Do you think repro parts needs improving?

[jonathon]

That is correct Bill , one molding but with a kevlar skin, which I presume blends to some degree with the rubber.
Kevin, sorry to use your good name as an example but to me this train of thought does bear some truth.
There used to be good quality parts i.e Henric 'panels which were very good in shape and fit plus they used real steel, LMC were to some extent the 'poor 'relation. With the demise of Henric<LMC were promoted to 'best', and the C.Ware panels became the poor relation. Heritage in my view sit somewhere in between depending of the actual part. So to answer Frank we still do have a choice of cheap and more expensive, its just that the level of quality has be lowered significantly.
Frank you are also correct in saying that bodyshops will charge to have a panel fit correctly, once it has been made the correct shape.
We accept that there will always be an amount of fitting discrepancy from original to replacement parts, however this has now escalated to almost re assembling some parts like front wings to achieve an original look and fit.
Individual suppliers are doing a massive amount of development and re introduction of 'lost' parts, all at significant cost

[FrankM83]

yes that's what I was saying john that in the end if you pay less for a poor quality part it would still be expensive to make it fit! So what we really ened is a better than we have quality panels! are you saying there are better suppliers then the so called genuine? and what happened to the Henrics machinery? all lost I presume!

[jonathon]

No , believe it or not LMC had most of it, but did not realise that most panels were hand finished.
It's true to say that some panels are more acceptable than others. There are no genuine panels made now as the tooling is either beyond its working life or has been re-tooled , but not to the exacting standards we deserve. Door skins being one example, the once sharp moldings are now radiused due to wear in the tooling.
The only panels available mainstream are Heritage, LMC and C.Wares the first two, are much alike but with LMC probably edging it overall, despite the now dreadful front wings. C.Wares I do not like , due to the poor looking hand finish and poor quality steel and general poor fit of anything but a flat panel.

[rayofleamington]

wouldn't it be nice that there would be a cheap spares and a more expensive spares for someone to make a choice!

The problem is, that there is no way of knowing if either are good! High price does not mean good - some people just use prices as a way of assuring the customer that they are 'dealing with the best' but not actually having any relationship to good quality. With the inability to make an informed choice, there is little justification to pay more (due to the risk of getting the same parts for a higher price).

Fortunately the club is at last looking into standards in a working party - I wish I'd been available for their meetings as I'd love to contribute more

[FrankM83]

IT's nice to hear the club is working to get better parts!!!

[jonathon]

Frank, Ray, yes it is but it would be better if the working party meet more often and have' much 'more support. There have been 3 (happy to be corrected) meetings since last years AGM, and in terms of actually getting anything solid to work with we have only moved on at a snails pace.
This group needs to meet more often and be better supported, its the same folk at every meeting and we have yet to numbered more than 10 members ( happy to be corrected on this). I know its voluntary, but the pace and urgency must be raised in order to achieve any meaningful outcome.
The main point with any decision is, that the trade be included at the earliest possible stage to help form a strategy for better service and application for better parts. The club needs the trade on their side and must not formulate their own strategy independently then try and impose this on the trade.
Ray, the poll question is 'Are you willing to pay more for better parts?', so we are assuming a improved quality.
Might be a good idea to run a different poll asking which parts folk have had problems with, this could then be offered to the working party. mind, it would require more participation than this thread has received to be of any meaningful use.

[Judge]

The main point with any decision is, that the trade be included at the earliest possible stage to help form a strategy for better service and application for better parts. The club needs the trade on their side and must not formulate their own strategy independently then try and impose this on the trade.
Ray, the poll question is 'Are you willing to pay more for better parts?', so we are assuming a improved quality.
Might be a good idea to run a different poll asking which parts folk have had problems with, this could then be offered to the working party. mind, it would require more participation than this thread has received to be of any meaningful use.

I couldn't agree more Jonathon. As a matter of interest, do you know what is happening about this at the moment?

[jonathon]

Not heard a thing since the National. I know Andrew must be busy with the organisation of the 08 National, but this subject must be addressed quickly and thoroughly.

[rayofleamington]

This group needs to meet more often and be better supported, its the same folk at every meeting and we have yet to numbered more than 10 members ( happy to be corrected on this). I know its voluntary, but the pace and urgency must be raised in order to achieve any meaningful outcome.

I know the first 2 were publicised on here, and I may have missed a notice about the 3rd. If I can find out the date of next one/s then I'm hoping they don't clash with anything I can't change or avoid.