Hot Rods Maybe it's not the new guys' fault..................

Partsdawg is right-here's a little pile of "experienced" parts I got at the Los Lunas, NM swap meet this past weekend.

 

it is not just car stuff, but everything.

 

It seems like every project I tackle requires reaching for the Bridgeport mill. Holes are too small to accept a bolt, don't even want to talk about my Harbor Fright engine crane... If a guy doesn't have the skills to bail himself out, he's hosed.

Talking to my engine builder, he has a customer with an SBC build, the guy brings in his own Scat crank, an eBay special for under $300, the guy had no idea that a real Scat or whoever's quality crank is 3X that. Torques the mains, crank will not turn, customer agrees to a re-grind, the crank comes back straight and all the mains .010 under. Same deal, once torqued the crank won't turn. My engine was in the shop at the time, drops in my crank and it turned fine. Last I heard a Scat rep was coming out to look at it.

 

learned from a old timer at a swap meet, when someone walks up asks what a part that you are selling is for you put the question back to him - what do ya got? bottom line it fits a '88 Buick to a '32 Ford - with some modifications - Ha! - funny on one hand but, not so funny on the other - seems that is the motto that many manufacturers use - my wife is not very sympathetic when I am upset that a new high priced name brand part does not fit - she says, what do you expect? - it's a Hot Rod

 

Or the gear you were going to get.

 

Yes, the people who started those companies did it to make parts that fit and worked to solve problems they found. The people who bought the companies don't care about that part. It's all about making money.

 

It's been said many a time before, the bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.

 

George Hurst is probably rolln' over in his grave (in spite of the mystery shifters) over this kinda crap quality...

 

Hopefully we will continue to have more people who are concerned about quality step up and fill the void of less than quality parts....and then when the corporate umbrella comes in to buy them out they refuse to sellout....

 

I have a Hurst Indy 3 speed shifter that looks to be a copy of a cheaper brand that rattles but has lasted 10 years,and about those bicycles I have found that its cheaper to buy a cheap bike then to repair one. I got my old mid 70s 10 speed out of storage to get some exercise and it needed tires and was almost 60 dollars for two tires and tubes and brake pads so how can a kid today afford that,I had to go to a bicycle shop since the box stores do not keep up on the stock of parts they sell and would had to drive all over town to get those parts.

 

2nd only to the mistery shifters....is the dreaded "Indy" crap! Get an old BIG letter comp plus at the flea market and see what '60s quality was really like!

 

Ya u should and while ur at it customize it a bit to make it look boss lol


Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app HotRod Harry

 

After 2 clutch failures and pressure plate wierdness... I went to the local clutch rebuilder. I asked him to find the dusty, surface rusted, or the crummy looking part that doesn't shine. He carried out the part, blew a huge dust cloud off of it, and asked if I was sure enough to buy it... I did... It worked perfectly! Now I just broke my rear end. It had motive gears in it... Oh man, here I go again!

I am loosing faith in "new" products. I am beginning to look for really old stuff again. I am sick of doing the repair over and over again!

I vented.... Thank you. This topic has some merit and truth in it.

Sent from my XT1585 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

"The Chinese can't copy crap!" That's my quote every time l try to use repop parts.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Actually they can. When you add your own metallurgy, tolerances, sheet metal thickness, etc you can have a really nice part made. It's likely the one next to the bargain version on the same shelf but 25% higher priced. have a friend who made some obsolete 3 filament light bulbs. He was able to sell them for 1/2 of what the gennie's cost today, made a decent profit, was even able to offer a free no-questions-asked replacement thanks to the quality and strict specifications maintained. It CAN be done.

This is the rub, the scab, the terminal angst found in garages and shops nationwide. The fact it can be done but isn't in the name of profit. I dunno, I'd rather sell for decades at a smaller profit than make a "kill" for a short time. It's like flipping a car. Would you rather develop a reputation for fairness and honesty selling a dozen cars a year or try for a massive TV-esque kill just once? Sure, the occasional jackpot happens but it's not a standard business model, it's a pipe dream. Ryan's product store should tell us all something. Maybe our industry should look at his and several other examples of quality and standards. Maybe that's a pipe dream too.

