Detail pics of the DSE Closeout..

[Steve1968LS2]

I have gotten quite a few comments on my new DSE closeout. Mostly they have revolved around price and if the part is a good value. At almost $400 it is certainly not a cheap date, but many PM's and email comments have been from people that think it's pretty much a flat piece of aluminum that they could make themselves. In fact I have even had requests to trace out a template of it. As you can see that really wouldn't work even if I was willing to do something kinda shady like that.

Here are some pics I ran out and took.. as you can see there is not one single easy edge on this piece. Every edge is rolled one was or another and there are NO out of place seems and such.

I'm not a metal fab guy but I get the idea that this would be HARD to make without a good set of equipment, a lot of skill and a good amout of time. Not to mention the time to measure it all out and make a template.

Also, keep in mind that you would have to fab the support bars as well and that would involve welding

I think DSE should have some better pics on thier site. From the angle they show it looks like a mainly flat plate of aluminum and it's not.

Here are the shots.. thoughts?

[camcojb]

I agree Steve. Many people think they can easily duplicate some of this stuff, but often it is not as easy as it looks.


Jody

[almcbri]

I wouldn't consider it shady Steve. Your always going to have guys duplicating parts regardless of the cost. I built my own battery box, but I thought that would be a fun project. I could easily have ordered one.

There is a bit of time involved in building that radiator panel, but it isn't that hard of a piece if a guy has any kind of fab skills and decent equipment.

[J2SpeedandCustom]

Thanks for posting pics Steve that thing is Sweet.

A smart man once told me. Building cars isn't hard it just takes time. So how long would it take to fab that piece up it's got alot of detail. I'm thinking 15-20 hours at $50/hr that's $750-$1000! So for $400 that's a hell of a deal plus you saved all that time to do something else.

[almcbri]

Originally Posted by J2SpeedandCustom

Thanks for posting pics Steve that thing is Sweet.

A smart man once told me. Building cars isn't hard it just takes time. So how long would it take to fab that piece up it's got alot of detail. I'm thinking 15-20 hours at $50/hr that's $750-$1000! So for $400 that's a hell of a deal plus you saved all that time to do something else.

my time isn't worth $50 and hour yet. I am a college student. 10 bucks an hour max. 20 hours at 10=$200.00. I saved $200.00

[Steve1968LS2]

Originally Posted by Andrew McBride

my time isn't worth $50 and hour yet. I am a college student. 10 bucks an hour max. 20 hours at 10=$200.00. I saved $200.00

The difference between you and most of us is that you DO have the mad fab skills and the equipment to do it..

As for the tracing the part it didn't seem fair to DSE and besides it really wouldn't be anything like the actual product.. lol

Also, it's not just the fab time but the R&D time as well to figure out all the measurements..

[TravisB]

Originally Posted by J2SpeedandCustom

Thanks for posting pics Steve that thing is Sweet.

A smart man once told me. Building cars isn't hard it just takes time. So how long would it take to fab that piece up it's got alot of detail. I'm thinking 15-20 hours at $50/hr that's $750-$1000! So for $400 that's a hell of a deal plus you saved all that time to do something else.

good point, my thoughts exactly! 15 to 20 hours would for a very experienced fabricator....working with aluminum isn't easy. I know for a fact that nice little round hole there(dimple die) that die alone is over $100 bucks

[jannes_z-28]

Doing some sheetmetal work myself I can say that the DSE work is pure craftmanship. It takes a lot of skill to do that detailwork and I would think that they have made some special punches to make some of the details. The corner that bolts to the fender is one such little detail that separates the real men from the boys.

One bad thing for me is that shipping of that crate to me would cost more than the panel itself.


Jan

For you guys that actually work on your car yourselfs, and can't justify throwing away $400 for a piece of metal, here is a viable option
http://www.camaros.net/forums/showth...ighlight=carlc




they are passing around the template for free. looks just as good as better, and doesn't protrude into the engine compartment like the DSE one. Now maybe start a thread about what color to paint it, oh wait someone already did
but of course if it doesn't say DSE on it, or doesn't cost much $$ some of you won't like it.
but anyway, its just a piece of metal that in reality doesn't really do anything, but I guess if your trying to keep up with the jones.......

[XcYZ]

Alrighty then.