Chinese Reproduction Shell - Discussion &Poll

[rsjohn1]

Main reason John is to get an idea of other peoples opinions ,,Some like the thought of a nice escort and entertain repo parts while others will only have one if 100% genuine

Some seem to like the idea and others totally poo hoo the idea

Hence a poll to see if there is a general opinion from members

Yes Alan I get that your looking for others opinions, However i'm not getting why I for one certainly don't consult the rest of the street when trying to decide on a colour off carpet for the living room.

John

[merlinr1]

Carpet in living room , show off ! Lol

[RS2000EXPRESS]

I myself am struggling to see the need for such a poll, so I began to ask myself why is it that Alan feels a poll is valid to him. so i'm asking do you struggle with decisions ,or are you a little unsure about the finer details of a shells pressings dimples tooling marks and correctness ect from factory in relation to these new Reproduction shells as a comparable.

The reason i'm asking, is that very question mark over the need for such a poll.
We all on here are a wealth off knowledge collectively but as said to air anything regarding these could release the bull from behind the gate.

Again Alan these are my simple questions in relation too the need for such a poll.

But in relation to your questions, I myself would not entertain one as I like things to be genuine Ford.

Regards John

Hi John, The trouble I see with trying to get everything Ford for your car is that it's getting more difficult to find original bits as time goes on and sooner than later aftermarket parts will be the only choice we have. If you drive your car on the road then there is always the chance of being in some kind of accident as happened to me some years ago which I needed a rear panel and bumper. I managed to get an NOS panel ok, but I might not be so lucky if this kind of thing happened again. If my shell had been destroyed and these shells are as good as original then I would not hesitate about buying one and getting the car back on the road again. I don't care about whether all the parts are original, as long as they are quality parts and that is what counts to me, a little Ford stamp missing from it would not bother me! I don't care about the resale value either as the car is for me to enjoy driving and not in selling to someone else for a handsome profit!

The trouble is that these shells have landed from nowhere and nobody seems to know a thing about them! Who are the manufacturers and what do they say about them to convince us to buy them???????? .....also where is all the data, thickness of metal, comparisons with original Ford shells etc?????

Tim

[cdeane74]

if your own shell is that far gone that u need to spend hours of labour and alot of money on separate reproduction panels, then why not buy a completed shell?! yes its not a ford one but then neither are the panels u can get from various places.
in a perfect world, ford would do them, but they dont so these are an alternative if thats what u want to spend ur money on.

[katana]

The trouble is that these shells have landed from nowhere and nobody seems to know a thing about them! Who are the manufacturers and what do they say about them to convince us to buy them???????? .....also where is all the data, thickness of metal, comparisons with original Ford shells etc?????

They've hardly 'just appeared' - the rumour mill has been buzzing for about two years with a bare shell picture about a year ago and a collection of shipped shells 3 or 4 months ago. The guys that have stumped up the money are a Breakers / car builders in Irish Republic and I don't think anyone has grasped that they were primarily intended for rally car prep. If you accept that fact - they are what they are. I doubt they are unsafe and probably no worse than an original 70/80's Ford. The other rumour was that these guys bought the collection of original Ford panels that some German guy had collected - a complete car's worth in pieces and these have been used to manufacture the press tooling - how true this is guesswork!

[RS2000EXPRESS]

They've hardly 'just appeared' - the rumour mill has been buzzing for about two years with a bare shell picture about a year ago and a collection of shipped shells 3 or 4 months ago. The guys that have stumped up the money are a Breakers / car builders in Irish Republic and I don't think anyone has grasped that they were primarily intended for rally car prep. If you accept that fact - they are what they are. I doubt they are unsafe and probably no worse than an original 70/80's Ford. The other rumour was that these guys bought the collection of original Ford panels that some German guy had collected - a complete car's worth in pieces and these have been used to manufacture the press tooling - how true this is guesswork!

Yes well we've had pictures ok but hardly anything else to tell us whether they are fit for a restoration or not! The pictures are of no great detail so tell us very little. If you say they are no worse than a 70's or 80's Ford then it appears that you are saying that they are as good???.....but if you say that they are produced to a standard just for rallying then are we wasting out time considering them as an answer to our restoration dreams????

If they are to rally standard then there is a limited market for them, so why get so far and not improve on the idea to bring them on that 1% or so to a standard suitable for the BIGGER MARKET of restorations too???? = more profits!!!!!!

Tim

[grum]

...................... I for one certainly don't consult the rest of the street when trying to decide on a colour off carpet for the living room.

John

.......... what colour did you go for in the end son ???? ....... i heard the neighbours don't like it

[katana]

Yes well we've had pictures ok but hardly anything else to tell us whether they are fit for a restoration or not! The pictures are of no great detail so tell us very little. If you say they are no worse than a 70's or 80's Ford then it appears that you are saying that they are as good???.....but if you say that they are produced to a standard just for rallying then are we wasting out time considering them as an answer to our restoration dreams????

If they are to rally standard then there is a limited market for them, so why get so far and not improve on the idea to bring them on that 1% or so to a standard suitable for the BIGGER MARKET of restorations too???? = more profits!!!!!!

Tim

Without seeing the construction its difficult to say what they are like but as a complete shell i'd hazard an opinion that they are likely safer than a collection of badly welded and piecemeal repaired panels! I'd feel a damn sight safer in a rally prepped shell than some of the DIY welded cars i've seen.
I think you mistake the size of the restoration market for new shells against Rallying in Ireland. It's virtually a national past-time and escorts still make up significant numbers of clubman cars - probably more than all the road cars in this country and plenty get wrecked.

[Duratec John]

They've hardly 'just appeared' - the rumour mill has been buzzing for about two years with a bare shell picture about a year ago and a collection of shipped shells 3 or 4 months ago. The guys that have stumped up the money are a Breakers / car builders in Irish Republic and I don't think anyone has grasped that they were primarily intended for rally car prep. If you accept that fact - they are what they are. I doubt they are unsafe and probably no worse than an original 70/80's Ford. The other rumour was that these guys bought the collection of original Ford panels that some German guy had collected - a complete car's worth in pieces and these have been used to manufacture the press tooling - how true this is guesswork!

If it was the case that they were primarily intended for rally car prep. Surely there would have been more prep work done in China, and the vendor would have built a Rally car and not the Green road car as a marketing tool. A lot of the Rally boys have a good shell or two on stock just in case.

[morcheen]

If it was the case that they were primarily intended for rally car prep. Surely there would have been more prep work done in China, and the vendor would have built a Rally car and not the Green road car as a marketing tool. A lot of the Rally boys have a good shell or two on stock just in case.

a very good point about as to why a road car has been built ,can only be to show potential customers the shells are ok for rally and road use,which i have no reason to think otherwise,just need dvla to confirm how they will classify them and if insurance companys will insure them.boring to some but wouldn't be if you were denied a claim .

[hally]

They look ok, a good way to reshell your car if it's rotten! ��

[alancdavis]

Yet still so many negative comments

[thedman]

Yet still so many negative comments

Are you going to keep starting threads and polls until you eliminate them?

[pushrod]

I know a car that has been reshelled into one and it has went through its MOT without any problems.
The MOT in NI is completely government run, with their own garages and inspectors.
If its gone thu one of those inspections it's fit for the road.

[alancdavis]

Good to hear