OT - Porsche parts are cheap
03-20-2009, 12:56 AM
#16
Rennlist Member
Quite honestly my sights are more focused on a (new production) Yak-3 or Yak-9, which can be had for roughly 20% of the cost of a Spitfire, with somehwat lower operating costs, due mainly to hull insurance rates and use of an Allison engine vs. a Merlin.
But yes, a new garage/workshop, and selling my company, are currently in the way of that purchase!
But yes, a new garage/workshop, and selling my company, are currently in the way of that purchase!
03-20-2009, 01:42 PM
#18
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Finding vintage parts for rare cars is expensive. There was a guy around the corner of my house that used to restore Packard's he ended up closing shop because parts were so hard to come by.
I make replacement parts for all sorts of vintage cars. I recently did some brass work for a 1904 Cadillac and the castings alone were outrageously expensive. When you only have an original to work off of it is bad enough if you have to create tooling it can cost thousands before you even get a usable part.
Most of the time the customer brings me the last known existing part and we make copies from that. It is quite difficult to get it right since you have to compensate for shrinkage.
Here are some pictures of some castings I made for the ultra rare Alfa Typo 33. This car was featured on Victory by Design and said to be one of the most significant cars in racing history since it won racing against both Porsche and Ferrari.
The original castings were damaged and are magnesium. The cost was high to reproduce just the castings alone. Machining the very rough casting was considerably more. So NOS or Vintage is a lot cheaper than trying to fabricate from little or nothing. Either way try finding these parts.
The yellow parts showing are my parts along with the valve covers not shown.
I make replacement parts for all sorts of vintage cars. I recently did some brass work for a 1904 Cadillac and the castings alone were outrageously expensive. When you only have an original to work off of it is bad enough if you have to create tooling it can cost thousands before you even get a usable part.
Most of the time the customer brings me the last known existing part and we make copies from that. It is quite difficult to get it right since you have to compensate for shrinkage.
Here are some pictures of some castings I made for the ultra rare Alfa Typo 33. This car was featured on Victory by Design and said to be one of the most significant cars in racing history since it won racing against both Porsche and Ferrari.
The original castings were damaged and are magnesium. The cost was high to reproduce just the castings alone. Machining the very rough casting was considerably more. So NOS or Vintage is a lot cheaper than trying to fabricate from little or nothing. Either way try finding these parts.
The yellow parts showing are my parts along with the valve covers not shown.
03-20-2009, 01:54 PM
#19
Rennlist Member
Very cool - is this a full time profession, or something (else) you do in your spare time? Can you share some info or links on the company and the type of projects/products? I have picked up a few (questionable quality) rough castings of some parts for the Packard - taillight stantions, trim pieces - that are going to take a Lot of work to finish for plating. I'll do that in my spare time.
