914-4 vs 914-6...heat exchangers, Trying to understand Dansk's price disparity Options

[horizontally-opposed]

Another thread got me to thinking about this, and I suppose my honest questions could be construed as an attack on a vendor (not intended), so it's probably better to move the conversation to its own thread.

These 914-4 heat exchangers in mild steel are $268 each:
https://www.stoddard.com/022256091f.html

These 914-6 heat exchangers in mild steel are $3675 a pair:
https://www.stoddard.com/91421100500-sic.html

It looks like a mild steel HEs for the 914-4 may or may not be available for $300~ per side while stainless-steel HEs for the 914-4 can be had for $1800~ a pair. Or less. What I am still trying to understand is Dansk's pricing for 914-6 HEs in mild steel. I get that they have an extra exhaust tube each, different head flanges, and more intricate heater boxes, but… (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

Anyone and any company is welcome to weigh in with perspective so long as it's respectful. I converted my 914 to a 2.2 six a few years ago, and went with a set of used headers that were handy because I was already over budget and had a tough time justifying the price of -6 heat exchangers for a car I don't use all that often and can choose not to use in cold weather (I doubt I am alone in this). Of the current options, I am most impressed with mb911's stainless setup (expensive but seems like good value) and Dansk's mild steel setup (very expensive and does not seem like good value—unless, that is, factory appearance is critical).

Here to learn…

[Larry.Hubby]

The Dansk units aren't mild steel, they have 400-series stainless tubing and flanges and aluminum-clad steel clamshells. Granted, the 300-series stainless that mb911 uses is better material, the 400-series stainless is still much better than mild steel.

[horizontally-opposed]

The Dansk units aren't mild steel, they have 400-series stainless tubing and flanges and aluminum-clad steel clamshells. Granted, the 300-series stainless that mb911 uses is better material, the 400-series stainless is still much better than mild steel.

^ Good point, although there seems to be conflicting info on the clamshells. This from the original press release/story:

Dansk, a Danish sheet metal and exhaust production company, and Stoddard NLA, a Cleveland, Ohio based Porsche parts retailer, have worked together to launch a new reproduction set of heat exchangers that look and sound every bit like their original counterparts. The key difference here, however, is that the new pieces are crafted of 4026 stainless steel tubing with galvanized steel stamped heat boxes.

Dansk may have a recommended retail list price? Typical retail markup %? Who knows?
With real 6 prices thru the roof, OEMish 6 parts are prob priced accordingly. If you NEED the real thing for your car you pay for it. That CC ribbon comes with a toll.

Top 1970-1971 914-6 street cars have traded at $80-130k in recent years, but should pricing for repro parts be tied to those prices? The "real thing"—NOS or great used parts with correct date codes, etc—are something else, and I understand why prices for period factory parts are tied to the cars.

Dansk 914-6 HEs are priced at ~3.5% of the value of a $100,000 914-6…but more like 10-20% of the value of all but the nicest six conversions. That's $2200-2900 for some stamped clamshells wrapped around headers that have (very good) competition at $683-1400. Is there something complicated or tricky about those clamshells? If so, I'm game to learn about that. Would help me better understand the pricing.

I purchased a set of the Dansk 914-6 HEs when Stoddard first offered them a few years ago. When I received them it was obvious that the flanges were defective in that they were not in parallel and would never bolt up. Stoddard replaced them after Dansk produced correct replacements.

Stoddard has increased the price from under $3K to about $3,600 and I suspect that the increase is due to demand and the very limited market for the product.

The Dansk HEs are very close reproductions but not exact. Several brackets that were on the OE heat exchangers are missing on the Dansks. Overall the they are high quality and as far as I know, the only original looking product available for sixes.

I searched for a long time for original six HEs but never found an acceptable set at anywhere near an affordable price.

Thanks for chiming in with your experience. I think they are the only original looking product for sixes, which is why I've had my eye on them. Interesting to hear some details are missing, but good to hear the quality is high from a customer. I remember the flange problem, and was impressed by the way Stoddard and Dansk addressed it.

I do wonder if the very limited demand is related to the pricing structure, as I think they are in high demand, but everyone who wants them has had the same experience: "I searched for a long time…but never found an acceptable set at anywhere near an affordable price."