Wow !! This is all great info !! I'm putting it all into a spreadsheet to see what can be done for the items mentioned.
Here's something that we currently have an opportunity to have reproduced. Any interest in this item from the CS community ?
decorative strips nrs. 1 & 6 in link above and
retaining clips nrs. 2 & 7 in link above
Just please respond here if you would have an interest in these items.
Wrt to the aluminium strips (1&6); these are hard for any DYI-er to reproduce themselves due to their specific shape + being thin walled. They are also easily dented and scratched being in the kick-the-door-open-with-your-shoe-area. I think there are various lengths making it a tad complex to produce a full set: Front door has three pieces, rear has one. Front door length of one piece is different (I think) when comparing hand crank to electric front window. Also the rear could have different lengths due to some doorpanel having the plastic plug for the emergency window operation, but not sure. Left to right is the same part, just flipped fore-aft.
Interesting option is to make the alu strips as full drawn material, a solid section. then drill M3 holes in from the back. this would offer significant benefits as the different lengths that exist could be simple be made by cutting correct lengths and trimming the ends before anodizing them. then also no need for the metal clip-strips.
The strip shaped clips (2&7) or to attach them to a door panel can be replaced by generic fastners such as these, although they will not hold the strip nicely to the door panel as the original strip does. One might even just copy the originals themselves; these aren't complex to make. Take a thin metal plate, a Dremel, 15 minutes and I'm good for one.
On the other hand these clips aren't difficult to make on semi-industrial scale either; they are just a flat stamped or lasercut product. The metal choice should be done careful, as it would be good if the prongs don't snap if they are bent more then one time (fatigue crack like paperclips). The consumer can even bend the tabs themselves, allowing to store and send them as flat packages which has significant logistic benefits.
So business wise; as the alu strips are more complex to DIY them, they'll justify a higher sales price. The retaining clips are good candidates for laser cutting.
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