Quote: Your side-by-side comparison looks to be using the old crap solid foam gaskets from years ago Nobody uses those anymore.... Oh yea...I thought there was NO REPRODUCTION parts is this Valiant restoration
My "side by side comparison" was purchased by Dave Stuart (5 months ago) to see what was being offered. Our gaskets were made from the original materials, by the original manufacturer that supplied them to the Automotive World in the Sixties and Seventies.
Why the rhetoric questions Alan? You were neck deep in the ordeal that ensued just a week after the Nationals. Our original intent was to restore the Valiant without using a single reproduction part. Ten days before the show, Dave Stuart noticed that one of the exterior handles had hairline scratches. I had been buying/collecting NOS handles trying to get a pristine, matching set. (Reference the Picture Below) With just a few days left before the show, we decided to use a pristine reproduction instead of the damaged one. It stood out like a sore thumb (from the nos pieces) so the ENTIRE group/team made an eleventh hour decision to use the repos BUT with the original push buttons and gaskets. Four days before the show we noticed that an interior handle had some chrome that flaked off. We diligently tried to find another NOS replacement to complete the set. (Tony Dagostino can attest to this as he tried to find us another up to the day before the show.) One of our "friends" who was also involved with this project said that he would overnight a reproduction set that had all the correct markings. We went through the same scenario when they arrived. We couldn't replace just one because they looked better than the NOS versions. As a group, we decided to use the entire set. These decisions were made at the eleventh hour! We are not the "lying-hypocritical" group that some have decided to refer to us as. Besides using only NOS/Original parts, our goal was ALSO trying to beat the score that we achieved with the Challenger 2 years earlier. Sometimes circumstances change the course you have to take!
For the record Alan there was also one plastic strap that was a reproduction, as well as the clear overlay that covered the original VIN decal. (The VIN Decal IS still Original.) An original plastic cable strap broke two weeks before the show and the NOS replacement that Steve Juliano sent us ALSO broke when we tried to install it. The clear overlay looked good until we detailed the surrounding areas of the driver door so we decided to go with a "better look" over "ugly originality". It is odd that you never mentioned or were concerned with the "reproduction" paint that we used throughout the entire car!
Door handles, a plastic tie and a VIN clear overlay!.......When I find one more NOS handle, they will all be original and back in place. We are allowed to change them AFTER the show aren't we Alan? Who decided on the deadline for our Team achieving the original goals? I don't think the mission statement has to be abandoned just because we ran into some difficulty prior to the show......do you?! By the time you see the Magazine coverage, everything except the clear overlay will be "original" once again. In the overall scheme of things, I am still pretty proud of our Team and the final outcome. Sorry if we disappointed you Alan! Would you like to buy some leftover NOS door handles?!?
Nobody uses those anymore.... 
