OK, OK, don't get too excited - First, I'm not certian that I'll go through with this, but I've found some expertise that may make this possible. Second, I'm not looking to make any money here, just to facilitate something we all seem to want (I get paid in the experience gained!).

Talking to a friend at work yesterday, we were on the topic of racing, the movie The Fast and the Furious, and body designs. He mentioned that he had a hood made for a Mustang that he races, and I asked him if the shop could do urathane-derivative castings (the plastic and the process to make a body kit). He said yes, they do it all the time. If I provide a design, they'll make the mold and the parts. I chated with my dad (a plastics engineer) and discussed my idea. He said it was possible, but he was uncertian on what the mold costs would run (guessing $30,000 - $60,000 for a cast mold, $500,000+ for an injection mold). Casting is an excellent way to do low volume production, and very feasable for this purpose.

I'm able to produce the mold designs, I just need to figure out what to make it look like. I seem to see a lot of desire for a SEMA influenced design. Does anyone have some high-quality pics available? Multiple angles are preferred. Is a front kit enough, or is the interest only there if a complete body kit is available?

If a mold runs $60,000, I could see making a front kit available in the neighborhood of $500 - $700 (unpainted), but we'd need at least 150 people. This could be the ultimate hurdle.

Feedback is appreciated.

Jason

 

With the possibility of an optional body kit with the 2003 CL, I'd say hold off until we know for sure whether or not there will be one available. If there is one, I'm getting it (same with fogs ). If there isn't one, I would be interested in a SEMA-like kit, as long as it was all four parts (not just front), and someone knowledgeable around here gave their opinion on pros/cons for cast vs. injection molding.

 

That is another concern I had, forgot to mention it. Also, if the CL gets re-designed for '04, that would be another reason not to do the kit.

...and someone knowledgeable around here gave their opinion on pros/cons for cast vs. injection molding.

I'm not too concerned. I'm pretty familiar w/ plastics manufacturing, so if someone wants to discuss, by all means - I'm not trying to hide anything . My cards are on the table. The general problem with using casting for mass production (tens if not hundreds of thousands of units per mold) is that more hand-finishing is required with casting than with an injection mold. I won't say all, but the after-market kits of had a chance to touch have been cast, not injection molded.