[RA1John]

My recent experience...

Bought an M&H Dash Wiring Harness for dad's 64 GTO.
Went to connect the connector to Ignition Switch and one of the plastic connector tabs broke off while sliding it over/onto the rim of the Ignition Switch. Fortunately, I have a few spare harnesses and was able to re-use an original connector (which is a much softer/stronger plastic). Also noted that silk-screen printing on repro Fuse Box is weak/thin/degraded compared to 48 yr old original.

REPRO SHEET METAL OBSERVATION:
A friend who does top-notch restorations has shown me several repro fenders & doors with major stamping/forming/size issues. Very weak character lines (soft; not crisp as originals).
Repro company reply: "Practically every panel on every car varied 40yrs ago; It's impossible to get everything right and match all body lines." I realize fit & finish 40 yrs ago was not like it is today however, I'm pretty sure the form or character lines was pretty consistent. Here's what I think is the root-cause for soft character lines and gap-fit problems w/most repro sheet metal: Major suppliers buy up the remaining NOS sheet metal and use these as molds for the repro stuff. Problem with this is, most NOS sheet metal was stamped 10-15 yrs AFTER the production version of that part and dies lose their 'crisp' edges. I once had an NOS '64 GTO Hood that was purchased in the early 70s from GM. The center character line was horrible; Crest Emblem had a huge gap when installed.

SUGGESTION: Use original, production level sheet metal when making dies and verify with original examples BEFORE you sell the parts.

If a company is going to the trouble of making a reproduction part, how about investing a little bit of research, quality control and verification BEFORE you sell the parts? Sure, we're desparate for parts but not it they require more work than making an original work.

Do it right or don't do it at all.