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baffle plate

Started by rumb, 27 January 2016, 07:47 AM

daantjie

That would be a bit too rich for my blood personally.
How about making a mold then pouring in resin type substance?
Daniel
1977 450 SEL 6.9 - Astralsilber

floyd111

Let me unpack my freshly arrived pallets and show my baffle to the workshop boss, who is presently producing 911 body parts in carbon and glassfiber. He may know a solution as to how to keep prices down. That said.. it is 2017. Inflation has been a bastard over the last decade or 2. Rumb's 450usd for a custom-made part of that size is pretty much a price that can be expected, and good value for money. Even if I could beat that price..without molds and small mass-production, I would think it will be very hard to get to 350usd a piece.

daantjie

Maybe so on the price but shipping will be a mofo on a piece this size. Not trying to get something for nothing of course but I would be surprised if folks clamour to fork out that kind of dough on a part so easily damaged. Just my 2c.
Daniel
1977 450 SEL 6.9 - Astralsilber

floyd111

You guys are more into 6.9's then I am, so I am not sure about demand from that group. I would not suggest anyone enter that arena for profit. It's likely this baffle isn't going to be enough of a seller to allow for affordable production -and profit.
It could, however be a solution for fanatics. That specific part is a very visible one on a car, and NOS is beyond rare at this point. What else is left but to pay the piper?

tcj

Hi Rumb,

I think the prices you got where so high that they are not acceptable for most 6.9 owners.
But I think it makes sense to search for other 3D printers as this should be possible for much
lower prices. Or wait until prices drop in the future.

Shipping costs could be reduced for this forum if all baffle plates for forum members in e.g. great britain are
sent in one package to one member and are forwarded locally.
112.021
113.042
116.028
116.036

rumb

Concerning determining selling price, what do you guys think is reasonable profit on investing @$5000 up front, plus @ 1-2 hours labor per part? plus coming up with suitable packing materials.  I do wish to provide this, but at some compensation for my investment.  I would  need to spend $800 in scanning and design work before they will even price the part for me. they say it  will take 15 hours to print each one.

A real business would be looking for 40-50 profit margin.  - I am willing to work for waaay less as I would like to be a service to the 6.9 community, but this is an unobtanium part that 70-80% of 6.9's are missing.

Or put another way, what would you be willing to spend?

The few originals that have been spotted were $3-400 I think. Stan is this correct?
'68 250S
'77 6.9 Euro
'91 300SE,
'98 SL500
'14 CLS550,
'16 AMG GTS
'21 E450 Cabrio

s class

3D printing is usually costed by the hour.  And a part that size will take a long time to print, I'm not surprised at the 15 hour estimate.  My experience with 3D printing is that it IS expensive for larger items.

Personally I would be surprised if you could get the price as low as 500US each. 


[color=blue]'76 6.9 Euro[/color], [color=red]'78 6.9 AMG[/color], '80 280SE, [color=brown]'74 350SE[/color], [color=black]'82 500SEL euro full hydro, '83 500SEL euro full hydro [/color], '81 500SL

tcj

So it would make sense to produce it using spray casting ("Spritzgussmaschine") like the VDH has done it in china
to reproduce wire covers for the W108-W112 recently.

http://forum.mercedesclub.de/index.php/Thread/15903-Nachfertigung-Abdeckungen-Kunststoffleiste-W108-109-im-Kofferraum/?postID=132732#post132732

But you will need higher quantities to get the prices down.
112.021
113.042
116.028
116.036

UTn_boy

Quote from: tcj on 23 August 2017, 09:31 AM
So it would make sense to produce it using spray casting ("Spritzgussmaschine") like the VDH has done it in china
to reproduce wire covers for the W108-W112 recently.

http://forum.mercedesclub.de/index.php/Thread/15903-Nachfertigung-Abdeckungen-Kunststoffleiste-W108-109-im-Kofferraum/?postID=132732#post132732

But you will need higher quantities to get the prices down.

