1952-59 Ford Reproduction Parts

When it comes to reproduction parts for our cars are any brand better then others? I changed my tail lights years ago and they didn't last but a few years before the chrome turned all grey paint looking. I am about to spend a bunch of money on new trim items, emblems, locks etc and I am worried about the quality of those items as well. Do they all come from the same place or are some places better quality then others?

 

No thanks to over zealous regulation from the past administrations many places that were doing chrome are now history those that remain are much more expensive. The imported chrome products do not last and are thinly coated

 

My stuff from Dennis Carpenter seems to be holding up well. Same with my side mirrors made by Fargo. Everything else shiney on my car is stainless.

 

Reason I brought it up is before I retired I delivered uniforms and shop towels to about three shops here in Phoenix,all these folks ended up closing putting some good folks out of work and that is a shame all because of the expense of regulation codes.

 

I refuse to buy any repop **** since it's always chinesium these days. There's still plenty NOS and good used OEM parts available. I have to admit I'm having a problem finding a nice set of parking lamp housings for my 56. Mine are little too pitted for my liking. I heard he repops are chinesium and are expensive plus the quality ****s.

 

I have had all kinds of trouble finding 55 Ford Fairlane NOS chrome parts such as the trunk lid trim, parking light housings, grill, etc.

 

I've seemed to have seen a lot of NOS trim parts for 56's on fleabay since I started searching around the time I bought my car. I just had to figure a way to filter out all the garbage you get when searching there. I haven't bought much since I don't really need much.

 

Correct!

 

I've bought side trim off ebay and it is a good source for a lot of OE stuff as mentioned. I might have to look for a NOS trunk lock..

 

I have a 56 Bird and I find that pretty much all of the repop stuff is of very good quality

 

The shiny pieces I got from Mac's are holding up very well so far. Outside mirrors, backup light housings, door handles and side badges. . . after nearly 10 years and all are still good. Plastic pieces like the tail light and parking light lenses are good too. I should add that the car doesn't sit outside when I'm not driving it.

 

Yeah, it's not really a political statement but rather a matter of fact. The industry I work in uses chrome plating in some of our products and EPA regulations had limited our ability to expand because we weren't allowed to build any new tanks, which meant that we had to "utilize off shore capacities". Now we have been able to expand and produce in the US.
Bear in mind that most of the onerous limitations on production in this country have been due to regulations p***ed by bureaucrats rather than laws p***ed by congress. Both parties have been at fault in the past because they did not monitor the regulations being issued by non-elected persons.

 

The quality of the chrome really comes down to the prep and amount of copper or nickel base before the chrome which all are cost adders.
Some of the off shore stuff is basically just a flash chrome and doesn't hold up long term. Bottom line, if it's cheaper it's probably lesser quality.

 

This has been discussed/debated many times and, like most things in life, the truth is somewhere in between and a lot more complicated. The plating industry is alive and well in the U.S., but since the early 90s regulations have been getting progressively tighter on controlling toxic waste and by-products, and chrome plating in particular produces some really nasty and dangerous stuff. What this means is that economies of scale come into play, and your local mom and pop shops are finding it unprofitable to continue to operate when faced with a no-tolerance policy of not leaking toxic waste into the air, water, and ground. So like many other industries, the big companies had the resources to come into the 21st century.

https://brandongaille.com/23-chrome-plating-industry-statistics-trends-****ysis/

 

But the reason we have these forums is so we can discuss topics not allowed on the main board. Things like fuel injection, LED lights, newer drive lines, all the things we are all doing with our cars. (Except Rui)
I don't want to read a political rant but a simple comment stating that something is no longer allowed doesn't bother me.
If it's ok with Jeff, it's ok here.

 

The blaming and fingerpointing is what always blows things up. Maybe proper attribution will help - for waht it's worth, the work on the regs was going on in the early 2000s, and the final regulations were adopted in 2007.

https://www.epa.gov/stationary-sour...nds-national-emission-standards-hazardous-air

eta: an industry newsletter from 2003 for perspective. This is not a new issue:

https://www.pfonline.com/articles/hard-chrome-plating-its-past-present-and-future

 

like it or not politics affect what we are trying to accomplish on the forum. and thats keeping the legacy of gas guzzeling, chrome plated, seatbelt deficient, oil leaking, smog producing vehicle in our own driveways instead of a museum or wikipedia. so sometimes it may be necessary to state a political facts in order for us to understand why we can or cant do something like buy affordable high quality chrome products. or be able to afford gas because of "climate change" regualtions like in france. can you imagine 300,000 hot rods and customs cruising up to DC to protest the next leftwing administration's climate change laws taxing gas powered vehicles

 

Hey!!.. I like my carby, and I like my bulb lights , in fact I love them along with everything else in my beatn'up 56.
Truth is even if I wanted to change an update some of the stuff to more recent tech (and there are aspects I probably should better - braking for instance), it simply is very expensive, given the fact that parts are not available here, and that I aint got much money to spare. I always have to add shipment, tax and custom fees. That along with the lack of local knowledge makes it hard for me.

Anyway, I promise to keep her up and running, and also to keep driving her everytime.

Proceed with the debate, I like to read most everything you guys write and discuss.

