At this time I have no plans to sell them. I did think about it but it makes no sense to consider that seriously.
When the MindTrain was available, 25 to 30 years ago, they were about $300 to $400 for a set. Those that "are looking for a set" remember that or already know that.
There are several manufacturers on line that offer slats in that price range.
In order to make these slats for the Pantera, they need to be fit to decklid, piece by piece. The "stringers (which are the supports for them, like a staircase) need to be hand fabricated from aluminum and bolted together.
The slats themselves need to be cut out of a sheet of 4' x 8' aluminum.
Once constructed, and then fit, they need to be disassembled and sent to the powder coater.
There is no guaranty that every Pantera decklid will have the exact dimensions. In fact, I doubt that the '71 is exactly the same as the '74, and the '74 the same as the '84.
There is about one full week of labor for one "craftsman" to build these. Figure $1,800 in labor. Then there is the cost of the materials. Figure $400 to $450 for that. Then there is the cost of the powder coating which is $300.
So that comes to roughly $2,500. That's a long way from the original cost of the MindTrain slats and a long way from the on line prices you can find for a Mustang or plastic molded ones for a Camaro.
If you sell them, then how many sets will come back because the customer didn't like them? More then a couple.
How many sets are you going to sell? A couple.
How much can you charge? Cost is already around $2,500? The more you charge, the more complaints and dissatisfaction there will be with them. So sell them? Not much point?
Instruct on how to build them? Sure, I could, but that's an extensive explanation. One that would put someone else in business for one thing and I'm not the one that is going to teach the class and provide extensive dimensions, details, plans and videos of it for nothing. Most of which is more then basic mechanics.
I simply don't have that kind of time nor $10,000 to buy CAD software to draw the plans. This isn't NASA here and I don't have access to that type of "equipment" like some here do?
There are more then a few fabricators here on this forum. They really don't need my explanation. Just looking at them they will instantly know how to build them. Not to be sarcastic about it but some will go right past aluminum into titanium, maybe monel, or 10k gold (you need some material resilience, pure gold is too soft).
See. Just more fully answering that question is more extensive then it should be?
...and there is probably someone in China that is waiting for "simple" items like this to build that can build them better...for $150?
