Way back when, it was common to ask for the Heavy Duty Echlin parts at NAPA for anything electrical, if you wanted quality and could afford it, especially points. I was looking for a Ford Type solenoid today and saw the Standard brand was roughly half the Echlin and the NAPA Proformer line about halfway between. Is the quality that much different, or are you paying for the name now days, with everything coming from China? I know there are guys here working in parts, deal with it every day. Just looking for opinions. To be honest , I dont think I've ever replaced more that 2 or 3 of any kind that actually failed. Most of the ones I've bought was to get that hot wire away from the heat on a SBC.
The '50s-'60s design OEM Ford solenoids in my experience are all but bulletproof. I only ever had one fail, but it was on me as I tried to use it for continuous duty and the coil won't take that. You can still find 'em, but they're not cheap anymore... about $40. Or raid your local boneyard for a used one.
Pushed parts for 12 years behind a counter at NAPA back when we had catalog racks and no computers. Echlin used to be our only line of electrical parts. Then, in the 90's, to compete with the likes of Advance Auto Parts, and Big A, they introduced "Napa Silverline". We still carried Echlin but the Silverline stuff outsold it. Out of the box, the quality was poor. Poor castings on distributor caps and rotors. Points with plastic insulators... all of it was junk. You'd sell so much of this stuff to repeat customers who'd rather spend $2 seven times, rather than $8 once. But... they just kept buying the cheap stuff because they thought they were getting a deal. I dunno, humans are dumb. I'm sure some of the lower volume stores stopped stocking most of the Echlin parts because they'd set on the shelf. Anyway... if you can find anything Echlin NOS from about 30 years ago, it's a stout part that will last a while. The new Echlin stuff doesn't have the quality the old stuff did. Basically, now it's all Silverline quality stuff crammed into an Echlin box. I can't imagine how junky the new Silverline stuff is. Trying to find quality parts now-a-days is a ****shoot. They're out there, but you've gotta dig for them. Bottom line: You don't quite get what you pay for anymore. And this is the most "old man" sounding thing I've ever posted.
Being in the heavy duty truck repair industry, I’ve often wondered if the replacement parts all come from the same source today and everybody has their own box. I have this picture in my mind of a pallet size box of distributor caps, for example, and a bunch of workers gathered around it and every worker is putting the caps into different boxes. AutoZone, O’REILLYS, Standard, AC Delco, Motorcraft, etc. Remember when Delco and Motorcraft were proud enough to put their name on the parts? Another thing I’ve noticed, when shopping at The Rock, take notice how many parts in a given application have the same base part number. This tells me they are the same item in different priced boxes.
Not necessarily...for example, Standard Motor Parts sells (or used to sell) parts with the same base number, but with an X on the end for the Blue Streak line, and a T on the end for the "economy" line. They're different parts. The folks who make parts can build to any quality level that's specified, so in general you don't get more than what you pay for. But you don't always get what you do pay for.
I always wondered if parts were like the old certi-fit body panels, we called them sorta-fit. Had a main distributor explain to me that they sold many parts to many different vendors under different names but that they, certa-fit, actually graded their parts as they came off the line for fit, finish, dings, scratches etc. They were graded A,B,C and D. They would sell to the suppliers on the grades of the parts, so supplier 1 would buy the A parts only and sell for top dollar while the cheapest supplier would buy D parts only and sell at a discount price. All the same parts but different grades at different prices. I know it's probably not as simple as that on other parts but I figured there probably is some variant of this going on. .
This is interesting. I recently bought two 12V voltage regulator. I noticed Standard had one that was still made in the USA. Later, I was snooping around NAPA's website and I saw a pict of the same regulator, under Echlin name, $20.00 cheaper. I bought both to compare them side by side. Echlin was the exact same part, just in a Echlin box. Stickers, etc. were exactly the same.
