Posted by Sherman in Idaho [72.47.153.28] on Monday, June 30, 2014 at 16:45:21 :
In Reply to: Seems to me that's one thing that needs to be reproduced. ntxt posted by Galen [214.28.226.254] on Monday, June 30, 2014 at 07:40:41 :
It seems to me a windshield frame would be about the hardest body part of all to reproduce due to the expensive tooling required. Unlike other body panels, I can't see any way to do that doesn't require full-sized dies to form the whole thing at once. I don't know what stamping dies cost, but based on the cost of injection mold tooling, I would expect well into the six figures. There would never be the volume to justify that.
Maybe someday we'll get "additive manufacturing" that will work for small runs of intricate parts like that. Even nowadays, I think somebody could do 3D printed "Power Wagon" emblems, either out of metal or plastic.
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