Reproduction marker lights

[Majestic]

I am still working on reproduction marker lights and have a couple of questions for yous' guys:

What is most important on the repro. markers to you? In other words, do they have to look exactly like the originals right down to color of the plastic, etc?

The largest cost in getting these reproduced is setting up the molds. One way to avoid this cost is by having the back of the lights be a solid, one piece box instead of the two piece box/molded cup design. The one piece box would have holes instead of tabs, but will still accept stock mounting locations and bulb insert.

The lense material is also somewhat problematic in that it is also a molded design. I can get the same pattern but in a flat (i.e. no outer lip) design.

I hope to have a prototype completed in the next month or so and will provide pictures for you to review. I am still in contact with the original injection molding company, but I am trying to avoid the HUGE cost of having molds designed.

Thanks,

Chris

[bigwingsaleen]

Re: Reproduction marker lights

Originally posted by Majestic
I am still working on reproduction marker lights and have a couple of questions for yous' guys:

Here in Tennessee the proper wording would be........."and have a couple questions for ya'll"

[Majestic]

Yes, here in Arkansas that would be the proper vernacular as well. However, seeing as there are so many Yanks on the board, I thought I would make everyone feel at home

Chris

[cobra0478]

Ya'll,is also proper in Texas.
You's guys sounds kinda , well you know . Gay?
Down here we speak Texan, with a redneck dialect.
Just thought i'd throw that in.
Don

[bigwingsaleen]

Re: Reproduction marker lights

Originally posted by Majestic
What is most important on the repro. markers to you? In other words, do they have to look exactly like the originals right down to color of the plastic, etc?

IMO.........

The most important thing is to make the repo lights affordable. Making them match exactly to the OEM pieces would cost more money and that would carry over to the retail price. Make them look close and affordable...you will sell more pieces and contribute to our hobby greatly! .

Paul Becker at SVP Unlimited reproduced a headlight mounting panel that had long been obsolute from Ford. Not an exact repo
but bottom line is MANY SVO's have been saved from scrap due to his efforts.

[pegasus.v.o]

Majestic,
I agree with Gary, Make them close to original and affordable. I also have a thought for you which, with that design should be easily accomplished with material change. Try offering them in a light smoke version and a clear version like the projector style lights which are so popular for a premium price of course. I think those would sell very well. I think with the availability of fiberglass svo hoods along with reproduction front bumpers that more than a few mustang guys would purchase them just to make a fake svo, so you most likely wont be limited to only svo owners.

[Majestic]

Well, if yall (southern style, yeah!) don't care about the correct lense pattern, (square/grid) then reproducing them in clear/smoke, etc. is easy. As far as that goes, I could possibly get the 85.5/86 flush mount headlights redone in a near original/smoke/clear pattern, too. I would need someone to send me a pair of junk units to do this, though, as I don't have an 85.5/86.

Chris

[SVOeric]

I agree that as long as they look good, no one will complain about a few differences...

I actually prefer that the reproductions not be EXACT duplications.

then that will leave the nos sets out there for the guys doing concourse restorations, (and prices should drop on those as well.

[SVO P51]

Has anyone thought of trying to pull a mold using some of the Hi Temp Fiberglass used in the manufacture of Aircraft Tooling? It would seem that you could vacuum form the lense using a piece of Lexan.

This Idea was given to me by one of the Tooling Guys at work, who is also a fellow "Mustang Fanatic".

Boyd

[svobud]

IMO - at this point and time. I think the people who don't want to spend $1200 per set for lights or to replace their lights would take anything that works. I know I would. As long as it fit the car without looking too goofy.

Owners are currently divided into what I believe is 3 groups.

Originals
Drivers
Racers

Yes, you can be a combination of the 3 - but no matter how you class yourselfm, the majority are looking for something that's affordable that works.

[KevinK]

I'm probably one of the more critical ones on duplicating exactly to the OEM. I would suggest keeping the lens as close as possible to the original. The mounting should be a direct fit. I'm all for adapting other colors to the lens but there might be some legal issues with that. I'm sure the vendor will tell you if there is an issue. It is also important the material quality be as good as or better as the original (this probably has very little impact on the cost). Take my opinion as a half vote as I probably would not buy any unless something tragic happens.

[richsvo]

I agree that making them exact is not necessary. I also would like to throw in that I hope you are referring to BOTH sets of markers. I am definitely in need of a set of inners. (both with slight cracks). The headlights would be awesome, as well.

Just my .02 e-cents...

Rich

[indiana dave]

Chris,
As a plastic mold designer, I don't see why it would be that much more expensive to mold the lens with the outer lip?
Also, i would definately keep the same pattern on the lens.
Making the housing one piece is definaately worth doing to save costs. In the 80's mold technology wasn't as good, and they probably had trouble with deep-draw parts. that's why they went with two pieces.
Nowadays, it's not uncommon to see what used to be 5 pieces now molded as a single component.
And with the improvements in mold steel & plastic materials, you can mold near vertical walls and the part will still eject.
Where might I ask, are you getting quotes to build the molds?
We have a source that can digitize the parts, then we can design the molds & send them to a shop here in Indy to be built.
We could design a pretty economical mold, since these won't likely be high-volume parts.
email me the details please, maybe i can help... My office is very slow right now, so we would take any work we could get... (read: good deals!)

[Majestic]

David,

I am just acting as the "middle man" on this project so you'll have to forgive my ignorance on the technicalities. So far, the best deal I have come across is a plastics reproduction company here locally. They do the majority of their work by flat panel distortion techniques. (I am sure you understand this?) I was told that to have an exact duplicate of the part, they would have to set up a mold for the cup, one for the box and one for the lense; 3 molds in all (6 for both sides) and that the cost to do this would likely make the price prohibitive for anything less than about 5000 copies. Since there aren't 5000 SVO's left (my guess), I can't see making that many lenses. Also, they would still not be exact reproductions because the casting numbers could not be included.

The second idea, that I proposed above, is to have a 2 piece design with the back section being one box and the lense being flat and sealed in place. This option would allow some flexibility with lense design (clear, smoked, etc.) as the box would be the same, just the lense material different. (I actually thought about the inside of the box being mirrored with the yellow bulb... kind of like the new Lexus h.i.d. lights.... here comes the ricer comments ) This option would be FAR less costly and would provide owners the opportunity to customize their vehicles to a certain extent. I know that if I go this route, I would install some repro. lights into both of my SVO's and place the original marker lights on "ice" for a later date.

Richsvo - yes, if I move ahead with this project, I will make BOTH sides. What good would one side be?

I am meeting with another company tomorrow that does injection molding to see if they are interested. They are also a local company and have lost a couple key accounts recently. Therefore, they might be motivated to produce the marker lights, headlights and maybe even the outers! Yippee.

Anywho, I'll let you know as the details develop.

Chris

(Oh, and BTW, I may be looking for someone to sell these things if this comes to fruition. Maybe SVPU or similiar can handle this as I don't really want to be in the carparts biz.)

[SVOeric]

I think ?Rich meant are you working on inner and outter marker lights... not left of right..

so which are you talking about reproducing.. inners or outers or both ?

I hope it does come about.. thanks for the work you have put into this!