Cutlass Convertible Seals - preliminary invetigation

[rjOlds]

I have been in contact with a custom plastic and rubber company and they said it would be possible for them to manufacture new rubber seals if we can provide 2 samples of the items we need. I asked about the following items:

A-Pillar seals
Top Seal
Windshield seal
Window Sweeps (front and rear)

I was told that we would need a minimum order or 1000 (yes 1000) to make it cost effective as the upfront tooling charges are the issue.

We would not have more definitive pricing unless/until we can send a set of the parts to the company for them to inspect (and in some cases destroy as the A-Pillar seal would need to be cut in sections for them to get the profile for example). So anything we send we would not get back. This means we need donor parts, and for production they would need 2 sets, the original for inspection and the second for quality control.

A rough estimate on the total cost of those parts would likely be in the $250 range in a 1000 quantity. The sweeps drive the cost up due to the metal/rubber components, if we leave those out, the cost for the other seals is estimated at $120.

So the question is do we think we can find enough convertible owners to make this possible?

Feel free to post comments and/or suggestions (including other parts you think we should consider). Otherwise please answer the poll above so it is easier to count. Posting yes now does not mean you need to pay anything at this point, I am just trying to find out if this is financially possible. In the future we will have to get firm commitments from people to actually place the order.

[jeremy]

IMHO you would much better of ponying up the $250 yourself for the initial 1000pc run and selling them on here and eBay for a reasonable, yet very profitable price. You would recoup your initial investment in no time at all and make very very good profit on the lot.

[MemphisMan]

Thanks for looking into this. I wouldn't even begin to be able to tell you if you could get 1000 commitments to order 1000 sets, but my gut tells me no. They could probably sell 1000 sets over the next 10-20 years, but I just don't think you could get 1000 vert owners to roger up that kind of money today.

I would be interested in having a spare set though, so only 999 more people to go. I would be willing to set aside the $250 to include the sweeps also.

[MemphisMan]

It sounds like he needs a commitment from 1000 people to get the $250 price, so anyone doing what you're suggesting would need to pony up $250k of their own money.

[jeremy]

It sounds like he needs a commitment from 1000 people to get the $250 price, so anyone doing what you're suggesting would need to pony up $250k of their own money.

I misread. I thought he said $250 for 1000 sets LOL

[MemphisMan]

Yeah, I'd do it for $250 lol

[rjOlds]

Another possibility would be to actually do a smaller run but the tooling costs would be folded into the pricing. My understanding is that the tooling costs are refunded after 1000 units. The tooling would cost anywhere from $150 to $1500 depending on the individual parts (and we wouldn't know for sure until they saw the parts). Straight rubber parts are cheaper, unlike the sweeps with the metal in them.

Waiting for a call back to see if I understood that correctly, if so, it would increase the cost per set by the total amount of the tooling divided by the number of participants. For 100 people we may be looking at an increase of $25-$50. I will know better once I hear from the company.

Keep in mind that the costs estimates are hopefully somewhat on the high side as well as I was given ballpark estimates as they do not know what the parts look like in cross-section and are just going by their prior experience.

[jeremy]

In all honesty you will be very lucky to even get 10-20 people to commit and put up the $.

[rjOlds]

Lol. I figured that might happen, but I can always hope. Besides if I can get updated figures on the tooling I may be able to get the prices worked out better.

So far no major leaks for me (yet). Although my passenger A pillar recently split so I am working out a repair for it. First attempt will be black silicone adhesive.

I am just happy to have my car running again after 18 months of it not moving (needed an engine rebuild, it turns out the crankshaft was toast, what was the original owner doing to this poor car?).

[94 olds vert]

I don't think there is a big demand for new parts for these cars. It would be nice if someone would remake them and sell them. But most people who own these cars unfortunately don't give to craps about them. You would be much better off only making 50-100. Even at that low of a production run you would still have left over inventory that you would never sell.

[pshojo]

1000 would be good. Even if we didn't buy all of them there are plenty of other vert people interested out there.

[pshojo]

That isn't bad price. Every convertible I've had that was more than 5 years old I've replaced seals. Just simply for wind and rain purposes. Huge difference

[GOT2B GM]

Hold on, let me remortgage my house.

[j_mezz]

For a point of reference, I've sold about 60 pairs of dome light switches. I'd buy a couple of set of whatever you wound up getting made though, but I suspect that you'd be looking at selling something less than 60 sets...

[GOT2B GM]

Also I've sold about 10 sets of my $40 quarter weatherstrips