I was wondering if anybody out their new why it costs around $1000 for a replacement grill for a 70 gs? I have a 70 skylark and want to make it a gs clone. I found a place that has grills but their more than a hudge chrome bumper, about three times more expensive and for such a relitively small piece of the car exterior compared w/ a hood or bumper. I confuzed, somebody help me out here! thanx
70 GS grills are in very high demand. The fact that they are plastic means most originals need some kind of repair, and the most pupular year of the GS (to restore anyway) is '70. So all of these things combined makes them a big money item. $1000 is a little much, $650 seems to be the going rate for an NOS or very nice one. I believe there are a few for sale in the parts section of this board. Hope that helps.
It's because they are quite hard to find. Worth their weight in gold, almost literally. I must be the last person on earth to have gotten a reproduction 1970 GS grille from Year One. Don't hate me for this, but I also got one of their NOS core supports and a pair of NOS tail light lenses from them. I did wait 3 years on the waiting list for the core support, though. :laugh: I almost forgot I had ordered it when it finally arrived. ahhh, those were the days (insert Cream song here)
Holy Shnikes, $1000?!!!!! My dad bought one from a GM warehouse, for our '70, and think it was something like $93. It was a while ago, probably about 7 or 8 years ago. I'm getting ready to buy the car and have got to figure out how he gets the part numbers and tracks down these parts. He retired from GM, but wasn't an engineer or anything like that, he worked on the, so I'm not sure how he gets the information. He helped me get a fender and headlamp bezel for my 73 Camaro, when I couldn't get them for a reasonable price. They were right from GM and were a perfect fit, at about half the price of everyone else. Scott
I have a receipt for one bought in June 1981 from a Buick dealer for $40-50.00. I think a year or two ago $650 was the price. There is some variation but $800--$1000 seems to be the range now. I have seen asking prices of up to $1200. As for reason the answer is supply and demand combined with the high cost of making a new mold has so far detered anyone from making a repro. Some say $50K --$100K to make the mold on the cheap overseas.
Just be thankful you don't have a 71 :eek2: 67's are making their way up there too. A used one sold for $610 last week on eBay. Thats a new record for as long as I've been watching them.
I bought 2 GS Grilles for $110 each through a local dealer, through a GS friend who worked there, in '96. I remember core supports going for $88 from GM Service Parts, I remember passing on everything from a GSX in '87 to a bunch of GS455s for sale in Flint, cause I didn't have a place to work on one! and didn't know that quarter panels were still available at the SPO Lansing plant. I did buy 3 '70-72 right hand qtrs from there in '91 for around $275 each while my main reason for going shopping in Lansing was for a gas tank for my '86 T-type Designer that I had just bought with 80K miles and had a rusted out tank. Year One and others bought out all the core supports, qtrs and '70 Grilles, and made lots of $$ on them. When the '70 grilles were still available for $110, they were selling them for $279! Someday, we may still see a repop that will make sense, I'll keep on wishing, as I have on NOS '68 grille and a '70 grille in the box yet for the GSX project that has to get started someday soon, I hope. RV
NOS means "New Old Stock" a brand new part, that was made as a service replacement part for a particular car, by GM, or an authorized vendor. "Repro" is a Reproduction part, generally made by an outside vendor, not affilliated with GM, but possibly liscensed by GM. Hope that helps. JW
NOS = New Old Stock Basically a new grille in the box, that has been sitting on the shelf for 30 years.. EDIT: Jim - you beat me to it:laugh:
Don't expect your Dad and/or yourself to go to a Buick dealer and find old 70-2 GS parts. I know of many people who did this years ago and did not find anything except the white background wheel center caps for the rallye wheels. Unless the grille has been placed on a shelf in some small Buick dealership in the middle of nowhere and someone who works there knows about it, you won't find it. I think the only way possible to find an NOS grille at a dealership would be to call each one or be able to wonder around their warehouse looking at parts not kept on the computer inventory list. Good Luck!
That's what happens when things get discontinued-the prices immediately go up! It all has to do with the supply and demand-of course, the more people that want an item(and it is no longer available) watch how quickly it skyrockets in price!:eek2: :eek2: With the price of grilles nowadays,you wish you could have bought a bunch when they were still available.:grin:
Holy Cow!!! I happen to have two. Granted they're both Special grilles, but as I understand they're the same as the GS. One's on the 67 Special and I have another in my 67 Sportwagon tool shed. The one on the special is pretty nice with only 1 crack. The one in the tool shed isn't so nice. BTW...I think the one on my 70 GS was a NOS piece. I believe my car was wrecked by the original owner. There seems to be a knee imprint on the dash panel between the steering column and heater controls.
Just to set the record straight, Year One handled grilles but the only repo grille they had was the 71 GS that Duane made. The 70 GS and 72 GS grilles were NOS. NO one has repoed a 70 GS or 72 GS grille so far. And by the way , the 72 grilles that are on the market are the Skylark grilles. The original 72 GS grille carried a different part number, the difference being the GS grille was dull black in the grille area with the silver on surround. About 10 years ago, Poston bought all the 70 GS grilles that GM had and sold them as the last 70 GS grilles from GM, NO MORE. Someone at GM decided that there could be more and made another run of grilles and dealer cost was less then Poston's price. Both have been sold out for years. The 70 GS grille is not like a 70 Chevelle(?) grille as far as numbers , but GM could do another run or have the supplier do a run if they really wanted to. Someone has the mold Etc to do this. I see on the GSCA web that someone will do the 70 GS grille and have a sample soon! Hope this does happen along with other years Bill
