We've ventured in to little-understood territory in this NOS - Reproduction
discussion and without wanting to be defensive, I thought a few things
ought to be cleared up and or discussed. With respect to Tiger repair and
replacement parts Rick McLeod at Sunbeam Specialties is responsible for
most of the parts that are available, across the board. You might find
parts from several suppliers but the chances are that somewhere, Rick was
involved in their production and existence.
With that said, it was inferred that Rick's LAT valve covers were
reproductions. We have to be careful here because they are produced from
the original "factory" tooling used by International Automobile when the
LAT items were first produced. Furthermore, they are now being produced at
the Buddy Bar foundry that cast the original's. So one has to ask: Are
these current production pieces reproductions, or a continuation of the
original production? Most of the companies that made the various parts and
components for Rootes or International Automobile are no longer in
business, or at the very least, they are "owned" by different individuals
or companies. If I take Rick's "Factory" washer bottle mold and have it
re-blown to produce bottles, are they going to be "reproductions", are they
equivalent to NOS, or are they "clones". We need to be careful about
labeling definitions, lest we reduce the value and incentive of producing
parts physically identical and equal to "original".
Tom
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