Survey: What billet/machined parts would you like that aren't available?

[mahanian]

I was thinking last night that here isn't many billet accessories available for our trucks, although a couple companies are starting to help out, which is great.

I'm not big on flashy billet all over the truck, but a piece here or there can really look nice, like the taillight bezel pieces by Marquez Design...they look great!

A buddy of mine that I work with is a CAD designer and he volunteered to help me out with some pieces for my 67 Camaro, so I thought I would see if there was any interest in parts for our trucks as well. I'm not offering anything for sale, just trying to get some ideas. If I got enough interest in a particular part I would go through the proper channels on the forum to provide them to other board members.

Let me know if you have any ideas....interior, exterior, whatever...

[cstanley]

since so many have cut dashes for radios, i think it would be cool to have a nice billet part that fits the radio recess and allows for a regular DIN sized hole. just 'cause when you cut a din-sized hole in the dash, it still leaves odd cuts around. And machined fastener holes set for some nice fasteners.

Or a proper-sized billet bowtie for the grills/hoods

[mahanian]

Originally Posted by cstanley

since so many have cut dashes for radios, i think it would be cool to have a nice billet part that fits the radio recess and allows for a regular DIN sized hole. just 'cause when you cut a din-sized hole in the dash, it still leaves odd cuts around. And machined fastener holes set for some nice fasteners.

Or a proper-sized billet bowtie for the grills/hoods

Those are some good ideas, I've seen so many hack job dash cuts on our trucks. I will put that on my list.

What is the problem with the current billet bowtie's on the market?

[B52fizzle]

They have the billet dash panels, do they have glove box covers to match? Are there any door handles, inside window handles and such? Any thoughts on a true billet grille?

[cstanley]

Originally Posted by mahanian

Those are some good ideas, I've seen so many hack job dash cuts on our trucks. I will put that on my list.

What is the problem with the current billet bowtie's on the market?

hmm... guess i hadn't seen them.

i'm having more thoughts, sit tight...

[mahanian]

Originally Posted by B52fizzle

They have the billet dash panels, do they have glove box covers to match? Are there any door handles, inside window handles and such? Any thoughts on a true billet grille?

There is a company that makes the billet dash panels and matching glove box doors to match. Check out this tech article on Classic Trucks Mag site

http://www.classictrucks.com/tech/07...nts/index.html

A true solid billet grille would be VERY expensive due to it's size, I'm sure that's why no one makes them.

Originally Posted by cstanley

hmm... guess i hadn't seen them.

i'm having more thoughts, sit tight...

Keep the ideas coming, I'm already working on the radio plate!

[n2billet]

What about hood hinges for really low trucks?

[mahanian]

Originally Posted by n2billet

What about hood hinges for really low trucks?

That's a good one, do you have any pics of what the issues are? I've seen a couple where they've cut the fenders to raise the wheel wells, is this what you are referring to?

[VA72C10]

FYI, there are universal billet handles for our trucks as i saw that mentioned
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...210480505&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...210480528&rd=1

[B52fizzle]

well what else is there, im slow as usual guess thats why im not a millionaire, my flugalbinders out there. i can see it now in pink neon blink blink blinkety blink.

[VA72C10]

Some standard replacement hinges that look like these....

[jayharrell]

Those hood hinges are bad ass...

Hell would have to charge poeple to look at them just to make up buying them.

[Riveted1]

Put me in line for one of those radio thingamajiggys....

What about billet windshield wiper arms? Or a cool billet gas cap for factory gas tanks? (may already have those, I'm just brain-storming) Billet factory style rearview mirrors for those NOT mounted on the windshield?

[mahanian]

The biggest problem is everyone wants nice stuff like those hood hinges, but unless you are machining in large quantities, the are expensive to produce and no one wants to pay the price. Do you know the vendor of those hood hinges? The ones I'm buying for my 67 Camaro are $700

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by mahanian

The biggest problem is everyone wants nice stuff like those hood hinges, but unless you are machining in large quantities, the are expensive to produce and no one wants to pay the price. Do you know the vendor of those hood hinges? The ones I'm buying for my 67 Camaro are $700

Most likely C.Fesler stuff.

Just like w/the popular car makes, Fesler is supposed to be making a billet hinge for 67-72 trucks that bolts in just like the stock hinges. The prob is it does nothing for those of us going beyond the 'normal' drop range. He (Fesler) said he won't make them for extreme drops because everyone's truck will be done differently which would need different hinge requirements.

[mahanian]

Originally Posted by Riveted1

Put me in line for one of those radio thingamajiggys....

What about billet windshield wiper arms? Or a cool billet gas cap for factory gas tanks? (may already have those, I'm just brain-storming) Billet factory style rearview mirrors for those NOT mounted on the windshield?

Good ideas, I'll add them to the list

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Most likely C.Fesler stuff.

Just like w/the popular car makes, Fesler is supposed to be making a billet hinge for 67-72 trucks that bolts in just like the stock hinges. The prob is it does nothing for those of us going beyond the 'normal' drop range. He (Fesler) said he won't make them for extreme drops because everyone's truck will be done differently which would need different hinge requirements.

That's a good point, everybody's truck will be different.

