Soo my hood latch handle snapped at the end of the season last year . the machine shop we use at work is making me a new one out of steel and should be done this week . not sure if I’m going to get it chrome or just paint it . The ford latch is different than the mercury latch ( go figure ). I bought a ford latch and the angle of it won’t pull the latch open , I guess the hoods are different from a merc to a ford I dunno . anyways would there be a market to reproduce the ford and mercury latches and what. Could you charge for them ? Curious.
Cost price plus a margin. You will need to work out how many you would need to sell to cover your up front costs and time. There will be no profit until that happens. Then how big is the market? Tricky to guess. You need to make a reasonable profit, but balance that with a price that won't scare people. There's no point having a big box of them sitting on the shelf forever. That's dead money you need to recover. Having said that, some people will always be scared and have no idea about how much time and money is involved in getting that 'rip off' priced product into the market. And beware of a thousand people saying "Yeah, I'll take one if you make them." Like all surveys, the follow through is way below the positive intention indicated. But I'm sure you know all that anyway. Business is a risk.
Be advised that the Ford units are already made and sold by Bob Drake and Vintique (when they are in stock) Also, the '40 deluxe and standard units are not the same piece. And the '40 pick up is another similar but different item.
With today's scanning and modeling methods, as well as various machining and casting processes, I would think it could be a viable project. We've seen numerous posts here about broken and damaged latch parts on these cars. Have you looked on the bay site, as well as old Ford and Merc sites to try to determine the value to other enthusiasts? That might be a good starting point. Good luck! Just think of the endless possibilities if you were to replicate DODGE stuff!!
Ask the guys at your machine shop how many hours they will have into yours and cost of raw material and go from there. Chroming, if you choose to do it, and shipping are where your margin will go to hell. I applaud your efforts though and hope you can pull it off. Painted or powder-coated black could be a cost saver.
Just looked at the Bob drake site not a chance in hell I could get it down to $65 bucks I’m paying a small fortune to get my done , it’s all hand done on manual machines . It’s roughly going to cost me the same as buying a good used one for a 40 merc on line . I figure this one’s made out of steel so will be much stronger then the original white metal . Anyways it was a thought I’ll post pictures once they are done with it .
I think it could still be a 'goer', as you said, the stock pot metal ones often break, having one you can rely on may be worth the extra for some, depends how much extra I guess? You could sell it raw, and let the buyer get it chromed.
I was looking for awhile for my '41 p/u, since everyone that made one was out of stock for years. That drove the prices up on nos and good used, now Drake has them back in stock (we'll see if the other prices go down). I bought one from Drake but haven't put it on yet knowing it will break also. Having a steel one is a great piece of mind, but I don't think you will profit off of making them to sell...even if they're cast.
I have a good one for my Merc and am trying to remember who offered me another one the other day. Anyway, the guy I bought my car from had actually built tooling to build the one for a 40 Merc...but I didn’t get the tooling at the auction or even see it sell.
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