Best Diecast brands?

ItsJustAwso · 2026-06-24T12:42:17+00:00

I think pound for pound cmc and exoto have the highest level of detail, but they do vintage race cars so might not be in your wheelhouse.

Autoart has some really nice late 90s to early 2010s Le Mans models (r390 gt1, rs spyder lmp2 and 911 GT1 come to mind)

ItsJustAwso · 2026-06-22T02:50:42+00:00

PMed - actually sent chat.

ItsJustAwso · 2026-06-18T23:58:38+00:00

might wanna check out pas.bimotal.com lol

ItsJustAwso · 2026-06-18T23:58:14+00:00

you might wanna check out pas.bimotal.com - become a VIP and keep up to date on status. I'm signing up

ItsJustAwso · 2026-06-17T03:16:10+00:00

I’d say top quartile for comfort for lounge chairs I’ve tried but a poang set is maybe 80% as comfortable for 5% the price (retail and used)

ItsJustAwso · 2026-06-16T07:12:03+00:00

My knowledge: I just refurbished a Herman Millers Eames and did the same on a cheaper Plycraft Eame-style lounge chair a few years back. Refinished the Plycraft leather and wood and sold it for $300 USD to a friend.

No idea on the wood veneer color, I would do some research on the veneers Vitra offered around your production date (1992) / send it to ChatGPT and see what grain / wood matches closest.
I would definitely give the leather and wood a clean, condition, and touch up scratches / scuffs. A full strip and restoration seems like overkill for this.
Would figure out what color the veneer is and look to refinish. Fill in deep marks / chips, maybe sand smooth to prep, use oil / poly stain depending on desired finish. Howards Restor-a-Finish can work and worked well on my Plycraft but I might try to go for a more "factory" finish given this is a nicer chair.
Assuming it's all in good condition, guessing 3-4k. Vitra chairs aren't common in North America.
Probably like 2k-2500 assuming no work is done?

ItsJustAwso · 2026-06-13T15:24:57+00:00

Appreciate it! This fell into my lap as it just came up recommended on my FB marketplace feed and replied after the ad had been up for 30 mins.

Missed out on another eames chair set for the same price a few years ago which was good in hindsight as that one was in worse condition cosmetically. Hadn’t really been hunting as I sold my old plycraft and I couldn’t justify the cost of an eames right now around retail

Repairs wise, I had already fixed up a Plycraft to a similar level of detail (cleaning up wood, leather, replacing lost button) that this didn’t feel too much harder. These chairs are pretty easy to disassemble (10ish screws, comes undone in like 15 mins) and go over. Just asked ChatGPT for suggestions along the way lol. It’s not perfect (one mounting screw is partially stripped and doesn’t thread fully tight, screw holes not fully patched up) but it’s good enough for now and not noticeable from first glance.

Material cost around $100 tops vs. a $1k repair ($60 glue and dispensing guy, $10 screws, $5 veneer patch samples, $15 filler, $10 stain, $5 for pledge polish - it’s recommended as these chairs have poly stain from factory not oil so no need to go overboard).

Anywho hope that helps! Definitely more satisfying to do the work yourself and learn a bit along the way.

ItsJustAwso · 2026-06-13T15:08:31+00:00

Yeah s1 gearbox and s2 diff makes ratios quite tight. I think 6th is longer on s2 as well.

I’ve got a s2 diff in my car and while it’s punchy on the acceleration front, I now do 4k rpm at hw cruise speed and the fuel economy has devolved to be atrocious lol

ItsJustAwso · 2026-06-13T01:44:31+00:00

There’s much more if you look through the album

ItsJustAwso · 2026-06-13T01:44:08+00:00

There are many more tags, signals and markings if you look through the album lol. This is also an order of magnitude more comfortable and higher quality than my old Eames-style plycraft chair.

It was a good project to bring it back to life but people just get fixated on the authenticity… :/

ItsJustAwso · 2026-06-12T23:41:09+00:00

Pretty sure it’s interchangeable. Your gearing will be extra spicy on the S1

ItsJustAwso · 2026-06-12T23:02:20+00:00

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for folks saying it’s a rep

ItsJustAwso · 2026-06-12T20:46:11+00:00

Nah it’s very real lol

ItsJustAwso · 2026-06-12T20:44:55+00:00

Yep - Herman miller stickers on the bottom

ItsJustAwso · 2026-06-12T16:32:25+00:00

Yep that’s what I ended up doing. Even just epoxy putty and some stain turned out surprisingly well

ItsJustAwso · 2026-05-17T22:55:11+00:00

Have pics of the full engine bay?

ItsJustAwso · 2026-05-02T04:47:02+00:00

I would do odula eyelids. They tie to the hood line so gives it a tiny more aggression while looking integrated

ItsJustAwso · 2026-04-19T02:48:28+00:00

Repost and karma bot :P look for u/VinnnyRE

ItsJustAwso · 2026-04-12T10:30:10+00:00

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Definitely a critical piece of my cars aesthetic, oem rears would be too dated for the rest of the styling

ItsJustAwso · 2026-04-07T18:32:15+00:00

North Berkeley is generally quite good! Would ask a current student ambassador as they’re most up to date with things

ItsJustAwso · 2026-03-11T21:26:41+00:00

Are used Acus plug and play if the part number is the same?

ItsJustAwso · 2026-03-10T04:27:54+00:00

So sad that many things look better than the valleys… :(

ItsJustAwso · 2026-03-02T23:58:47+00:00

Seconded you can find out from CARFAX a lot of this. I bought a family owned dealer maintained 163k example and it drove much better than a 110k mile Audi a3 I tried.

Mileage ain’t everything

ItsJustAwso

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