M100 Rear light covers - Remanufacture

[LRS7]

David

Unfortunately I have also lost faith in acquiring a satisfactory product from the supplier as such would you please sort a refund

Mark

[M100TURBOFR]

Message for all Group Buy Members
Hello
I have received written confirmation from our supplier of the dispatch of the M100 rear light cover models for final approval. They are scheduled to reach me on Friday 21st Feb. On receipt, I'll naturally inspect them and hopefully give my approval regarding the finish quality. I will also be showing them to one of our French buyers who lives near Reims in order to get both his opinion and approval.
I'll naturally post photos here on LEC together with comments and will also send some via email to everyone in the Group Buy.
Hopefully the result will be conclusive and we'll be able to move forward towards production and delivery.
I'd just like to thank you once again for your patience and support over the last few months and can fully understand some of you voicing doubts.

Sincerely
David (m100Turbofr)

[M100TURBOFR]

Hello everyone
As promised am reverting back to you. I received the cover models for approval this morning (1 day late) via Chronopost. Packaging was excellent and really protected the contents properly.
Compared to the products sent out in December 2019 to 4 of our buyers (sincere apologies once again), I must say that the result (surface finish) is extremely encouraging albeit almost perfect. There are no bubbles, smears, cracks, glue marks, gouging, etc... and the aspect is truly excellent. There is just one small defect on the RH side cover where there are a few smudges on the inside but this wouldn't visible once installed. There is also a small section of the corner missing but again this would not be seen. I will however point this out and will expect our supplier to rectify this defect before any parts are produced. It's only natural that we receive a flawless product for the price paid. Otherwise I would say that I approve. I'll naturally consult another buyer who lives nearby and obtain his remarks.
Attached are a few photos for your perusal. The defect figures in 0375a and 0376a. The others show the finish quality.
Don't hesitate to comment.

[M100TURBOFR]

Defect visible on RH side cover smudges and small section missing

[M100TURBOFR]

Comparison with my own rear light cover showing the tint of the new models
My cover is on the left.

[Brit-Car-Nut]

David,
I would check to see if the missing section will prevent the cover from correctly sealing on the tail light body.

The tail lights have an inherent problem with fogging up and any loss of seal might make it happen more often...

Or is it a good thing? I remember reading someone suggesting that the solution was drilling holes to allow it to breathe.

[Gwigzee]

Hello David, all,

This is looking much nicer like this. I don't have all the skills to say if it's OK or not, but for a newbie like i am on such a topic, that's great.
- No defect visible to me (scratch, non consistent tint, not compliant shape...)
- Tint seems to be very similar, it seems like the red/grey difference is due to the lighting that can not be the same for both parts on the same picture (probably difficult to have a good shot with a camera as the parts are large)
- if you confirm you can mount and adjust it on your M100 just as you would do with your original cover, and it sticks to its place as it should, then, i guess all points are good in my opinion.

Thanks,

Matthieu

[M100TURBOFR]

John Hi Thanks for your comment. I will mount the covers on the rear lights today and see how they fit and will advise. However this corner section should not be missing. Can't contact suppllier until Tuesday to ask why RH side presents this "flaw" whereas LH side is perfect.

Mathieu Hi Thanks for your opinion. Indeed no comparison at all with the previous ones. The overall finish is what one would expect, apart from the slight small missing section visible on the photo. As stated above I'll mount them on the rear lights to see if they fit properly.

David

[Rambo]

David - to me it looks like someone has picked it up in the corner using their thumb and finger and it has just snapped off for some reason ?? If you think this is a possibility, try grabbing the unbroken one in the corner by thumb and forefinger and wave it around and see what happens

Another explanation may be that the package has had a bump in transit causing a fracture ?? But you did say the package arrived well packed

I wouldn't imagine your manufacturing company would send them off for inspection like this. Why would they ?

[M100TURBOFR]

Rambo
Hi
LH side one ok. Not fragile at all. No trace of missing section in the packaging. I'll have to await his return on Tuesday to ask why this section is broken and why he sent it off like this, if indeed this is the case.
For the moment though, can't manage to mount the covers on the light support. There would appear to be a problem. My own covers fit on no bother. Will advise further on Tuesday.
David

[NewLogik]

Rambo
Hi
LH side one ok. Not fragile at all. No trace of missing section in the packaging. I'll have to await his return on Tuesday to ask why this section is broken and why he sent it off like this, if indeed this is the case.
For the moment though, can't manage to mount the covers on the light support. There would appear to be a problem. My own covers fit on no bother. Will advise further on Tuesday.
David

When you say you can't manage to mount on the covers, are they "too tight" to be fitted in place ? I wasn't even thinking that they couldn't fit as it's supposed to be a copy of the original part. That said and from the email I've sent you, I think the overall quality seems to be good this time but like Rambo said, I don't understand why they would have sent parts for approval that aren't perfect and with an obvious missing piece. I hope that the production run will remain on a good quality for the whole time and that they won't let go some that could have defects.

Again, thank you David for all the time and efforts your putting into this Group Buy, I know how much time it represent and it's really not easy to deal with when some issues happen like with the first run... That said, you jumped in and made sure to get this resolved and it seems like we're heading in the good direction. I hope we will have good news/explanations for the fitment that didn't work so far.

