The trip took about 20 hours round trip but after I seen the parts and met John, it was worth every mile. I can't say enough about the quality of the parts (AMAZING!) so I'll say it in pictures later this week and and get some posted. These are my general observations of the OEM style parts that I picked up.
1. Quality, Quality, Quality! The parts are a very consistent thickness and very strong. The gel coat is super smooth and free of voids or defects. I was surprised how little the parts smelled compared to other fiberglass parts that I've bought. We carried about half the parts in the cab of our truck and rode with them for about 10 hours without any noticeable fiberglass smell at all.
2. The original spoiler that I bought last year from a wrecked Murci fits perfectly in the muffler cover panel. The cover fits perfectly on the back of my G28 roadster. I'm going to make this spoiler fully functional with a linear actuator just like the original. I would've had a couple of days in fabrication work invested in making my G28 panel operational and even then the fit and finish wouldn't even begin to touch the OEM appearance that I have now. Little details like the step down flange on the front of the panel will make a major difference in the final fit and appearance of all the panels put together.
3. The rocker panels appear to be the same length as the G28 panels. Everything looks like it'll be a direct replacement with some minimal finish and blending work with the body. Johns parts have all the OEM mounting points which will make locating and fabricating the mounting brackets much easier.
4. The drivers side rocker scoop consists of 6 pieces. When everything is bonded together, it forms a box that holds the transmission oil cooler. The box also doubles as a duct to route the cool air to the radiator. I won't know until I have my old rockers off just how far it extends into the rear frame area. I'm building a custom frame so this won't be are much of a problem for me but for others retaining a donor frame, this might go too far into the frame area and something will require changes.
5. As soon as I got the front bumper on a cart in my shop, I grabbed my OEM front grills and tried fitting them into the openings. They fit with surgical precision and all the mounting holes lined up perfectly including the "tow plug". The bumper has all the factory edges which will make locating and building the bumper separation flange on my body much simpler and exactly like factory. I picked up a set of headlight washer brows while I was there and they dropped in and fit perfectly into the bumper. When I think of all the time and materials I would've had separating the bumper from one piece body and then building all the edges, mounting tabs for the grills and then reworking the grill openings so the grills fit exactly... this is time and money in the bank in my opinion and I'm going to end up with a OEM style bumper that can be unbolted and replaced in the future if it's ever damaged.
Before everyone starts asking me questions about Johns prices, I'll ask that you work this directly with John. With the costs of materials going up and his availability, he might charge different prices at different times and maybe even to different people. I can tell you that I spent four figures for my parts and I can tell you that they are worth every cent I spent on them.
Pictures to follow later this week guys.
Chris
