On Dec 8, 3:12 pm, "c.henry" wrote:

Ed,

Some of them are original dies , believe it or not . The big three are
notorious fior never throwing these things away, there is a warehouse
near me full of injection moulds that are for chryslers not made since
the mid eighties

Remember that an injection moulded part only requires one mould. A
body panel requires between four and six dies, and that doesn't
include the hemming dies for assembly. They weigh up to about 40 tons
each, and have a maximum footprint of about 3 x 5 meters, perhaps 2
meters high when in storage. Not cheap to ship either (one or two dies
per flatbed).


Modern manufacturing has reduced costs for stamping dies to a fraction
of what is once was , that and the newer grades of steel that can
undergo multiple stampings without cracking or needing to be annealed

It's about $1 to $3 million for a set of panels, that is both hands
for semetrical panels (doors, bodysides, fenders, quarter panels),
inner *or* outer panels only. Inner panels are usually cheaper because
the cosmetic work is not nearly as demanding, and they can frequently
be hit in four operations.

Regards,

Robin