[M100TURBOFR]

Maxime
Hi
Email sent off to you in reply. I'll have explanations by Tuesday. Meanwhile, there would appear to be a "dimensional" problem. The models do not fit into the plastic backing support. Would appear to be too long or else the angle of the curved section is wrong. Can't understand as my originals were used as a model to manufacture the moulds. Again, I'll have answers and explanations on Tuesday.
Just when things were starting to look good!!!!

David

[Rambo]

Rambo
Hi
LH side one ok. Not fragile at all. No trace of missing section in the packaging. I'll have to await his return on Tuesday to ask why this section is broken and why he sent it off like this, if indeed this is the case.
For the moment though, can't manage to mount the covers on the light support. There would appear to be a problem. My own covers fit on no bother. Will advise further on Tuesday.
David

Hi David,

If you say there's no trace of missing section in the packaging that's more worrying as the damage hasn't happened in transit. That means it must have happened on site before packaging and couriering. If you look closely at the 3rd photo you will also notice a small chip out of the plastic/perspex a couple of inches to the right of the major one. Or, at least, that's what it looks like to me ??

PS I know I'm not involved in the group buy but you did ask for comments. I hope you get to the bottom of this as I believe, once sorted, that you will have a good product that will be readily saleable to members of LEC and also via EBay

Good luck with your discussion on Tuesday

[M100TURBOFR]

Rambo
No nothing else, just the small corner section missing (no periphery damage at all). I can only assume that it occurred during "demoulding". But as you quite rightly say, it should not have left his premises like this. Otherwise they are more than acceptable. I'll get to the bottom of this on Tuesday.
Your comments are of course always welcome. Thanks for your encouragement.

David

[M100TURBOFR]

Update 25 02 2020
Our supplier contacted me this morning as agreed. Photos had been sent to him by me on Sunday showing the "dimensional" (hence mounting) problem (see photos attached).
The explanation for this is that the models sent to me for approval correspond to Alpine covers which are slightly longer and not identical dimension-wise. Our supplier - like myself - was unaware of this. Indeed, the covers (my ones) I handed over to him when I went down to Dax in January were finally not used as a model (too many scratches and imperfections) and he ended up using Alpine ones, hence the discrepancy in dimensions. He thought they were identical and produced the pre-production models sent to me for approval. This explains why I was unable to mount them on my cover supports. (See attached photos).

In view of this, we are now faced with a problem. In order to progress towards final production, we require a pair of M100 covers in very good condition (absolute minimum amount of scratches or imperfections). These will be used to produce the moulds but will naturally be useless afterwards since they will be painted in order to obtain the finish quality visible on the models sent to me and with which a large number of you were very satisfied. Naturally, you will receive a new pair in replacement (plus the ones you've ordered).

Are any of you willing to sacrifice a pair of rear light covers so that we can finally move towards final production? On receipt, the moulds would be prepared and the pre-production models produced. This would take around two to three weeks after receipt of the covers which brings us to around the 3rd week/end of March 2020. I could sacrifice a RH cover from my other Elan (LH one broken) but we would need a LH one to complete the pair. Please advise ASAP.

Rambo (and others who pointed out the small broken off section : Since it was not visible once mounted, he decided to send it all the same (indeed the main issue was to show the near perfect surface finish). He of course assured me this morning that this type of flaw/defect would not be present on the production parts. Assurance was also given to me that all produced parts would be identical throughout production.

Cover models received showing the "dimensional" problem 0441 0432 0425

Await a reply from a volunteer
David

[M100TURBOFR]

Hello again
Attached photos of the newly produced Alpine covers (sent to me for approval and which differ from our M100 covers) showing the identical dimensions with the original Alpine model sent for producing the mould.

Newly produced clearer cover against original Alpine one showing same dimensions
Other photo showing same dimensions
Photo of original Alpine cover prepared for producing the mould

These photos clearly show that the dimensions of the Alpine covers are not identical to those of our M100s

David

[Danevansgolf]

Hi all. I’ll have a look in a couple of days. I’ll check my left hand side, defo the right is smashed. I’ll let you know.
Happy to part with it if it’s in A1 condition.

[M100TURBOFR]

Daniel
Hello "our saviour" perhaps

That would be fantastic if your LH one was in very good condition. Failing the receipt of a pair from someone else in our Group Buy, this would indeed solve our problem, as I could probably supply the RH side. Let's wait 1 or 2 days.
If you could confirm state and availability of your LH one I'd be very much obliged.
Thanks again
David

[Danevansgolf]

Hi everyone.
Just had a look a my light cover and There are a few marks on my cover, so it’s basically it’s not perfect. I’ll take it off the light pod later and put some pictures on so you can see the imperfections of mine.
Sorry about that everyone.
Daniel Evans
P.s. there must be a loads of people in here willing to part with their cover. Com on everyone have a look.

[madbilly]

Hi all,
Both my rear light covers are cracked, otherwise they would be a good solution as I'm in France and the car gets very little use atm unfortunately.
Cheers