Looks like this fella missed out....I had these reproduced in late 2015/early 2016, along with a few other W108 parts that are NLA.  I gave up after the first batch due to no demand, and the ones that were interested bitched and complained about the $127 price for them.  I simply can't believe how stingy and greedy people are when it comes to a cars that they likely already have more in than they'll ever be worth. 
1966 250se coupe`,black/dark green leather
1970 600 midnight blue/parchment leather
1971 300sel 6.3,papyrus white/dark red leather
1975 450se, pine green metallic/green leather
1973 300sel 4.5,silver blue metallic/blue leather
1979 450sel 516 red/bamboo

daantjie

#54
Guys, not to belabor the point, but as always something is worth what someone is willing to pay for it.  I agree that if you have a truly mint specimen, or you have restored yours as Rumb has done, then of course dropping 500 bucks on that last piece to round off your resto is a no brainer.

For guys like me who are at the daily driver level, it simply does not make sense to drop 500 min plus shipping, plus duties etc. into Canada.  When all is said and done this will be almost 1K CAD for me, way too much, for me.  And truly, it is nice to have, but really, what function does this little piece of plastic REALLY have other than looking spiff?  Maybe I am missing the point, but to drop this kind of coin on a part that will surely get wiped out again does not make sense (or cents ;D) to me.
Daniel
1977 450 SEL 6.9 - Astralsilber

Squiggle Dog

It seems like something that you could just put in a plaster mold (or something) and then mix up a 2-part plastic compound and pour inside the mold to create a new part? I wouldn't think that would be terribly expensive, but I'm not an expert on part production.
Stop paying for animal cruelty and slaughter. Go vegan! [url="https://challenge22.com/"]https://challenge22.com/[/url]

1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Heated Seats, 350,000+

rumb

Thanks guys, I will be examining every alternative I can think of.

'68 250S
'77 6.9 Euro
'91 300SE,
'98 SL500
'14 CLS550,
'16 AMG GTS
'21 E450 Cabrio

floyd111

Quote from: rumb on 23 August 2017, 08:47 AM

The few originals that have been spotted were $3-400 I think. Stan is this correct?

Not far from. I gotta think way back to remember exact details, and I think there were 3 instances over 3 years.
Paranoid eBayer Messalina was cheapest, with a 180 euro offer for a NOS, after which he first refused to export, then refused to sell nationally, then denied he had such a part at all.
I bought mine from the 2 Frenchies in Germany for 250 euros, no negotiation.
The first one I found was an eBay seller as well, think he was asking close to 300usd. Not sure what he ended up accepting. Too long ago, and quickly sold.

Shipping is really part of the problem here, if not properly solved. From my point of view in Taiwan, I would prefer not to buy from the USA, UK or Canada, if there would be a choice in the matter. All 3 postal services are well in the 3-digits for such a sized item. Germany and/or Australia would be better priced.
I am sure those pictures look different for someone living elsewhere. It's not easy to keep everyone happy.

I mentioned this before..Anyone thinking of producing this should at least talk to VDH. They have been asking specifically for this item for years. They may buy a batch of them if satisfied.

UTn_boy

Quote from: daantjie on 23 August 2017, 12:53 PM
Guys, not to belabor the point, but as always something is worth what someone is willing to pay for it.  I agree that if you have a truly mint specimen, or you have restored yours as Rumb has done, then of course dropping 500 bucks on that last piece to round off your resto is a no brainer.

For guys like me who are at the daily driver level, it simply does not make sense to drop 500 min plus shipping, plus duties etc. into Canada.  When all is said and done this will be almost 1K CAD for me, way too much, for me.  And truly, it is nice to have, but really, what function does this little piece of plastic REALLY have other than looking spiff?  Maybe I am missing the point, but to drop this kind of coin on a part that will surely get wiped out again does not make sense (or cents ;D) to me.

...but only to that person.  Just because someone pays $500 for a part doesn't dictate the parts value as a whole around the world. 

Dropping $1,000 on a 6.9, as well as putting more into the cars than they'll ever be worth, is quite normal.  It's just how the game is played whether we can justify it or not.   
1966 250se coupe`,black/dark green leather
1970 600 midnight blue/parchment leather
1971 300sel 6.3,papyrus white/dark red leather
1975 450se, pine green metallic/green leather
1973 300sel 4.5,silver blue metallic/blue leather
1979 450sel 516 red/bamboo

s class

I agree with UTn.   Further, if you are only willing to pay 300 for a part, that does not dictate that someone should be willing to make it for that, or even that is possible to make it for that.


[color=blue]'76 6.9 Euro[/color], [color=red]'78 6.9 AMG[/color], '80 280SE, [color=brown]'74 350SE[/color], [color=black]'82 500SEL euro full hydro, '83 500SEL euro full hydro [/color], '81 500SL