crashtech
Combo Man & Mod
I've been having a difficult time convincing some of my customers that it's worth the time to fix an original part versus replacing it with an aftermarket one. On the '68 Camaro I am doing, the right fender for example took about 16 hours to get to the point where it could be considered ready for a final block and paint. I know a lot of guys now that just throw away all the original sheetmetal for these cars and change it out for Taiwan stuff. The aftermarket cowl hood we got for this '68 is not really too bad, and it makes me wonder if I just need to stop insisting on fixing the OEM stuff, since most of it is pretty dang rough. I have to wonder if the hood is of more refined quality because they sell a lot more of them. I am scared to try aftermarket fenders for these musclecars!
On the '70 GTO I am doing, the customer bought an OE fender from a guy who took both fenders off, replaced them with Dynacorn Taiwan units, then finished the car and supposedly sent it to B-J and sold it for a pretty good price. The fender he took off is not really bad at all, it has a pretty big dent but zero rust. I considered it very fixable because nobody has tried to fix it, that is what messes parts up the most, guys drilling holes, pounding and grinding on these poor parts. But even with this pretty decent part, it is likely I will spend close to two days on it as well, between all the metalwork and extra epoxy primer sessions, and poly putty.
Has the quality of aftermarket parts really progressed to the point where they are no longer considered a detriment to the value of the vehicle?
On the '70 GTO I am doing, the customer bought an OE fender from a guy who took both fenders off, replaced them with Dynacorn Taiwan units, then finished the car and supposedly sent it to B-J and sold it for a pretty good price. The fender he took off is not really bad at all, it has a pretty big dent but zero rust. I considered it very fixable because nobody has tried to fix it, that is what messes parts up the most, guys drilling holes, pounding and grinding on these poor parts. But even with this pretty decent part, it is likely I will spend close to two days on it as well, between all the metalwork and extra epoxy primer sessions, and poly putty.
Has the quality of aftermarket parts really progressed to the point where they are no longer considered a detriment to the value of the vehicle?