[Goatoligst]

I was just reading an older thread with complaints about window fuzzies and why PUI brand don't fit. First of all I must say that All my experience with PUI is that it is junk. I bought door panels for my 65 GTO. I found them to be poor quality to start with, then when installing them found the rear panel was made about an inch off from lining up with the front. Then I bought the seat covers (also poor quality) and after having them installed I found that they were made wrong with the diagonal lines on the rear seat going the wrong way. and of coarse I couldn't roll up my window after installing a replacement set of "fuzzies" this summer.
What I cannot understand, and maybe someone out there can shed some light on this for me, is why is it that approximately a year after a car is engineered the manufacturer can make (or have made) a perfect fitting part to install and very good quality for the most part, and manufacturers of re pop parts, having an old part to work with, cannot make a suitable part even after sometimes 10 years of trying. Good example is rear tail panel for 65 GTO. The Parts Place has been working on it for at least 10 years. Nothing is close to original for fit and finish. I had the same experience with outside mirrors flopping around, antennas,pedal trim and the list goes on.

[60sstuff]

I am fortunate that I have many OEM parts on the shelf from 3+ decades of collecting, but the few repro items I've tried in the past may as well go in the garbage!!! It baffles me as to why almost "everything" repro is junk that does not fit or function as it should? If you are going to tool up from an original sample than make the item like the original sample! Very frustrating for the guys doing restorations. Sad.

[gto_ron]

I've had mixed results with the repop parts. The 64 rear tail light panels are near OEM quality. The Legendary Interior I used is top quality. The PUI window sweeps were junk. Unfortunately the quantity of good used parts is shrinking, at least for 64s.

regards

[klunker]

It's simple, the sellers of repo parts are not willing to pay for quality work. Also I may add I don't think many buyers of parts are willing to pay for quality parts. How much more are you willing to spend to have proper parts?

All repo stuff is made with much smaller quantity of parts than the OEM parts were made in. GM was willing to spend 100K for tooling alone for one part, your repo seller isn't willing to spend 1/4 of that and his manufacturing processes usually are not as good either.

As far as making bad repo parts for years and never improving the quality, there are several reasons for this. It's one or a combination of things that causes that.
Lazy sellers not really caring about what they sell. Sellers may feel that there is very little to no competition for sale, no need to improve the product. It costs money to rework tooling. Some of the low volume production tooling may not even be "re-workable", new tooling maybe required to fix a problem. The lower volume production processes used on some components may not be as conducive to consistent there for quality parts.

Most of the bad repo stuff I have seen just came down to pure crap. I doubt if much of it is ever tested or inspected. My experience in manufacturing with Chinese junk has taught me that just because they do it right one time does not mean it will be made right the next time. They continually "cheat" on specs, materials and anything else they feel they can get away with.

Another issue is its GENERALLY harder to make a part from a sample than from a decent drawing. The original parts usually don't match the print but at least with a print you have an "ideal" to shoot for. When working off an existing part your repo almost never will be an exact match, it will be close, but not exact. Hopefully it will be closer to the original drawings intent but usually its off in the the wrong direction so its even further from the original drawing. The reason for this usually lies in the manufacturing process.

[geeteeohguy]

I was going to ad what Klunker brought up: most of this stuff is "Reverse Engineered" and is not within the tolerances of the original stuff for that reason. Add poor quality materials and cheap labor to keep the cost down, and you have "crap". It's the same with the repro Model T stuff for the old cars.....you're better off with 95 year old original parts made of forged vanadium steel than cast spelter parts from China. In every case. The thing is, most hobbyists won't pay the necessary price of a high quality part without squawking....so it's a tough position. I tend to think that if there is enough of a market for a part, a quality part can be produed to fill the void and satisfy the manufacturer and the end user. The problem is reading the market!

[dld]

I complained to one of the major Pontiac vendors. The spokes person told me I was picker than most and most won't pay the price for higher quality product. He advised me to look for NOS stuff. He did say it all in a respectful way however. I asked a question and got what I thought was the truth.

