Hot Rods garbage….

So, I bought a model A coupe that was someone else’s incomplete project. I believe the fellow building it may have passed, and the car was never on the road. It was pretty close, but still needed a lot of little things. Most of the parts were new, the engine was brand new. Anyway, I put it on the road last August and drove it maybe 150 miles total before winter. There was a few teething problems which is to be expected with a newly built car. Most troublesome was the steering felt muddy and loose. The car has a cross steer Vega box setup. I checked all of the moving parts for any slop, and I became convinced that the source of the looseness was the (brand-new) Vega box. I ordered a Borgeson box and figured I would swap it in over the winter. I just pulled the Chinese box today and swapped in the new Borgeson one.
Here are some pics of what is left of the output shaft bearing on the Chinese box. About 10 of the balls are worn flat. To the point that only half of the ball is left. I am stunned at how poorly it was built. I know this has been covered plenty of times on this forum, but I figured it was worth sharing anyhow..

I am so glad that Borgeson still makes them in the US. It even looks like a higher quality than what it is replacing.

 

A friend of mine gave up trying to adjust a brand new Chinese 'vega' box in a fresh build. He replaced with a used Saginaw and all was good. He stripped the Chinese box and also found the balls were not round. And this was a new box with very few miles! Had to be in the manufacturing.

 

Wow - complete bearing failure - what did the race look like - any lube?

 

Unfortunately this is the norm with lots of parts now, and not just hot rod stuff.

 

Not wanting to divert the thread, but in a word...lightbulbs!

 

Tony,
Your words (not round), should have been spelled (Not Lound) !

 

Genuine Chinesium has amazing properties... Chameleons & super-spy-agents should be as versatile... & w/o verification, you will *never* know. Anything from seriously excellent -> worse than horseshit-soaked-straw-covered-wet-cardboard.
Any mgfr name on that box, or who-sold-it-receipts? Would like to know, so's to "reward" the mfgr/seller w/*no* purchases. &, how are the races & gears? Got me wondering if R&R'g the balls w/decent stuff prior to use, would get something useable(for those that own already). I'm guessing the rest of the box-parts are also junk, but maybe not?
Marcus...

 

Haha. Yeah, I put a work light right on the parts, and the camera didn’t much care for it. I am not a photographer. The shop is plenty well lit (my avatar pic is taken in the same area) . I suppose I should add photography to the list of things I am not good at….

 

Those balls don't look like they recirculated very well.

 

I don’t know the manufacturer. I suspect it is from Speedway as there are quite few speedway parts on the car.
The US made Borgeson was much less costly than I would have thought (under $400 w/tax and shipping to Detroit). I would have bought the Borgeson one if there was not one in the car already. I have a funny thing about safety components.

 

Did I hear The Hoffman Group???

 

That’s crazy, but not really surprising. Overall, new cars are becoming increasing unreliable, and a lot of it has to do with the amount of plastics being used in everything from intakes, oil pans, to water pumps, etc. Seems more and more, the older the better things were built. Wish we could go back to those times, but that is a pipe dream…

 

Hard to get away from that crap! I have a stock Vega box that seems fine. Lots o Chinese junk out there. Some you can get away with but for steering components one probably shouldn’t compromise. Tim Mcamis does a pretty good rant on YouTube about it.

 

Haha. Sorry to confuse, but I meant light bulbs are another frequently shit product right out of the box.
Both domestic and automotive.
I was following on from @mad mikey and his comment.

 

Speedway don’t manufacture these, they get them from the same source as every other reseller.

 

I bought a part for my brothers off topic ford van last year from China. Much cheaper than the oem ford part. It broke the first time after I installed it. Turns out the part was made from pot metal instead of steel and the tab broke off. Go figure.

 

Pretty much everything is made overseas now and it’s a hit or miss, mostly miss

 

Remember its American companies that sold out to cheap overseas goods and labor.....Just sayin.....

 

It’s the builders choice to use the parts they want and choose. It it unfortunately cheaper appearing part that “do the job “ and in the past they would . That statement doesn’t work any longer where fitment ,quality and more importantly safety is a 50/50.
You can’t blame vendors for selling cheap a## parts because they sell for them and it’s profits .
We all know most companies have purchasing agents that don’t have a clue what they are buying 50% of the time as no-one knows everything .
I’m a old timer and use old original ford stuff. I can’t remember the last time I ordered a reproduction ford part .

 

Well Von Mac beat me to it, but while it's true China can make an atomic bomb but cant seem to produce a clothsepin that will keep your pants on the line, the Chinese didn't dream up the idea of selling faux Vega boxes in the US. American businessmen initiated the race to the bottom. If Americans really wanted quality and were willing to pay for it we wouldn't be in this situation, but most people don't know the difference or care.

 

We initiated this whole sequence of events by being cheap MF

 

I'm not saying that Speedway sells parts made in China, but the last box I got from them didn't have a receipt, it had a fortune.

 

I'm guessing something else failed causing the ball bearings to break. Which is hardly any better.

And guess what day it is today.
Happy New Year of the Dragon!

 

They are replacing Chinesium with Cheese! Where will it end?

 

China make "visual" copies.
There is little or no regard to materials or tolerances. More like engineering ornaments.

 

Note to self
Cancel Chinese vasectomy.

 

Confucius say, "Man with hole in pocket feel cocky all day".

 

You do realise the fortune cookie was an American invention, San Francisco to be precise.

 

Wait until we are virtually fully depenent on them for most everything we use/need.......... and they stop supply.
Who will be dictating the terms then.
Much of the 'western world' is losing it's ability to be self reliant.

 

Unfortunatly there is little or no competition. If it wasn't made in India or China, there would be hardly any parts for 70+ year old cars so its a double edged sword.

The best you can hope for is to buy the parts then strip inspect and rebuild.