Have you every gone cheap and regretted it?

Don garlits never liked to use new parts,said oldones are proven and liked when a motor was built with proven parts.

 

And don't ever get me started on cheap paint jobs too .....

 

I was thinking that with my thermostat story in this thread. I wish I had just used the old one.

I read someplace that if parts are going to fail they do it early in their life. Less than 10K miles if I remember right.

 

Ever heard of the Ford Focus? Nuff said.

 

I'm so cheap that I just make every thing or fix every thing don't like to buy stuff but somtimes I should.

 

I have never once broken a high quality part that I paid good money for. Doing your homework may reveal that your best decision is to buy the highest quality components. That doesn't make you a goldchainer, it makes you a rodder who demands quality.

Yes, it is true that there are a lot of people who do restore their cars with their checkbook. But you should also remember that there are people on this board who aren't broke ass mofos and who can afford whatever parts they want. Just because price is an issue for you doesn't mean it is for someone else. I would like to add that I am not in percentage of the population

 

how about..........."have ya ever paid too much and regretted it"??

 

Here's an example of how being cheap can cost you a fortune.....I've had a 48 Chev PU for years...drove it stock, then decided to make it cool...I wanted to lower it , so I looked at all the independent front ends available and decided they were to much money...so I bought some mono leaf springs that claimed to drop the front end....well... didn't drop enough and gave even a stiffer ride than stock...so I wanted it lower...then I bought a dropped axle cuz it was cheap, and then realized I had to change to disc brakes....well now I gotta change the master as well....before I know it, the dough is really adding up...oh well....now it's low, and has disc brakes....it rides so f!@#king harsh now , and bump steers, so I shorten the pitman arm....now I need 40 miles to turn around, and I'm still using the old steering box which is draining every ounce of my strength.....It cost me about a million bux to ruin my driving experience....so....I ripped all that junk out....sold it for pennies on the dollar and bought a TCI Mustang 2 set-up complete with brakes and steering rack for less than what I paid for all that other junk, installed it in a weekend, and the truck drives like a Cadillac....so the moral of this story is....It's waaaay cheaper and easier to buck up in the first place and do the job right the first time........( PS...the independent front suspension is not recommended for use on vehicles where it is visible to the eye...)

 

5.00 chrome small block chev covers at a swapmeet. 6 sets of gaskets later they might be good to use for a valve cover racer.
My dad was the king of "it's almost the same as". he spent more money on off brand items than anyone I knew. Ever hear of a "Toastmaster" skill saw?
Most of my tools came off a tool truck when I was twisting wrenches for a living. A lot of them are 35 years old and still work great. For the non pro Sears on sale in sets is the way to buy tools.
And I have one of those 30.00 engine stands that has had a tube angle brace welded in and a cross tube with two swivels on the front so it will hold up a decent sized engine. Result of going cheap.

 

No, you sent your chrome to a "cheap chrome shop",not a country. There are quality and crap shops everywhere,my country didn't do your chroming! Please refrain from blaming an entire nation, because you wanted a cheap deal,you get what you pay for on both sides of the border.

 

I really like reading this stuff,I am the cheapest,scroungiest,low-buck buying,free isn't cheap enough bastard in the world.

I love the "you get what you pay for crowd"
I guess if you buy a firestone tire at one store and it's $100 it's a better tire than another Identical tire for $90 somewhere else.
Do the "you get what you pay for" crowd get tired of driving their Rolls-Royces, wearing Armani suits,eating Lobster and Caviar?
I mean after all if price determines quality why would you have anything less.

Price an quality have no relationship to each other. You can get pricey crap, and you can get low-buck quality.
I build or buy used almost all my stuff. REMEMBER ,NO-ONE RUNS NEW PARTS ON THEIR CARS !!!

 

Yes tools from one of those traveling shows that set up for a weekend. every one broke. The engine stand broke with a big block ford on it. lucky no one was close to it. Hell of a dent in the oil pan and broke the one aluminum valve cover.