Rob,
I have to jump in here and give my two cents. I totally agree that
any repro part should be be made to look as much like the original as
possible and to function at least as well as the original. Fortunately
people like Rick at Sunbeam Specialties and Tiger Tom have done that over
the years. Some parts like horn rings have been made to function better than
the originals but externally they look like the originals ( except for the
back side ). Many of the most expensive concours collector cars in the world
have some repro parts on them which does not detract from their overall
value. I believe that the air cleaners should be made as close as possible
to the originals. We discussed this project at the tech session I led at
SUNI II and it was felt that this project should not be that difficult for
someone with the right equipment and capital to fund the stamping tooling.
Obviously we would not need tooling of the quality used by the big three to
make thousands of parts. Judging the potential demand is one of the key
questions since it affects the quality of the tooling that needs to be made
as well as the price charged to cover the initial tooling. Phil-Perhaps Rick
or Tom could give some help in judging potential demand. Rick went through a
similar process about ten years ago when the original interior material was
needed and again when the repro LAT 70s were done. My quess is 200 sets. ( I
could use 4 myself ).
Dave McDermott
At 10:14 AM 7/10/96 -0500, Kempinski, Robert M. wrote:
>------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>REPLY FROM: Kempinski, Robert M.
>On 10 Jul 96 at 7:54, LARRY WRIGHT wrote:
>
>> If parts that
>> are unavailable become available again, then isn't that good for every-
>> one except those who can afford the time & money for tracking down
>> NOS, or those who have cars that are original and feel that the investment
>> value (insert rasberry here) of their cars drops because other folks can
>> restore their Tigers?
>
>I have made a suitable sound effect at my desk.
>
>>> Also BTW, if I didn't already have an original air cleaner, I would
>>>_immediately_ order one of those neat cast-aluminum units that matches the
>>> LAT 8 valve covers; those look neat! If I didn't have access to those, and
>> > I was missing mine, yeah, I'd buy one of your repros, Phil.
>
>Wait a minute - even if you have one, buy another, heck, buy two. You can
>chrome plate one, paint one day glow orange and keep one original. That way
>you can change air cleaners to suit your mood.
>
>Ron said
>>I would too. I'm sure they would be easily identifiable as repro's and not
>>affect the value of NOS.
>Sorry Ron, but I have to make another sound effect here. "The value of NOS?"
>You mean to tell me people have been investing in Tiger parts? Windfall
>profit seems to be a more likely scenario for those who happen to have an
>extra.
>
>I'm all for a reproduction air cleaner. And the closer one can make it look
>like the original the better as far as I'm concerned. Then the parts can sell
>for manufacturing cost plus an equity factor and not some dollar inflated
>aberration. Then again, I can just see it now - a Tiger Air Cleaner
>Authenication committee. Decals to be placed on a suitably inconspicuous spot
>just underneath the AC on the top of the cleaner.
>
>Rob Kempinski
>Houston, Texas
>
>P.S. With the stinky air in Houston, we have big demand for air
>cleaners.
>
>
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