts?

nobody


buts all good to dream

 

A friend of mine was told the same $350,000 price on tooling for 70 Roadrunner fenders. Guess they are triained to say that amount when asked.

 

I happen to be a machinst and can tell you why dies cost so much. The amount of tool steel neccisary to make most dies for body panels costs between 50 to 100 thousand dollars. Add the machining time and $350,000 is actually a good deal. Body panels were manufactured with hundreds of thousands of units in mind, so cost per unit would be relativly low. Using the same manufacturing methods to make a handfull of repops is cost prohibitive. I have some friends that make plastic injection molds, many for cell phones. Dies run between $95,000-$110,000. But when they run 1 millon shots out of each one, thats around $0.12 a piece. Its effective for mass production, but not for limited runs. Same thing for panel dies.

 

So what makes it something cost effective for a Charger? or a 70 Skylark, or Olds cutlass, How much would I expect to pay to have patch panels made? for Quarters.. In the normal Mav rust areas, Surelt someone has had this done before. How many units Make it cost effective? I just can't believe there are That many Chargers out there compared to our cars for one thing the Charger body styles changed more often than mavs so total units of say a b body mopar quarter can't be the same as the total units for a maverick/ comet made for 7 years... yes B body Mopars are more popular... right now, but clearly the Mav/Comet enthusiasts are growing
too, ARe there less Mavs comets still on the road today compared to B bodied Mopars? I wonder?

 

Could the parts be made in another material. Carbon Fiber or Alum. Aluminum might not be perfect for fenders but a Grabber hood made out of it might not be so bad. Just thinking out loud,
Jerryfow2

 

I agree with Craig completely. The Mav/Comet community as a whole are some of the most ingenious and frugal people I've ever met. The chop/cut/ rebuild mentality using used and scavenged parts is the basis for probably 90% of the Mavericks on the road today. In the 35+ years I've been dealing in NOS Ford parts of ALL makes, probably only 5-10% of Maverick and Comet owners I've met are willing to step up and pay for the rarer parts they need. This isn't a slam on the group, just an observation I've made over the years. And that mentality won't change if reproduction parts become available. The outlay for these parts to be reproduced just doesn't make sense in a community like the one that the Maverick/Comet owners have forged. The percentages just aren't there to support the reproduction of Mav parts. Mopar guys will get in a bidding war time and time again for a $2000 NOS grille for their prize cuda or charger. But their cars are sometimes worth millions and I wouldn't expect a Maverick owner to do the same when the value lies in their love of their cars (not the price).

Just my two cents.
Ed

PS: The sad reality is that the once thriving supply of Maverick parts of the past decades is drying up rapidly. The "Forgotten Mav" has become very, very popular and the yards and hills that once held "used Maverick gold" of every variety have gone the way of the 25¢ hot dog. I fear this board is the last frontier for such an awesome bunch of guys with a passion for the Mav. Guard it well... and thanks Stefan!

 

So How much would I expect to pay to have a bodyshop fix the rotted corners of my Comet fenders and quarters? Fortunatly mine are in otherwise very good condition. Not dented etc. Any ballparks based on experience?

 

Depends on how much work is required. There are specialty body shops that can MAKE virtually any panel you need, using an english wheel, hammers and dolly's, etc.

I would say you would be looking at $30 to $60 an hour....up to $100 an hour for a true craftsman. Now it just depends on how much time it took them to make the part.

 

This has turned into a great thread. I have bought NOS stuff from Ed at Carlisle and he comes up with stuff that amazes me. I am lucky that what I have between NOS sheetmetal, and just plain old rustfree cars I am going to be able to put together the 2 cars I am currently working on. After that? Who knows,, but at my age,, maybe 2 more cars is all I have in me anyways.
Dan

 

One of the most asked questions I get at car shows is "Is it hard to get parts for ...." My answer is always the same ... "There is hardly any reproduction parts made for the car ... and for most parts especially sheetmetal you need to go NOS if you can find it or used rust-free used parts or better yet ... have a rust free car in the first place." I also tell them that I restored my car almost 4 years ago and had been collecting parts for almost 2 years prior to that. If I was starting out with the restoration today not only would it be almost impossible to get all the parts I needed in a timely fashion ... but the restoration would have cost me probably 2X to 3X what it cost me 4 years ago.

Up until about 2 years ago when it seems Maverick popularity began to skyrocket ... I used to purchase NOS parts on eBay all them time either to put in my stockpile or resell. Now I really can't afford to just pick up NOS parts and stick them in my attic because of the crazy prices they bring ...

 

Here's something else to think about. The lack of NOS replacement parts for our cars means sometimes you have to repair the parts you already have. In order to do that, you would have to find a good bodyshop to do the job. That in it's self can be a daunting task. Nearly all bodyshops today make thier bread and butter doing collision insurance work, or as we call it, R & R's. ( remove and replace.) Remove the damaged part, replace it with a repop, prep it and paint it. It's relatively fast process, and in a bodyshop fast equals money. Most bodyshops do not want to waste thier time with rust work because it is not time or cost effective for them. That's when you have to find a shop that specializes in restorations and they are not cheap. Doing restorations and making parts is a time consumming process. Most of the guys who do restorations are older guys that are true metal men who know how to make a part if one can't be found. My husband is one of those metal men, but like NOS Maverick parts, they too will someday dissappear. Making parts is an artform that most younger bodymen are not taught today. It's a skill that is passed down from the older guys to the younger ones who are willing to learn. Once again, like NOS parts, the price to make these parts by hand will get more and more expensive as time goes by. With the lack of repopped replacement parts available, we may no choice but to hang on to the rusted parts we can find, and either learn to make our own parts or find a good restoration shop and pay to have them made for us.

 

How about instead of buying the tooling's off of ford we just ask whoever is in charge of ford if we can use them, and get a group of volunteers together and use them ourselves, and let ford take the profit, we might not make anything, but if we do this than we can finally provide replacement body panels to the whole maverick/comet society, help the popularity of our cars

 

this thread is over 5 years old! the dies were probably destroyed.

No use for Ford to keep them.

 

Plus, the original post was posted April 1st.......