SOCTFL Heater Grill

[PaulB]

I seem to remember that it was mentioned that SOCTFL are working on remanufacturing the air intake grill for the heater, using similar process to the door handles.
Could I ask whether this is true and if so what progess has been made?
Thanks.

[Lingen]

Paul
The grille is well on the way to becoming available. Prototypes have been made and test fitted, and I was able to try one on my car. In my opinion they are of the highest quality, and virtually identical to the mazac originals. It is now a case of getting them in to production, but needless to say, Covid 19 is going to cause delays. You will just have to be patient!
Mike.

[jbuckl]

The 3rd prototype was received about 3 weeks ago & is being evaluated for latest tweaks to form currently. Next steps are sign off & tooling.
Meetings are slowed at the moment.
Every effort is being made so that it will turn out as well as expected.

[Andrew S]

Well done SOCTFL Team

[Bakdraft007]

SOCTFL team, have I missed something? Was a survey done of members to find out how many would purchase such an item in order to calculate how many (plus a number of spares) would need to be made for a production run? If so how do I add myself to such a list? Obviously the more made the cheaper the run, or have I got that wrong?

Dave

[fussydave]

Tony Lapworth sent out an email to Leicester/Warwickshire members to pole interest, but not sure if this went club wide.

[SteveD]

SOCTFL team, have I missed something? Was a survey done of members to find out how many would purchase such an item in order to calculate how many (plus a number of spares) would need to be made for a production run? If so how do I add myself to such a list? Obviously the more made the cheaper the run, or have I got that wrong?

Dave

+1

Steve

[Lingen]

Dave / Steve. Stop panicking! There are no advance orders being taken. As with the door handles, as many as are wanted will be made, but not all at once. The price has been based on the minimum order number of each production run.
Mike.

[jbuckl]

I think there was a survey in 2007 too!
I recall my negative reaction to a chrome on ABS part.
times change & that appears to be the most viable solution these days.

[jbuckl]

SOCTFL team, have I missed something? Was a survey done of members to find out how many would purchase such an item in order to calculate how many (plus a number of spares) would need to be made for a production run? If so how do I add myself to such a list? Obviously the more made the cheaper the run, or have I got that wrong?

Dave

Thanks for the vote of confidence.
The quantities do have an effect on price.
however per 100 parts ordered the Difference is tiny.
when it goes from 1000 parts to 100000 parts it really changes the price.
thanks though!
When order quantity is below a few hundred a year or 1000 in total it is difficult to even engage suppliers.
If anyone wanted a one off, the price would be about £200 for a scan £ 3500 for 3D design & £650 for a part.
tooling up is in the £10-£20 k region.
so all credit that we have soctfl to get assistance to make it possible at all.
many car clubs just can’t do this sort of activity.
I would love to do this as a business & have considered it, but imho it is beyond my means, as you would Need the capital for 5 or 10 projects before giving up your day job.
Investment high, returns small until you have tens of unavailable lines to offer.

[dasadrew]

Absolutely amazing - never thought I would see such a large and complex item remanufactured. I doff my hat to all involved.

As with the door handles I'm rather annoyed that my original is in a pretty good condition.

Drew

[Goldstar]

Just to give you an idea of where we are. We have a project that we have been investigating and have a viable prototype which is nearly production ready. Next stage is to seek approval from national committee for the money required for the tooling.

We don’t usually take a poll to get sales estimates. Trouble is you ask, say, 50 people and they all say yes they’d love one or no they would never buy one and then 12 months later when the parts emerge people’s circumstances may have changed and the estimates you had were, at best inaccurate and at worst, useless. We use our judgement (and that of the national committee) to determine if a project is likely to succeed. In this case The Chairman of the NC has asked his local group but that’s for NC guidance rather than SOCTFL’s. we know that this part, for example, is very hard to find (virtually impossible tbh) in good condition so if we can get the part right (we’re pretty much there on that one) and the price is good and there is a good discount to members (it’s your money we are proposing to use) then that’s a viable potential project.

We are often pleasantly surprised how a project goes (door handles for example) when the parts sell faster than we expected. Hopefully we will get this part to production and find the same enthusiasm.

hope that helps.

Paul

[jbuckl]

Thanks Paul,
We so far tried to get as close as possible to an authentic appearance with the grill, as per the door handles.
This level of detail isn’t that easy to achieve.
Realise that it’s not as important as some other items like body panels e.g. boot-lids.
Maybe those will be possible too in the future. & want to assist with those if possible too.
ATB
thanks
Julian

[PaulB]

At the risk of being called impatient, would it be possible to have an update on the air intake grill SOCTFL project, if there is one?
Thank you.

[Goldstar]

Yes sure. We got funding confirmed a couple of days ago so it’s full steam ahead.