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| Has anyone done a review of the Keith Goodyear GT reproduction tail light lenses yet? (Page 3/4) |
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ferg
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DEC 10, 02:40 PM
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I can emphasize with the OP on a few aspects. For one, the curved lines around the lock made my heart skip a beat due to thinking it was cracked/delaminated. Obviously, it's part of the manufacturing process and a change from the originals and I don't care other than it can be seen from the outside - I still wish that could be modified. I've not noticed the other tabs on mine, but I wasn't looking for them either. The masking on the lettering looks 'meh' to me... If I have that on mine, I'm not going to lose sleep over it. I'd be more upset over moisture inside the lenses than anything that's been brought up so far.
As to the build-up/manufacturing updates... I remember those that came before, trying to do what Keith has done and how that all went down - so to see a guy actually develop a product, asking for no up front money, meanwhile keeping us updated on progress and then bringing it to market, made, I think, all of us excited. On top of that, he kept pretty close to his original cost estimate.
Personally, I feel Keith has earned a wide amount of leeway to any deviations from the originals. He started from scratch, he had to scan a set of original lenses, have dies made, determine the type of plastic to use, develop a process to mimic the originals but wouldn't later delaminate - and do it on a production level scale, perform all of the durability testing, deal w/ GM over licensing, and all on his own dime for an orphaned and obscure car that's worth about $10,000. He's got to recoup his costs and hopefully make a profit from a model that only existed for 3 years and in small numbers and one that isn't going up in value.
The other aftermarket companies that continue to make parts for old cars, often times have relationships to the mothership (be it Ford, GM, Chrysler, etc) - they buy the old dies and molds when the manufacturer is done with them and continue to make the parts and often can amortize the investment over several model years/cars. Keith started from scratch.
I said in the other thread that we as enthusiasts are going to know the differences, but if you put down the microscope and look at it from a non-expert fiero perspective, they look like an exact match. The deviations that have been brought up are, I feel well within reason.
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Thunderstruck GT
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DEC 10, 04:00 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by Mickey_Moose:
Those don't sound like a OEM NOS set, but the Fiero Store repros (especially if you just got the outer lens, I am not sure GM ever sold just the outer lens). This was a known issue with some of the Fiero Store lens. I have a set of OEM NOS sitting on the shelf and there are no issues with the bulging letters. 
For the price, I think these are a perfectly fine alternative considering the ones you can buy from the competition. lol
Granted the masking issue would bother me, but no one else has made mention of this so maybe a 1 off or no one looked that close at them before and is not really that noticable. To those that nick picked them, what are the alternatives within the same price range? |
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I don't think he ment "bulging" per se.
I think he was referring to the fact that some lenses from the factory had imperfections or waves where the letters are. This was due to the mould process and was fairly common.
As far as being able to purchase just the outer lens from GM..... Yes you could and really was the more common way to buy them. I have had many outer lenses but only ever seen 1 assembly and that 1 assembly I still have.
And for the record, notchback tail lamp lenes were the same way. I also have a pair of those.[This message has been edited by Thunderstruck GT (edited 12-10-2019).]
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2.5
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DEC 10, 04:45 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by IMSA GT:
I'm trying to figure out why they were designed with the curved lines around the lock. It's strange that they are so visible.
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From what I have read on facebook it is there on the factory ones but you cant see it because the factory black covers it up, (the part that delaminates) these don't have the part that delaminates.
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Mike in Sydney
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DEC 10, 04:49 PM
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Geez, guys, can we nitpick any more? Compared to what most of us have on our GT's, Keith's lenses are top-notch. I've ordered two sets, one for each of my GT's. I'm very happy with them as I expect most of the buyers are. As for the price of $450, I think it's very reasonable. Sure, I would have like to have paid less but $450 is still a lot less than the cost of NOS lenses (if you can find them) or even used lenses . Plus, Keith has footed the bill for development, prototyping, production, international shipping from the manufacturer, and...dum dum dum... paying royalties to GM! As for Customer Service, Keith has always got back to me when I've left emails or IM's. Maybe not immediately but within a reasonable amount of time for someone who is effectively a one-man operation.
Keith has all done us a service. The product is better than most of us expected. I'm thankful that he took on this project for GT owners.
I'm off my soapbox now and moving back into lurk mode.------------------
Mike in Sydney
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Rick Morehouse
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DEC 10, 06:34 PM
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Good ain't cheap & cheap ain't good. $1,350.00 + S&H ain't crap for 3 sets. As it is(was) I'd had to use whats' on my Gt now, cracked, de-laminated, scratched, just **** . NOW! New lenses, all spiffy. So now I gotta get the rest of my **** -box up to the same level. Damn you Kieth....
REALLY---THANKS.
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pmbrunelle
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DEC 10, 10:27 PM
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My experience with auto parts is that initial prototypes are usually good... once you go into production, the quality takes a dive. It then descends further with tooling wear.
Nothing appears to be out of the ordinary here.
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IMSA GT
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DEC 10, 10:45 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by 2.5:
From what I have read on facebook it is there on the factory ones but you cant see it because the factory black covers it up, (the part that delaminates) these don't have the part that delaminates. |
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You can't cover that up unless it is painted from the outside. What I'm thinking is that the factory lenses had that piece as part of the actual laminate material, not the lens itself. Since there is no laminate on the new lenses, that piece had to be added to the actual lens.
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E.Furgal
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DEC 11, 05:17 AM
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| quote | Originally posted by hercimer01:
They are definitely worthy. They just need some things addressed. 450.00 demands a bit of superb quality. |
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Sorry, but you are out of touch.
Go price out any late model lens, never mind one that goes the whole width of the rear of the vehicle.
450.00 is a deal.
But this IS why no one wants to support these cars.
You want 100 point show car parts for, rock auto prices[This message has been edited by E.Furgal (edited 12-11-2019).]
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kgoodyear
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DEC 11, 11:42 AM
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This is an interesting discussion and as always value the feedback from Frugal Fiero Fans.
I'm not going to go into a lot of detail here. I was unaware this thread was going or I would have monitored it. I've spent much of my time over in FaceBook.
The curve around the lock pocket was a trade off for cost and overmolding and unfortunately just part of a manufacturing necessity.
We are always working to do due diligence to build a good product at a fair price.
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Goody & .......George
The beauty of a solution lies in its simplicity[This message has been edited by kgoodyear (edited 12-11-2019).]
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Mike in Sydney
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DEC 11, 05:13 PM
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You did good, Keith. Happy with mine! ------------------
Mike in Sydney
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