I responded with my thought that the Pontiac restoration hobby was maturing and they may want to rethink that thought. I feel there are several that post here that are very serious about there restoration .

[440sixpack]

Most of the recent diecast parts and lenses are from Peter Gee, PGclassics. on my mopars I've bought thousands of dollars worth from him. the quality is for the most part good to very good. he is the only one who makes most of what parts he makes, if someone else makes it he won't. like the 65 tail panel, that's him and it's not done yet.

That said his customer service and warranty are nonexistent.

Ledgendary is top notch, if they make it buy it from them .

If anyone needs some 64 tail end stuff or console items look on ebay right now under eparts4cars, Gee listed some on an auction format which he seldom does they might go at a great price.

[bigpop]

As a side note, Tom Wood and I discussed the repop trunk mats at P.O.C.I. this year. It has been a long drawn out discussion. But, at POCI, he went up to a well known vwndor, and asked why they can't make the mats like original? That, since almost everyone uses them in A-Body GM cars, and we are sticklers for correctness, he got
an unresponsive reply. As stated or inferred above, most hobbiests will settle for "close"
Or do not know the difference. But, alot of my buddies are "correctness" freaks, and I can't imagine, that there aren't more like us. I don't think the cost to the manufacturer would be that much more, and, think of all those mats to be sold! Larry B.
p.s. speaking of mats, The 65 mats, of which Tom and I have samples, are not gray,like are sold, but, a discernable aqua color! Nort even close,gggrrr.

[dld]

Originally Posted by 440sixpack

Most of the recent diecast parts and lenses are from Peter Gee, PGclassics. on my mopars I've bought thousands of dollars worth from him. the quality is for the most part good to very good. he is the only one who makes most of what parts he makes, if someone else makes it he won't. like the 65 tail panel, that's him and it's not done yet.

That said his customer service and warranty are nonexistent.

Ledgendary is top notch, if they make it buy it from them .

If anyone needs some 64 tail end stuff or console items look on ebay right now under eparts4cars, Gee listed some on an auction format which he seldom does they might go at a great price.

I did buy the cast tail lamp bezels for my 65 and they are very nice . Not sure who made them.

[bigpop]

Don, the Chinese through P.G. Classics in Canada. Same way the 65 etc.pot metal console pieces came to the market. They do make some very good repops, I must say.
P.G. Classics is basically a MOPAR vendor, their catalogue is full of MOPAR repops, and said to be very good. Larry B.

[440sixpack]

Peter Gee owns PGclassics and he lives in canada. he is mainly Mopar because that's where the void has been for some time. he's filled it pretty well and made show cars out of a lot of mopars that would have been drivers. if you think GTO stuff is expensive try to buy an NOS part for an E body.

Gee has a place on his website you can leave suggestions for parts that need reproduced, I've left him several the last one being '70 AMX grilles. I've never heard back and I probably won't he doesn't care if you live or die you're a dollar sign to him.

He's not a car enthusist he's just running a business, that said if enough people tell him a part is needed he'd probably make it and do a good job.

[PMD1969]

Originally Posted by bigpop

As a side note, Tom Wood and I discussed the repop trunk mats at P.O.C.I. this year. It has been a long drawn out discussion. But, at POCI, he went up to a well known vwndor, and asked why they can't make the mats like original? That, since almost everyone uses them in A-Body GM cars, and we are sticklers for correctness, he got
an unresponsive reply. As stated or inferred above, most hobbiests will settle for "close"
Or do not know the difference. But, alot of my buddies are "correctness" freaks, and I can't imagine, that there aren't more like us. I don't think the cost to the manufacturer would be that much more, and, think of all those mats to be sold! Larry B.
p.s. speaking of mats, The 65 mats, of which Tom and I have samples, are not gray,like are sold, but, a discernable aqua color! Nort even close,gggrrr.

Trunk Mats. I would love to buy a correct molded FB conv trunk mat. Its the same as the hard top but cut differently due to the cocktail shakers and conv well.