Re-pop parts

[pjbizjak]

Does anyone have a preference when it comes to Re-Pop parts? Is one maufacturer better than the other. Are parts made in USA or some where else?

[Indy 69]

The Re-Pop parts are manufactured all over the place. Some in the USA, and most I would say are from off shore. As far as pin pointing a lot of the parts down to a specific manufacturer, that is difficult because many parts are made by the same few companies and the retailers sell the parts in their own packaging. Do not believe for a second that all the retailers are making their own parts, that is a nonsense!

The obvious parts which can be compared to another easily are the soft trim parts, most are made in the USA and of course there are a number of manufacturers of weatherstrips which are always up for discussion.

I find it very interesting that after all these years of having re-pop parts available there are so many problems with the quality. GM should have continued making their own parts and we would all be a lot happier, even though some of theirs are not that good also. JMO 

[L78 steve]

I always wondered if it would have been profitable for GM to manufacture original quality parts for our "Oldies" ? Seems like they could use the business.

[jonboy1216]

x2 i think government motors can use the business (how many trillions do we owe)

[rsr]

Didn't owe anything back in 2000 !!! And repo parts were easier to identify IMO.

[Jrschev]

I think it depends on what your goals are and how exact you want your car to be. If you are trying to make your car exactly as it was when new then re-pop parts, for the most part, suck. They rarely fit well, do not emulate the originals and are of poor material quality. Having said that, without them there would be a lot less of these Camaros running down the road.

With my own car I always try to find NOS if I can and if they are not priced to the moon. Then my next move is to look for good used. As a last resort I buy repro parts and then I have a list of repro parts on my car that I'm always looking to replace with NOS or used. Keep an eye out for good used parts as they can often be restored and there is no question about their fit and finish.

Most all of the repro stuff is made in China and when you put them next to your originals the difference is huge. Ask anyone on here about repro weather stripping (although most of that is made in the USA). The unfortuate part is getting these vendors to be honest with you about the quality of the repro parts. You really have to push them to get the truth so that you can avoid some of the real crap. I could almost write a book on how bad some of the stuff is.

A good example of this is a repro 862 horn relay I purchased last year. It wasn't on one week when the horn quit working. The terminals for both wires were dangling from their respective connections and the cover ws gone. Junk.  I would say just come on here and ask as someone on the forum has probably used just about everything at one time or another

[Bjv69ss]

In restoring my car, as a driver, I've been lucky to find some NOS stuff but have used a bunch of repoped stuff as you would expect.  Most of it fits ok but the one part that stands out as being real crap is the wheel house moldings!  If you have not tried them yet don't even bother.  They fit like they belong on a Dodge or something!  They don't even come close to the shape of a Camaro fender!  Search out NOS and pay through the nose.

[Jrschev]

That's interesting because I bought a set of the newer rerpros for my car while I'm putting together an NOS set. They fit exceptionally well. Almost can't tell the difference unless you look along the underside. I know there are two sets of repro wheel lip moldings. The good ones and the crap ones. You must have gotten the crappy ones. If you contact the repro vendors and ask them for the better ones they can probably get you those for about $150.00. Same goes for the rocker panel moldings. There are good ones and crappy ones.

[Bjv69ss]

They fit with no bending? How about Good Mark sheetmetal?

[Jrschev]

I don't know about any sheetmetal as my car has all it's original metal except the RH front fender and it was replaced with NOS. The only thing I noticed with the wheel lip moldings was that, yes, you kind of had to "fit" them in to place but if you take your time they roll in OK. If you look closely on the front fenders you can see where they are not exactly the same contour as the fender lip but only the trained eye could tell. Otherwise they look good.