 

PRICELESS>>>LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Funny thing about this I was in College and lived about 5 blocks from school so I went to Walmart and bought me a new bike to ride to school to save not having to buy a parking pass. Well first day Im riding it back from class and all of the sudden I wake up on the ground with some guy standing over me going "Man that was totally sweet, I saw the whole thing. Throw your bike in the back of my truck Ill give you a ride home" I was like what just happened? apparently the front wheel fell off and I proceeded to drive my head and shoulder into the ground and get knocked out for a few seconds. I didn't realize until hours later I had actually broke my collar bone. I took it back to walmart and exchanged it for another one and made the guy tighten all the bolts right there in front of me. Sorry for the derail.

As far as parts go we see it every day with crap that does not fit. Sad part it we have dealt with this issue in Engine building for many years. I remember when the Sportsman DART blocks came out for SBC and guys bought them left and right because they were a few hundred cheaper than their top line. Little did they know they were going to spend that money right back into labor since I takes a Day to get a Crank to turn in one of them.

 

Growing up on an Iowa farm, my 1st bike was a hand-me-down 20" with solid rubber tires. That bike was nearly indestructible. My dad got it from one of my uncles. When we were all grown, he came over to pick it up. He was going to repaint it for one of his grandkids.

 

Sadly, the problem is that there isn't a big market for these things anymore. The cars and the people who use the products are disappearing.

 

Meanwhile, back in Cuba.....
They're hammering out parts with rocks and bamboo tools.

I remember when Hurst was the shifter you bought to replace the "factory" shifter on your new car. If you didn't have the scratch for a Hurst, you bought a Fenton.

 

I have seen it done, like you said, but it took several trips back and forth across the pond... I won't spoil the companies reputation that I have been involved with in order to know this. But it can be done.

As far as selling a car for profit, how do you do that? LOL. I always lose my ass!

Sent from my XT1585 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Then us "Mopar" guys got Hurst shifter's factory original... That is something that I always enjoyed and never had to worry about. Until the mid-late seventies. Then the crappy shifters were being used, boo!

Sent from my XT1585 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I noticed this in the past year or so. And it concerns me deeply. I pondered if the high gas prices dwindled the hobby. But when the gas prices dropped, the car hobby stayed stagnant here. If my kids don't like my car's, and refuse to build their own cars, then all is lost in my family. I am the last man standing! Nobody at my family reunion gives a ¢ about my old cars. They are all obsessed with track homes, cell phones, and shopping for crap they don't need.... It sickens me really... But then I maybe extinct already and could be too stubborn to realize it. LOL





Sent from my XT1585 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I save up my scratch and buy the best old stuff I can afford. I'm guilty as the rest of buying out of catalog parts and I usually end up paying for it. And that's the most fucked up thing. Is I expect the part to fail or not fit. But, I make an effort to support the vendors here on the H.A.M.B., for instance , the Walden speed shop transmission mount kit for 49-52 chevys. Wasn't cheap. But that sucker fit. Every hole. Like it was supposed to. And was built for the life of the car. Support the little guy. They seem to be the only ones who give a shit. Their reputation is on the line.

 

"Ignorance is bliss" but why ? The good stuff came from those that were not happy with what was out there or not out there. They were true thinkers not make believers.

 

I have a buddy whose son works for a large name brand company.
They manufactured everything here in the US until they couldn't fill orders to meet demand. So instead of increasing capacity here they sent work overseas. Prototype and initial parts and assemblies looked great. On to real production.
The stuff fell apart in the containers on the trip to the USA.
At least one lesson learned...
It seems that unless you have full time personnel watching over the production, they just turn to making what ever they want, quality, fit, finish, function, materials be damned.
How many of the big box auto suppliers have someone on site at the offshore production facilities looking over the parts you might purchase from them? I bet you can count it on no fingers on one hand.

 

My definition of universal = 'Doesn't fit anything'.
I went through the crap repo stuff with my tri-five Chevy. Bought a bunch of parts that ended up in the trash, then I dug out all the old bits from the buckets and tins under the bench, refurbished them and got on with the job. I sell restoration parts on a daily basis and I often have to remind people that just because you can buy a new part doesn't mean that it's perfect. There are quality repo parts out there, but sometimes they take some searching to find.

Arnold.