The parts quality situation has reached a ridiculous level. It's a sad state of affairs that we're considering/preferring to go with 30 year old NOS or wrecking yard OEM electrical parts because the current market offerings are ****. I recently went through 2 rebuilt and 1 NEW power steering pump for my Daughter's daily. Finally the second new pump was good. The parts mgr offered a deep discount on the part, but was not willing to pay for all the specialty power steering fluid I went through. What's it like for a pro mechanic when you have to duplicate your labor 2-3x to get a repair out the door? I ***ume you eat the labor as the customer and parts supplier isn't going to pay for the labor. Part of the problem is we've become a disposable society and folks have grown accustomed to poor quality and things not lasting. Consequently, they've become p***ive to the "new norm" and don't return ****, but just go online and order another one or pay for another at the same store. I return stuff and if it's or really horrendous quality out of the box, I ask to speak to a manager at the return desk rather than have a clerk give me a refund and toss the item in the bin. Most managers don't give a **** but some will take an interest when I tell them they should forward the feedback to their buying agents. I even return broken **** to Harbor Freight, and I bet 75% of the defective stuff never gets returned.
I've had several customers brings vehicles in to the shop with owner installed rebuilt steering boxes and they were junk. 2 were super loose and I did adjust them but it wasn't very helpful. 1 I adjusted and never did get it to feel any better. The last one was just junk. My understanding is that Cardone is the only rebuilder left in the country and if so their work is ****. If I remember correctly there were 3, then 2 and during covid lost the 2nd one along with tighter epa laws. It's really a shame as there isn't much compe***ion a**** parts builders anymore. Some due to covid, some because they were bought out by foreign investors and some bought out by investment groups who only care about the bottom dollar. Not to forget how many businesses were closed by EPA tightening laws and bigger fines. Sadly the term "made in America" really doesn't mean as much as it used to. .
"Second Brand" parts have been around in parts houses for as long as I can remember. The Blue Streak being one of the oldest. it probably didn't matter too much in the 60's for high school kids who as what seemed to be a rite of p***age changed ponts and plugs every few months with not many actual miles on them. We had them on the shelf when I was working the parts counter at Bowdens in the 90's but I didn't sell many and usually only the cheapskates asked for them. Meaning you offered up the top line and if they balked at the price you said that you had some cheaper ones. I'd still rather go with Napa Echlin in most cases.
The originals are indeed quite tough, the only time I've seen them fail is if someone keeps cranking an engine that just ain't gonna start, and welds the contacts together
For what it’s worth, I bought the store brand solenoid from Auto Zone about 5 years ago and I’ve had zero problems with it. I’ve bought many parts from Auto Zone over the past 15 years, and had nearly zero problems with any of them.
https://www.smpcorp.com/en/facilities/facilities/greenville-sc We have a Standard Motor Products factory only a few miles from here. I never knew what they made, but was able to find this today. Not much that is HAMB era. When I started this thread, I had already purchased a solenoid, Standard brand SS581T. Made in China, of course. I got it from Midway Auto Parts in Greer, which is my favorite local independent parts store. Been around a long time and always the best bet for anything old. Then I wondered about NAPA and the Echlin line and wondered if I could find a better quality there. I never knew about the suffix on the end of the part numbers in the Standard line, so thanks to @squirrel for sharing that info. I missed the one you posted the link to, it already sold. @Crazy Steve made a comment that made me remember I have an old F250 Camper Special that had an extra battery and another solenoid that stayed energized the whole time the switch was on. I took a look at that but couldnt find any markings on it, and it didnt have the second small connection for the full 12V while cranking. The small dump truck I'm working on has a hydraulic pump that uses a modified starter motor to run it, but again it doesnt have the second small post for cranking voltage on the solenoid. I forgot the name on the label, but its not anything I recognized as being a normal aftermarket car part. I think I will just put on the part I have and see how it goes. Its not a huge deal to jump out if it goes bad, its not going to leave me stranded and not that difficult to replace. Probably one of the first things I actually learned to do when troubleshooting a cranking problem. Thanks to everyone for their input. I learned some things, so it was worth it to me. Good Luck
I upgraded the OEM Ford solenoid to a HD Cole-Hersee unit on recommendation of my auto-electrician when I upgraded the battery lead to a heavier gauge; battery is in the trunk of my 64 Fairlane.
Standard Ignition pieces were always good... were. I have a NAPA in my car, I also carry another brand-x one in my trunk plus a used one I took off an old Fairlane 45 years ago.
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