Duster Rear Window Louvers

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400 seems a little steep. I would get them likely, eventually, but it may be a few years later. I had seen fiberglass snorkel scoops and the like for 200, so I was expecting about that.
 
even the vfn scoops are 110.00 plus shipping. in fact i am going to email them right now with a link to this thread.
 
I just caught up with this thread.. R & D along with mold making for mass quatities of materials (louvers) are what is so costly. Typical injection mold making (forming the mold to exact specs to extrude the perfect piece time after time) is generally in the 8 to 10K price range just for start up. That doesn't include the formulation of the plastic, poly, ABS, or whatever type of material used. I know this because of some of the products my company makes have to have new molds made for new improved products. So that being said, fiberglass would be the next alternative in my humble opinion. If some one can make the molds out of rubber or a hardened material for a large volume run of pieces, the overall cost would be less to the maker would be minimal. Even if he/she had to run 1 set at a time to fill orders. Just my thoughts....
19..
 
I'm hip to anything that works, just wanted to keep it real so imaginations wouldn't run over the wallets.. That being said, I think thin guage sheet metal would be just as good as anything else as long as it looks good...
 
Gawd! I can't believe there is 10 pages of responses.... Even factory louvers look horrible let alone homemade ones. Yikes! I think the only car they look half decent on is a MACH 1. Just flipping through this thread has made my mullet grow 3 inch....
 
Dart Sport 360 said:
I think the only car they look half decent on is a MACH 1. Just flipping through this thread has made my mullet grow 3 inch....
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is that a good thing or a bad thing? lol :supz:

i havent heard back from VFN and honestly i dont think i will. 10 pages and no progress as of yet. not to be mr negative but i dont think we are going to be able to get any support from any kind of big fabrication company. but my hopes havent completely diminished. :D
 
ok, not to dampen this party any, but i spoke with Gean Gregory today and after asking him about Duster Rear Window Louvers, he said, "That ain't gonna happen". We talked about 15 minutes, and what he was telling me is that it would cost him between $10,000-$15,000 to get set up (basically what has already been said on here). He said the only way he would even consider making them, is if he had at least 50-70 committed buyers upfront. By committed, he means that the money is paid upfront on the louvers, as he told me that most are interested until the time comes to pay. Just what I thought. He kinda ran into the same thing with the Road Runner and Charger louvers, but they do sell slowly. He said even at this point, he has only gotten back about half his initial investment at this point. He mentioned that they would be made out of T90 I think he said, and would fit good. He would need a Duster sitting in his shop to build them, but assured me they would fit correctly, and be a quality item. Cost per set would run $1000-$1500, so I guess right now, that is just a rough estimate. He says he does not see it being realistic, because although enough guys seem interested getting them to step forward isn't going to happen! I told him if by chance there is at least 50 guys who will commit to the purchase, I will call him back. He said just what I thought he would say. Our best bet is to find something that airkiller can work with, and let him try it. At this point, the only viable option I see right now is $1100 set.
 
I know people who used to make resin molds for model kits. It was /not/ that expensive for them. Why couldn't we just use that? Surely fiberglass resin is strong enough, or even the aluminum. That way, it's more man-hours than actual cost.

I /really/ wish I had the startup cash, cause I would be all over this. As far as I've seen/understand, it's not hard. I had the guy explain the process to me before.

Personally, I think sheet metal ones would look just fine as well.
 
I forgot to mention that Gean said that the rear quarter window louvers were even less likely, as the cost would be about the same to get set up and make them. he said you would never get enough committed buyers to make that happen. The fiberglass guy I spoke with kinda just shook his head no on both items. :(
 
moparmusclecars said:
ok, not to dampen this party any, but i spoke with Gean Gregory today and after asking him about Duster Rear Window Louvers, he said, "That ain't gonna happen". We talked about 15 minutes, and what he was telling me is that it would cost him between $10,000-$15,000 to get set up (basically what has already been said on here). He said the only way he would even consider making them, is if he had at least 50-70 committed buyers upfront. By committed, he means that the money is paid upfront on the louvers, as he told me that most are interested until the time comes to pay. Just what I thought. He kinda ran into the same thing with the Road Runner and Charger louvers, but they do sell slowly. He said even at this point, he has only gotten back about half his initial investment at this point. He mentioned that they would be made out of T90 I think he said, and would fit good. He would need a Duster sitting in his shop to build them, but assured me they would fit correctly, and be a quality item. Cost per set would run $1000-$1500, so I guess right now, that is just a rough estimate. He says he does not see it being realistic, because although enough guys seem interested getting them to step forward isn't going to happen! I told him if by chance there is at least 50 guys who will commit to the purchase, I will call him back. He said just what I thought he would say. Our best bet is to find something that airkiller can work with, and let him try it. At this point, the only viable option I see right now is $1100 set.
Click to expand...

If he wants 1,500 per set, with at least 50 people paying up front for a product they've never seen that will cost him 10-15k to set up, he's damn right not enough people will step up. /someone/ is being unrealistic, but I don't think it's the consumer in that case. He'd have, minimum 50k cash, up front, to attempt to make something that will cost him 10k+mats.

:p I'd much rather see one of our own work on it, on a case-by-case basis.
 
airkiller, couldn't you just use pics on the thread, and have a Duster on hand and pre-fab something and go from there? I don't think it will be possible to find a rear louver to get dimensions off of for you. I think this is going to have to be a trial deal, until something is made and looks decent. I'd be happy with either metal or fiberglass. Either way, there will be a good amount of work involved. As far as ever having committed buyers, I don't see it happening either. Everyone wants a set for their Dusters, but I can't see that many people stepping up to buy, unfortunately.
 
hmmm... there has to be a way. personally, they just arent worth 1000 bucks to me unless they were made specifically for a duster. and honestly , these days , throwing out that kind of money with out any kind of gaurantee just isnt going to happen
 
I dunno about the rear louvers. As for the sides? I want them. I want them /really/ bad. The mockups we were shown looked superb on the cars. If they're 200 or so, i'd be getting them within the year. 400+? I'll have to wait a bit... But eventually, I will be getting some/buying some/making some.
 
I don't know that he necessarily expected to have the money in his pocket, but in some fashion he would need to be guaranteed at least 50 sales before he would start. Yeah, I agree I would rather see one of our own make them, in this case. Only other option now I see is what I mentioned, buy one at $1100.00 and modify it how someone wants.
 
It's just more practical. This is a close knit sites of fanatics of a certain type of car. We know what we want. And we get what we want. There's not enough of us to affect mass consumer markets, or else the new dart would be retro-styled :3

However, I think there's enough of a niche market that a craftsman here could carve him a nice little piece of pie, while doing something he loves, and supporting a hobby he enjoys.
 
That's another problem with this stuff. I would buy both, but it would depend on the prices. I don't see us getting anything decent for 200.00, honestly. I hope my thinking is wrong. I would think more like 350.00-400.00 a set.
 
And that's pretty reasonable, really. But at that price, it's going to be lower on my list than a few other items :3

At 200, it's at the top. Almost above paint.
 
i can live without the rears and possibly fab up some metal ...but the side louvers is what im really after here. once you stand there and see that cardboard mock-up on the window, it just WORKS like you cant believe. you really have to see it in person to take in how cool it really looks..
 
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