I recently bought a set of chrome headrest escutchons for the 70. I bought a set from SS396.com. I'm under the impression that everyone sells the same repro on these? The repro part is stamped OPGI with a part number of MFK1500. Once again, another repro part that falls short. here's the issue- If you do a side by side comparison of the original vs repro, you'll notice that the original is slightly taller. If you flip the two over, you'll notice that the original is correspondingly deeper also. Not by much, but the exttra depth is important. here's why- The headrest lock screws into an oval metal plate. The GM original encapsulates the plate and covers it completely so that the bottom of the chromed plastic touches the vinyl, completely hiding the plate from view. As its supposed to do. The repro is made shallower. So when installed, the repro basically sits on top the metal plate. So when viewed from the side, you see the vinyl material, then the rusty plate then the chrome repro sitting basically on top of it. Looks like crap. I didnt take any pictures of them on my 70, but I have my friend's 70 Cutlass here. So I put them on his car for the pictures. On my 70, the issue is worse because the seat covers are original with the original foam. This Cutlass has new seat covers and the seats are a little more stuffed looking. Ive noticed other cars at shows, and they all seem to be like this. Is it me? Am I being too pickey again? Should i just seek professional help for my obsessive disorder? Why cant they just make them like the originals?o No: They took the time to repro them, whay couldnt they just make them exact? Its like my exact repro GM 12" mirror that measures 11 1/2" :spank: ou:
Not at all. The premium people are willing to spend on accurate reproduction parts should be justified by the product. Sell me an "almost" part at a lower cost & I'll have no issues as I know it's just that. Sell me an exact part at a premium, & that's what I expect. I complained at the time as these are the same repro. pieces in my '71. All I could find at the time, 7-8 years ago, maybe longer. Most of these parts are still on the market 'cause we keep buying them.
jason, most of the repro parts are substandard, i have read a few of your threads and i think you will be surprised that there are very few parts that are exact or very close. It surprises me that we have technology to put thousands of songs into a small ipod or be able to record many shows on a small unit, but to reporduce a simple part becomes a nightmare. The best idea might to find someone to recondition the original parts, it might not be inexpensive, but you will know what the final product will be.
Doing some hunting for these myself. Parts Place and Ames have them for $10, and I'm sure those are what you have here, Y1 has them for $26! I know Y1 is known for highway robbery, but maybe they are a different, better, reproduction? Anyone with any first hand knowledge?
I bought a set last year for my 70, I forgot where they came from. Same poor fit that Jason talks about, really a crappy repro. I can't understand it, if they were 1/8" deeper they would be fine. I think nobody sells a correct or satisfactory repro for this part.
I just bought a set from YO, they're still in the plastic bags. I'll check them when I get home in a few hours.........
Ok, opened one up and installed it on my old seat. The old ones on the seat had an actual part number, as pictured, but they look the same as the Year One repops I have as far as fit. Notice the made in Taiwan bag too. lol. Pics tell the story. I guess they are all the same. View attachment 284877 View attachment 284878 View attachment 284879 View attachment 284880
just as an update to this thread, I bought another set from CARS in NJ. Fit much better and more closely matched the originals than the OPGI ones.
I was always under the impression that there was one manufacturer and everyone sold the same one. Not true. The ones from CARS are fit much better. FWIW, the OPGI headrest locks were white plastic underneath, the CARS ones were gray.