 

you do have the option of not signing in. I think your thinking is in a very very small minority that continue to believe the earth is flat and ignore the facts.what Jeff said is fact.perhaps you should join the world of reality and you will see the error of your thinking

 

Yes the regulations related to plating have been gradually tightening over the years. The EPA finalized the NESHAP standards in 1994 which dealt with mist control and carry over from the tanks. EPA themselves estimated that this would result in a 99% reduction in chromium emissions at that time which were significant and needful because the emissions are carcinogenic. The emissions limit at that time was 0.03 mg/dcsm for existing tanks and 0.015 for new tanks. However the rules continued to become tighter with the final rule in 2012 imposing a 0.006 mg/dcsm for new tanks. EPA estimated that this would result in a 30% reduction in the chromium emissions exposure.
That's 30% of the remaining 1% after the rule was imposed on 1994. Obviously we all want to have a safe environment but there comes a point of diminishing returns. Obviously initially reducing emissions by 99% was well worth the cost of adding the scrubbers, wetting agents, mist eliminators, etc., but meeting the 0.006 mg/dcsm became so costly that most companies had to either go overseas or change their designs to use alternative platings/coatings.

 

I'm also for a clean environment but when the EPA is over zealous and instead of finding solutions they put American workers out of business that is not going in the right direction. We have seen tons of complaints about the quality of offshore made parts and we have heard and seen horrible pollution stories coming out of China where their citizens go around wearing protective masks to lead everyday lives and this is not a solution it is dumping our issues on other nations. This is not about being political it is really about common sense solutions that should have been addressed and have not been developed or put to use. .

 

Yes I have been to China numerous times and it is true that we just off load pollution in a different area. I nearly died from an intestinal bacterial infection from one trip.
The other problem with outsourcing to other countries is that you must continually monitor their processes and product because they will tend to deviate from the requirements over time.

 

r12 freon is still bein produced in other countries that have zero regulations and being sold all over the world. but somehow the hole in the ozone isnt affected when chlorofluorocarbons are released south of the border or in asia and africa.

 

And here in the States R-12 went away but cans still available in Mexico,so whats next ? I saw R134a at Wal-Mart for $4.99 https://www.vehicleservicepros.com/...ll-follow-europe-in-banning-r134a-refrigerant

 

The near banning of R12 here (you can still use it if you can find it and afford it) came about due to the convergence of 3 factors. DuPont could no longer renew their patents on it and other chloroflourocarbon refrigerants (R22, R502, etc.), the EPA needed a new reason to justify their existence and NASA was looking for a mission. So the story that R12, etc. was destroying the ozone layer was concocted and the rest is history. The truth is that none of these gases can destroy the ozone layer as they're all heavier than air as are their individual components. There is practically no mixing of the atmosphere between the layer we live in and the stratosphere wherein resides the ozone layer. One volcanic eruption can inject more chlorine, the component of R12 blamed for the ozone hole, than all human activity since the beginning of time. DuPont to the rescue with R134a which was languishing on their shelves and of course had a brand new long term, renewable patent, forcing the HVAC industry to jump through hoops with major redesigns and retrofit kits. 134a works OK but its performance is still inferior to good 'ol R12. But get ready, DuPont's patents on R134a are now running out for the last time so watch for the replacement, R1234yf to come to a vehicle near you.

 

Yeah, well, except oxygen, water vapor, and even dust are also heavier than air. None of that is really the way things work. The science is all readily accessible, and most of it is older than you and me, being well established.

 

My apologies. Apparently politics has a green light here. Carry on!

 

My main point was to be sure to find a plater who can still do the copper and nickel base plating to ensure a good plating. Each process had its separate emissions concerns so there are fewer small shops that still do the full process.

The nickel base was what gave the older cars that deep chrome look that we love.

 

Not only all of the above, but the solutions have to be monitored and maintained. Go offshore and they cut all sorts of corners in the parts we all buy. All of my Carpenter stuff looks good after 4 years. He stays on top of his stuff. My Summit peep mirrors... the chrome is pitting and the car sees little of the elements being garaged all the time.

In the military hardware business, we've had many platers go out of business over the years. Hard-chromers are hard to find and lots of our customers tie us to a set of vendors that are NADCAP approved. We had one series of parts, very hard to finish and maintain the size as well as a strict nickel and chrome thickness requirement. We had a new vendor that handled the hard-chrome and did the final grinding... success after I let them know that they could use lathe centers in the parts (ground between centers as opposed to centerless..). I was the only one that caught the flash of copper strike under the nickel, but you can't beat a triple chrome finish.

 

UPDATE: Many of you p***ed on some good information as to why manufacturing has changed our hobby,some people think we are "going political" by pointing out regulations that affect us and our car hobby, we have lost a member chopd top citing this as a reason to exit and quit the Group he deleted some information that over the years helped others with their projects rather than contact me by " Conversation" and talking this out. In the future if anyone has a beef message me I an not a mind reader and we can discuss your concerns. I have in the past had to call a halt to some comments by members but I do it by " Conversation" one on one. Calling someone out to the whole Group is not how I roll. I did message him and thank him for his past contributions as I'm sure some of you would have.