After doing some homework today at the shop, we've come to see that Gary's problem can be replicated, although we did have to "work" at it to scratch our head unit (we had to push in on the **** with a quite a bit of pressure while rotating it to duplicate it on our end). Seems that the issue is limited to the satin (media blast) finish, as it seems that the finishing process ends up letting it keep a sharp edge on the back of the **** near the chamfer. Polished and chrome plated versions do not suffer from this no matter how much we tried, but the satin one can have it even though we do a "break" of edges when they come off the CNC machine here - the solution will be we will go in and hand work every **** to be sure there are no sharp edges on the back before they go out to everyone - really about 30 seconds each, so it's not a nightmare that it could have been if something were machined in the wrong spot or something.

The design is intentionally close to the face for appearance, but what I think we've got here is that a combination of some tolerances stacking up on the plastic side of things, and a sharp edge forming during the media blasting process is combining to make this issue possible. The reason the pre-production pieces I had here yesterday didn't do this is because they were not sent off for finishing, they just had all the edges broken like normal and were test fitted, where they perform just fine. FWIW, the head unit is shaped in an arc, and the depths are controlled by the backside halves of the ***** being different along with the placement of the retaining ring - and in molds a difference in cooling, pressure, etc.. can shift things around by quite a bit from morning to afternoon, even using the same mold...

I think in the long-term, we'll bump the back side cut around .050~.100 so that even with sharp edges and brute force bearing down on the ****, it will be impossible to do this - it will not really change the appearance too much, and will make for less manual work on the ***** after machining.

In the meantime, it sounds as though this is pretty isolated, and we don't have many satin 07+ sets in the field - those that do are chiming in on their own here that things are okay, with one exception obviously, but we'll get this squared away so no one else has any trouble. I would like to say that while Gary's problem is not typical, we're glad he brought it up because it means that nobody else will run into the problem down the road and many times all the testing and checks we do can't substitute for real world customer feedback. I hate for any of our customers to be a "early adopter" as we try and get things done right here on the first try, but sometimes real-world results are different than what we get here when trying out new products.

 

And THAT, my friends, is a true honest, hard working, businessman. Thank you, on behalf of everyone, for jumping right on the possible issue, as you always do, and making sure that every piece you make has the best quality possible. You are in a class all on your own.

 

Try to get this sort of research and development elsewhere ladies and gentlemen? Marcello, has earned my business for sure.

 

Would've been better if we had seen the possibility of this before release, but it's good that we caught it quick in any case. Our machinist just got in from the long weekend and was looking at it, like I said, our pre-production pieces and our polished ones are not capable of doing it, only the satin... weird...heck, the gap on prototypes is almost .075", and nothing changed when we went into production, but that little radius blending into the chamfer can cause the grief on those satin ones if given the right opportunities.

I've privately been in speaking with Gary, and we're going to get him all squared away as if it never happened when all is said and done. He's cool with what we've proposed to fix him up, and I think it will work for everyone.

 

marcello is truly one-of-a-kind. i have never experienced this sort of commitment to excellence before. he has my trust, loyalty, and future business.

 

I am in awe of Marcello's customer service. WOW...

I just placed an order for my ***** a few minutes ago. I'm glad to do business with someone so reputable.


climatefinish: -S Satin Clear Anodized Finish
climatelight: -G Green (OEM color) Fiber Optic lighting

 

Cool, thanks guys. Hoping to jet take care of people the way I'd want to be taken care of, that's all. Just don't go telling our competition about this - I don't want them figuring out our big secret !!

I'd rather they figure it out when our new 1 page ads hit next month in the rest of the major magazines that we're serious about being a contender in the market

 

Should I expect to see a certain customer's pictures on page 1 of said magazines? If so which ones might they be? WTG for page 1, btw. That's awesome. I'm getting tired of seeing RPM Outlet ads! American Muscle gets Page 1 a lot, too, but they're a good company from my experience.

 

American Muscle is one of our best dealers, and be aware that they pay dearly for their ad location....

I do need to update some of the photos, and so we'll see what ends up where. For sure our new catalog and the new Moss catalog should have some shots in it that are customer submitted

 

 

Sound Wave has a package going out today... looks like it will take care of him just fine, although I am surprised at the differences between the head units we have been seeing, a lot of tolerances shifting around - not anything the casual eye sees, but when you are talking .001" 's of an inch, it all adds up quick.

Art, your order ships in a day or so, been waiting on a little mod to make sure you have no problems.

Everyone with chrome orders - they arrived from plating today, so I think by Monday we'll have everyone squared away.

 

Woohoo finally get my *****! I'm getting excited now.

 

Pictures just don't do them justice. I probably should of cleaned the console up a little better but you get the idea.

 

It looks like you have the Satin radio ****. Did you get the Chrome AC Controls? Just curious. I am going to get the Satin ***** as i have all other pieces in the car Satin.

 

The radio **** is actually spray painted chrome. I will be replacing alot of stuff with chrome. My AC ***** are the chrome ones.

 

Yeah... just another piece we have to get done... I don't like the one in my car right now either

Soon, it will all fall into place...

Tim, glad you like the *****, fit and finish all look okay to you then, which I'm glad to hear. We're ready for PRI - starts tomorrow, our car is running on a dyno exhibit, and it will be hit-or-miss to get me over the next three days, but I'll try and check in when possible.

 

Marcello, I got your AC controls!! Here they are - WOW is all I can say!


I tried to get a "lit up" shot, it's a little too dark but still visible...



I'm extremely happy! Quality is great! No fitment issues, they light up nicely, and look WAYYYY better than stock!

Thank you!!!

 

Cool, I'm glad you are happy with them. So that is what factory NAV looks like... not bad

The only thing I like about my dash-mount Garmin is I can yank it off the windshield and hide it in a lead box if it starts arguing with me about how I want to get somewhere ("Recalculating... Recalculating") Oh, just shut up already, I'm not going to turn here !!

BTW, you do know that the custom work (serrations, groove cuts, etc), and the finish is carried over to all of our other interior products as well (Yeah I know, pretty shameless plug, but it's been a long day!)

 

Here is a set of chrome ones with the red lights. Very easy to install and a quality product, but the red doesn't light up as good as the green does.

 

wow 302svt, those red LEDs really match the heated seat lights nicely.

i have been trying and trying to get good pics of mine. i am really happy with them now. all my pics are coming out blurry. my camera is too fancy for me.