[VA72C10]

I agree with the wiper arms and the wipers themselves with removeable rubber inserts in a common size. That way they would all look the same. And being billet, people could paint them as well.

[Sammy]

On e-bay a guy sells a radio delete plate that you mount 2 small guages in the two holes. But $50 plus shipping $20 more is rather high. But the idea is sweet.

[brad_man_72]

arm for the 67 rearview mirror... one that is shorter. grumble cant see around that damn thing.

[Riveted1]

Originally Posted by mahanian

The biggest problem is everyone wants nice stuff like those hood hinges, but unless you are machining in large quantities, the are expensive to produce and no one wants to pay the price. Do you know the vendor of those hood hinges? The ones I'm buying for my 67 Camaro are $700

Price is probably going to be the achilles' heel in most things like this. You can only get SO specialized before your profit margin goes right out the window. That's why you see so many "universal" billet accessories. BUT, you are one step ahead since you are trying to leverage the buying power of this board.

BTW, do they make flush mounted billet sidemarkers like the tailights Marquez design makes? Those might be sweet. I have a '67, so no need for em, but others might like like to match the sidemarkers to their taillights. Plus, they could be flush instead of sticking out like the factory ones. And on that note, what about billet parking lamp fixtures for 67-68's. Might go real nice with the new billet grilles that came out for those years.

OH... and what about billet defrost vents for the top of the dash?

I know most of these things wouldn't be cost effective to make, but my mind is running away w/this topic! LOL

[tsetsaf]

I would like to see a billet fuel filler setup for the after market blazer tank conversions. You would need three choices, long Bed, short bed, and step side.

I am not talking about just the door but the door and internals a complete turnkey setup. It is a pain picking through junkyards and I have already spent $40 just on hoses.

[mahanian]

As a general note about machining processes, the reason that so much of the billet accessories out there are "square" looking is because it takes so much more effort to program a CNC machine to make 4 axis cuts (rounded surfaces) versus 3 axis cuts (the square stuff out there)

Originally Posted by Riveted1

Price is probably going to be the achilles' heel in most things like this. You can only get SO specialized before your profit margin goes right out the window. That's why you see so many "universal" billet accessories. BUT, you are one step ahead since you are trying to leverage the buying power of this board.

BTW, do they make flush mounted billet sidemarkers like the tailights Marquez design makes? Those might be sweet. I have a '67, so no need for em, but others might like like to match the sidemarkers to their taillights. Plus, they could be flush instead of sticking out like the factory ones. And on that note, what about billet parking lamp fixtures for 67-68's. Might go real nice with the new billet grilles that came out for those years.

OH... and what about billet defrost vents for the top of the dash?

I know most of these things wouldn't be cost effective to make, but my mind is running away w/this topic! LOL

I agree, I'm not really out to make a profit though...just trying to offset the development costs of the parts I'm interested for my truck as well. If I get 20 people interested the cost will be less per piece than if I have 5 people interested, and I will pass the savings on to you. I'm not going into production, so I'm only going to have one batch of each part made. I should have a CAD model of the radio plate next week.

I believe Marquez Designs makes the the billet sidemarkers as well. They also make the billet parking lamp trim for the 67-68 as well. The billet defrost vent is a good suggestion, might be a little overboard for my tastes though.

Originally Posted by brad_man_72

arm for the 67 rearview mirror... one that is shorter. grumble cant see around that damn thing.

I will pull the mirror off my 67 and see how difficult it would be to shorten it.

Originally Posted by Sammy

On e-bay a guy sells a radio delete plate that you mount 2 small guages in the two holes. But $50 plus shipping $20 more is rather high. But the idea is sweet.

The radio delete plate is easy if you haven't ever cut your dash. The one I am working on will fasten to the dash and cover up the ugly hack job cutout that the PO probably did. I'm designing it to look similar to the instrument cluster and glove box

Originally Posted by VA72C10

I agree with the wiper arms and the wipers themselves with removeable rubber inserts in a common size. That way they would all look the same. And being billet, people could paint them as well.

All the aluminum parts can easily be anodized black by the vendor, but I'm not sure about the cost yet.

Originally Posted by tsetsaf

I would like to see a billet fuel filler setup for the after market blazer tank conversions. You would need three choices, long Bed, short bed, and step side.

I am not talking about just the door but the door and internals a complete turnkey setup. It is a pain picking through junkyards and I have already spent $40 just on hoses.

Are you talking about something that routes it through the side of the bed or somewhere inside the bed? Do you have any pictures of what you had in mind?

[Arad68]

Originally Posted by VA72C10

Some standard replacement hinges that look like these....

Even though I have chrome hinges, I'd dig a set of these as standard replacement.

[Riveted1]

Originally Posted by mahanian

I agree, I'm not really out to make a profit though...just trying to offset the development costs of the parts I'm interested for my truck as well. If I get 20 people interested the cost will be less per piece than if I have 5 people interested, and I will pass the savings on to you. I'm not going into production, so I'm only going to have one batch of each part made. I should have a CAD model of the radio plate next week.

Ah I see. I misunderstood. Sounds like you've got a nice little list started there. Now lets see those radio plates!

[GmcSS]

how about outside door handles?