Why Dont They Make That Part?

Why dont they make it for my car? Story and supplied by Colin Date One of the most common questions in classic Chevy car circles is: Why dont they make this for my car? As a supplier and manufacturer to the aftermarket for many years, we will attempt to answer this question and shed some light on manufacturing for the aftermarket and classic car market. Lets start with some history. Originally, when Chevrolet manufactured for your classic car, these cars were not classic they were cars. For manufacturing this means were built for daily use and not for show. These were made in very high volume dies and were designed to be at the lowest cost (to assemble a complete car to ship to the dealer). Parts were not made to standards that the restorer now expects for his and joy. In many ways, the aftermarket customer now demands better quality than the original as these are being used on cars for show. With the values of some classic cars going into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, the quest for is at an all time high. This creates an even more involved for the supplier and manufacturer to develop that meet or exceed the quality, fit and finish of an original Chevrolet Most manufacturing are designed to volume. We have worked with manufacturers that will not look at a for under 10,000 Then others will run as few as 100 So volume is relative to the the customer is willing to and the manufacturing used. Were sure youve heard the stories of outrageous for that should only cost a few dollars. But thats what happens when an individual wants the bad enough and the isnt being reproduced. The few examples that exist command outrageous People get confused by these high on rare thinking there must be a great demand for them. This is often wrong, because there may only be one in the world willing to that huge tag. Now there may be hundreds of that would a high cost for a they really needed (that wasnt in but that still does not address the thousands of units needed to do a run of of this type. Most manufacturers require volume in the thousands to be able to cost effectively a The demand in the marketplace often times does not meet the volume requirements of a given which is often the case with classic car This creates a dilemma for the aftermarket supplier in the classic car business. People ask us why we dont make a given for their car. Well, there are a lot of steps involved to make a new reproduction that to the consumer may look simple or cheap. We will explain some of the dynamics of making for the aftermarket. First step is market research. This will determine the demand for the and the value of the requested This entails researching the number of cars originally built, as well as the estimated number of cars currently on the road or still in existence. You may have a that is really in need by a specific group of but if there is only a hundred of those willing to buy the the demand is not sufficient for the cost or volume requirements of manufacturing. Once it is determined that a is in significant demand and should be reproduced, the tooling development can begin. The engineering time to replicate a and then the hard costs of machining are extensive. A small like a radio knob can be in the 10,000 - 20,000 range for tooling. The impression many hobbyists have is that the smaller the is, the cheaper it must be. Not so in tooling; sometimes the smaller can be the most expensive to tool up due to the design. To make most of these there is an incredible amount of labor hours for the engineering aspect. Then you have the raw cost of the tooling steel or material, then the machining time to create the shape and design of the After all that, theres the testing stage. This is where materials are tested and a first article is made for fit and quality testing. 630 ton die casting machine use to make emblems. Lets take something as small and simple as a hood emblem for instance. It can take 6 months to a year to get that the market. There is a computer CAD designer who draws the there is a tooling engineer to machine the tool, and a heat treating facility to treat the tool. Then its over to the die caster. The are run on a 630 ton die casting machine, trimmed, de-gated and cleaned. Then they head off to a chrome that applies the chrome finish. Once this is done, the are back in containers and delivered to the facility to apply factory and color. Then the is inspected, and shipped to you, the customer. The actual of a small emblem like the one shown is very involved. A run can take several months with all the handling required to make a superb quality Another used is metal stamping. To make a headlamp bezel, there is a tremendous amount development cost. Because of the complex shape of these there may be six to ten different dies to create the design of one headlamp bezel set. In stamping deep draw like a headlamp bezel, its a lot like cutting your lawn. What we mean by this is that when the grass is tall, you cannot cut it down in one you must make multiple trips to get it down to the level you want. Same with deep draw stampings. This first die does one of the shape, the second die draws more depth and detail, and so on. In stamping sheetmetal like an inner fender the dies can weigh as much as 10,000 to make a small sheet metal Parts as large as quarter are in the 50,000 range for tooling and require upwards of 1000 tons. This all equates to very expensive tooling and equipment. Once a tool is built and tested, a is made for test fitting. The is then checked on an original car for fit and finish. In general, the most complicated and expensive of the is the tooling. After the is tested and has been approved for fit, we can begin Most manufacturing require volume for affordability. On aluminum stampings, there is typically a minimum run of anywhere from 1000 to 2000 units to be able to set up the job. If the quantity is less, the manufacturers who make these will not run the as there is too much setup involved to make less. If they are able to run less, the cost goes up because in most manufacturing there is what is called a break in or setup When equipment is first started up, the results can vary. Temperature, moisture, and material variations can all affect the finished So 50 to 100 maybe be lost just setting up and testing before are that are acceptable to the customer. Also, special material is often required for each order, which has its own minimum run requirements. The cost of doing all of this is significant. Because we can only sell so many of these (maybe 200-300 year), we have the holding cost (for the manufacturing money spent), and the cost of the in inventory. In the case of reproducing for a Tri-5 Chevy, where the sales demand is much higher than say, a 72 Impala, there is a cost factor that allows manufacturers to run more in and bring the cost down. Unfortunately, in many cases, the quality is not maintained in higher volume - all in the name of lowering costs. So as you can see, there is a lot involved in the manufacture of for your cars! Shop for Chevelle at www.EcklersChevelle.com Follow us on our Chevelle Facebook Click here and Like us!