Quote:
Originally Posted by mgarblik
Are D-Port and/or round port long branch manifolds in the works or are we looking at years down the road? .
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I do not think there are any plans by anyone to do the round port long branch manifolds. I was surprised to see the D-port long branch ones not available. If something happened to the tooling, that would explain the long delay and maybe a nail in the coffin. While we've been out of the retail business for almost 6 years now, when we were PY and one of the top 3 Pontiac parts suppliers, those long branch manifolds only sold about 15-20 times a year. So add up the top 3 plus some ebay and amazon retailers and you are looking at well under 100 pairs per year. Tooling cost to make them are in the range of $30,000. It's not practical to run less than 500 pairs especially in the USA. Then the cost of the castings at the Foundry and machining at around $100/pair that's another $50,000. Then they need to be coated so they don't rust when they get damp. Add in some heavy duty boxes and transportation costs. Your well over $80k up front investment for the sales of a generous estimate of 100 sets per year at an absolute maximum of $300/set (wholesale). That's a 3 year beak even. Not many business's are going to make that investment at this late stage of our hobby.