Chinese Reproduction Shell - Discussion &Poll

[para144]

At least one line of negativity evaporated ....

"New shells will never happen", "People are just dreamers, nobody would invest in the tooling without guaranteed orders", "Ford would never allow it", "It would be illegal to sell new shells without modern crash tests", "it would be too difficult & expensive to have all the panels re made", "they would have to be Q plates",

& other combinations of the above with a few more thrown in!

[RS2000CUSTOM]

At least one line of negativity evaporated ....

"New shells will never happen", "People are just dreamers, nobody would invest in the tooling without guaranteed orders", "Ford would never allow it", "It would be illegal to sell new shells without modern crash tests", "it would be too difficult & expensive to have all the panels re made", "they would have to be Q plates",

& other combinations of the above with a few more thrown in!

Exactly

I feel Higgins (sorry mate I dont even know your name) should be applauded on his efforts and no doubt the sleepless nights associated with what must be a massive financial outlay

Yes for years we have all asked for new shells - well now we have them

Personally I have heard nothing regarding their quality, gaps, parts fitment (eg do parts cross over from a genuine shell to a repro shell) etc etc and until such time as I can make an educated opinion about them then I will wait and see before passing comment

[Miniliteman]

Personally I have heard nothing regarding their quality, gaps, parts fitment (eg do parts cross over from a genuine shell to a repro shell) etc etc and until such time as I can make an educated opinion about them then I will wait and see before passing comment

Other than the green Mk2 we have seen photos of I guess no-one has seen or heard of a re-shell with a Chinese shell. And I guess anyone who bought one will keep quiet as it could cause alot of hassle / problems with DVLA .

[geo16]

Good stuff para144 like your answer to that one

[robrs2]

Other than the green Mk2 we have seen photos of I guess no-one has seen or heard of a re-shell with a Chinese shell. And I guess anyone who bought one will keep quiet as it could cause alot of hassle / problems with DVLA .

Its only a problem if someone hides the fact and does not follow the set out guidelines.

I'm not against the new shells at all. Well done for such a massive undertaking from higgins.

[loydpg]

At least one line of negativity evaporated ....

"New shells will never happen", "People are just dreamers, nobody would invest in the tooling without guaranteed orders", "Ford would never allow it", "It would be illegal to sell new shells without modern crash tests", "it would be too difficult & expensive to have all the panels re made", "they would have to be Q plates",

& other combinations of the above with a few more thrown in!

Exactly

I feel Higgins (sorry mate I dont even know your name) should be applauded on his efforts and no doubt the sleepless nights associated with what must be a massive financial outlay

Yes for years we have all asked for new shells - well now we have them

Personally I have heard nothing regarding their quality, gaps, parts fitment (eg do parts cross over from a genuine shell to a repro shell) etc etc and until such time as I can make an educated opinion about them then I will wait and see before passing comment

Well said para144 and David. Let us remember that someone has invested their own money on re-producing these shells, and must be applauded.

I don't remember the various MG or Mini clubs moaning or criticizing the Heritage shells!

[morcheen]

Well said para144 and David. Let us remember that someone has invested their own money on re-producing these shells, and must be applauded.

I don't remember the various MG or Mini clubs moaning or criticizing the Heritage shells!

why would they ? as they were done with the approval of the original manufacturer .that's the only possible sticking point to these shells.why don't higgins try to clear that up then ? but they are advertised as rally shells,so no wonder people ask questions. bit late asking the questions when you have commited to doing a road car and dvla/insurance might potentially give you a problem.i can't see why some don't get that ?

[k4 karl]

My thoughts on the new shells.

There is an industry that built around Escorts, if there is to be a future for that industry new body shells are an absolute necessity, we are now almost 40yrs since the MK2 went out of production, they were not exactly a rust free product back in the day. What worries me about the original cars and staying loyal to the original car means that every time you see a restoration story ,the extent to which the cars are being cut about and new extensive re fabrication and structural repair is extreme and calling these cars original is getting ever more farcical and i'm quite sure if insurance companies and even the DVLA knew the extent of the restoration a can of worms would be opened.
I don't need to tell anyone on here how popular escorts are in motorsport, but I wonder sometimes what are people driving, escorts have never been so powerful and yet they have never been so old, how safe are these cars ? I looked at some photos recently of a Millington powered escort which had been involved in a big crash, this previously stunning car was surprisingly rusty in places you can't see in normal preparation and this makes me think its now time all Escorts used in Motorsport should be built from a New body shell.
So for me these New Body shells need to be good as they are absolutely essential for the future of the Ford Escort especially in Motorsport.

[katana]

this makes me think its now time all Escorts used in Motorsport should be built from a New body shell.
So for me these New Body shells need to be good as they are absolutely essential for the future of the Ford Escort especially in Motorsport.

It would be a very brave Sanctioning Body to demand that! - That would kill off Escorts in motorsport quicker than banning them outright! Then what about all the other cars of a similar age - Mantas, chevette's, Firenza, Bimmers, Mini's etc etc - all equally old and equally rusty?

[k4 karl]

It would be a very brave Sanctioning Body to demand that! - That would kill off Escorts in motorsport quicker than banning them outright! Then what about all the other cars of a similar age - Mantas, chevette's, Firenza, Bimmers, Mini's etc etc - all equally old and equally rusty?

I wasn't suggesting banning anything, but all new builds for Motorsport should be built from new shells and stop this resurrecting the dead which up until now is all you could do.
With regard to other makes, and new mini shells are available by the way, they will all fade away in time unless someone starts building new body shells.

[Taz112]

are you 100% sure these are not a set of the old ford tool.
as that is what happened to VW with the beetle. someone found a full set of presses and sold them to Mexico. and they have been turning out beetle shells for the past 30 years. and the VW fans love them. so as long as there are no ford stamps on them and no holes for the badges Ford cant do a dam thing about it.
and to be fair the new shell should be better than the old ones as the metal is now better than they used years ago. so should not rust as quick.

[katana]

Ha Ha Ha! Rose tinted spec's my friend - the quality of Chinese steel is not very good - produced in vast quantity and not of particular quality. All steel will rust - its how you protect it that counts. From the pictures of these shells as delivered, the protection seems rudimentary and if I was doing one i'd think about investing in a full dip and electro coating process exactly like modern OEM shells go through!
The VW Beetle production in Mexico was officially sanctioned by VW hence why they had VW patterns and dies. Ford destroyed theirs long since production stopped.

[Taz112]

Ha Ha Ha! Rose tinted spec's my friend - the quality of Chinese steel is not very good - produced in vast quantity and not of particular quality. All steel will rust - its how you protect it that counts. From the pictures of these shells as delivered, the protection seems rudimentary and if I was doing one i'd think about investing in a full dip and electro coating process exactly like modern OEM shells go through!
The VW Beetle production in Mexico was officially sanctioned by VW hence why they had VW patterns and dies. Ford destroyed theirs long since production stopped.

no they are not

[Taz112]

Ok what would you rather
someone has a rotten or a smashed up mk2
would you rather have them reshell it with a import shell or steal yours and reshell it with that.
And i know all steal rusts im saying the steal is better today than back then.

[morcheen]

nobody mention the elephant in the room,ok