As many of you know, we have not been taking orders while we fill the orders that have come in. As is often the case in a new venture, some things have changed that I did not anticipate. We will be opening to take orders again in about a week to 10 days. But, we will only be offering the brushed aluminum grill for the time being. The costs we had on the polished grill have been increased to the point that we can't offer that at this time. This is something we regret but have no control over. Whether we will be able to offer the polished grill in the future we don't know at this point. Everyone has been very patient and I appreciate that. Because these grills are handmade and I want them to be right, it takes a bit longer. For those of you who have polished grills on order, those are coming and are not affected by this change.

For those of you wondering the difference in the brushed and polished, you might want to contact directly some of those who have bought the brushed to get their feedback. I happen to have the polished on my car (I will be changing the grills to brushed and taking some photos). At the time I put the polished on I hadn't even seen the brushed. And after I saw it I liked it and particularly the fact that it has a little more substance because the polishing doesn't round the edges. And it does match the trim on the Crossfires. But, we all have different tastes. I do wish I could continue to offer the polished grill but at this time that's not possible. I won't be able to take questions on this because I need to handle this so it doesn't become an issue with other people who might read it.

 

My fabricator was supposed to provide both the springs for mounting of the upper grill and the screws for the lower grills. Unfortunately, unknown to me until recently, the screws he has sometimes provided have been a little too large to fit through the slats in the lower grills. What has happened is that there are not #8 screws available with a head the right size and he was going to turn the screws on a grinder to slightly reduce the head size so they would fit. Apparently sometimes he has done this and other times he has not. Please let me know if you need either screws or springs. (I think the springs that have gone out are OK) and I will send them by Priority Mail. If you want, you can reduce the screws you have by simply turning the heads slightly on the outer edge to reduce the size so they will fit through the slats. I apologize for this problem and oversight. Please contact me directly by e-mail regarding this at don@crossfiregrills.

 

Changed my mind at the last minute (thanks for letting me change, Don) to the brushed, and I am glad I did. It looks great, matches some of the other "satin" trim, and the slats are fatter looking like Don says. Anyone in Scottsdale / Phoenix area who wants to see mine, drop me a message or email.

 

"Different strokes," as they say. I preferred the polished finish and the thinner billet. See picture links below. Either way, though, these grilles are spectacular.

https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...1&d=1196007630

https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...9&d=1196007018

 

When the website reopens, I will be reducing the cost of the brushed aluminum package (upper and lowers) from $576 to $498. The price of the upper grill will remain the same. I'm able to do this because at this time, the price on the lower grills permits it. The cost of just the upper grill remains at $298. Hopefully, I will be able to hold these prices but as I've learned things change. For those who have bought initially at the $576 price, I will be giving you a refund for the difference. I think that's only fair, it always bugs me when I pay a higher price and then the price is reduced and I get stuck.

 

I only bought the upper, so no refund for me, but I have to say that offering the refund to those who already paid the higher price is a really classy move, Don !!!

 

Preface: I did not order grills from donoutwest.

I am thoroughly impressed with Don's good business sense. Keeping your existing and potential clients informed when things don't go as planned or change due to outside factors makes all the difference in customer satisfaction.

And now to pass along an unexpected price reduction to those that already ordered is just amazing.

Kudos to you, donoutwest. You are a rare breed.

(Why am I not surprised his name is the same as mine.)

 

That's just a pure class act. I'm impressed. I look at the material, time and quality you put into your product; and to offer it at pretty much the same price as some of the other mods.

That's just pure class!

Once I'm done with my performance mods I will be placing an order with you.

 

You will not be disappointed. This grille is an excellent and well-made product that really does change the look of the front end--and much for the better, IMHO.

Did I mention the 15-HP increase?

 

Don,
Found this on ebay. It sure looks like your grill.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Chrys...em370000454762

 

buy it now... price $439 (for upper & lower).

~ according to the ebay link... this is the producer...

https://www.chassistech.com/login.ph...03c8b5c54e0643

 

I like the polished better. Also what is going on?

 

There is quite a story here. I have pretty much been expecting this. Nice of them to lift and use my photos. When I found these guys they had made an initial effort at designing a Crossfire grill about a year before. They agreed to work with me and we went through a series of redesigns to develop the grills that I have been selling. As the grills developed, I contacted the owner and he agreed to fabricate the grills for me to sell and gave me prices. I placed an initial order, and when he saw the orders I was getting, he told his guys to make twice the number of grills I had originally ordered. The result is that they started making grills to sell on their own and just today, after placing my initial order 10/31 I am finally within two orders of filling the sales that I had. Within two weeks of my beginning with them, the owner increased the cost of the polished grill to the point that I would make nothing by the time I paid him and my credit card fees, etc. I had an agreement with him to ship my grills and when I told him that the cost increases would not work, he then told his guys to not ship my orders so I have picked them up and shipped them myself. The owner told me that they would come into the forum and undercut me. My guess is that they figured going onto e-bay would accomplish their purpose because that would get info into the forum and they would drive me out of business with a lower cost.
I guess this explains why I haven't been able to get the hardware for my grills and my orders filled. As this has occurred, I have kept some of the senior members briefed on what was happening so I am sure this will not be a surprise to them.

 

A little more background. I have a friend in the auto restoration business and he sent me to guy in Mesa to build me a custom grill. The cost was high and as I was leaving the area, I happened to see another shop and went in to ask, and that led me to the current fabricator, which primarily does suspension systems for trucks. Later, after I was embarking on the venture and having some problems, I went back and told my friend (the resoration specialist and his associates) what was going on. They let me know that if they had known who I was doing business with they would have warned me. Oh well, I figured I would give it a shot, it was worth a try.

 

Don...after PMing you earlier and getting your response and reading your post here...maybe there is something we can do as a group. Maybe those of us who are intending on purchasing just not purchase from him or maybe the powers here on the forum can ban him and not allow him to peddle his wares here. Its a shame that after all of your hard work, that your fabricator would steal your design and on top of that steal your marketing strategy and then try to push you out of the market...that just sucks! This Christmas or early in the new year I was going to give my Roadster Limited a little present...one of your polished grille sets, but if I cannot get it from you then I will do without (just the principle).

 

I do appreciate that but I would understand if someone wanted a grill and bought from them. There are some good people there. I can't stop them from selling the grill, I guess what irritates me most is that they don't even have their own pictures, they are using the pictures of my car on my website. I have pointed that out to e-bay, we will see what they say.

 

A case of the second mouse getting the cheese! You should have put a watermark with your web site on all the pictures you post - an Ebay must!!

Your next option is to take your design and document it (fab drawings, parts list, QC inspection criteria, ETC).. And shop around for a low cost fab shop. With all the imported labor in the west you should be able to drive your cost way down.

You could also design up some nice matching side vents etc..

Good luck.

 

I just thought of something dirty and nasty!

Oh yea - and something we can do to the guy on Ebay who stole your design.

Lets all (Forum Members) place one or two or three orders on his Ebay listing - and then never follow through. If he reports us to ebay- we tell them that as forum members were are upset he stole a fellow members design and pictures. Ebay won't punish us and 10:1 says he makes you his exclusive distributor.

He will get the hint that forum members will never buy from him and thus limit his market share for this already limited market potential.

Just an idea (A mean, dirty, nasty idea).

 

I say just support don and not do business with the other guy. You'll still get your grill and the balance of the universe will still be intact.

 

Was wondering if anyone ever gotten the refund that Don mentioned? I have not.

cheers

Eddy