How truely "American Steel" is your ride?

Got a package in the mail the yesterday from a parts dealer on the east coast, it contained a trunk handle, and some door lock assemblies, that I was having no luck finding via local swap meets and wePay (ebay).

Oblivious to the packaging, I pulled out the parts like a kid at Xmas and was sizing up their prospective fits when my youngest daughter (only 7 yrs old) picked up one the boxes and proceeded to show off her reading/pronouciation skills.

"Dad, you had to get parts all the way from China for our car?".

Of course I had to throw in the typical dad speak... "Huh, what'd ya talking about?"

She's my unintentional lil' hot rod protege', and she knows I've been anal about keeping the car either OEM, altered OEM, or hand machined by myself.

I ended up explaining to her "our" parts situation of late, and the whole "damn enviromentalist and bureaucrats shutting down all the good old junkyards, etc., etc." speech.

Of course while I'm sure she only took in 45% of what we talked about, it really got me to thinking (or verifying) just how many "hardcore" guys are driving around rods that are essentially 50% or more made from "import" parts...

Does that mean they're really hypocrites or "the pot calling the kettle black", when it comes to damning "non-OEM" or year correct parts on other rods?

 

it just is to hard really, sometimes it hard to know before you get them, some stuff is only made overseas and many things were always made overseas. seariously how am i supposed to find old oem little bits and pieces?

 

well ,,, at least parts from Mexico and Canada are still made in north America.... guess that's as good as it gets ...

 

I know what you mean and feel exactly the same way about keeping our US cars all American. It severely saddens me to see so many repro and aftermarket parts made in China. Not only do I wish to support my fellow blue collar Americans but I really don't like supporting a repressive communist country either. It is also hard to teach the little ones the morals of buying American when we are installing overseas parts as well.

 

I wouldn't worry about it too much. They will be broke before the summer is over and in the mean time, you can find a real one.

 

I guess I rationalize a good as anybody, but American Hot Rods deserve American parts. I don't mind decent trading partners, but cartainly try to avoid Chinese and Tiawanese parts. And have lost respect for the jerks who have their stuff made there. OK, you can close the thread now.

 

I live in England,get my parts from America,where the American suppliers gets them from,I don't know.I don't really get the choice to shop around from over here.
Paul

 

Try to buy sheet metal sometime - the vast majority is Made in China. So, unless you have access to a large amount of cash (to buy other non-running vehicles from to cannibalize parts) you're going to buy from fenders, et.al. from overseas at some point.

IIRC, almost all of this aftermarket tin comes from the same place, (even guys like YearOne get it from there).

 

I hope you guys that are worring about foreign parts on your rods are driving American made cars to work. With everything Toyota has been through lately, I read they are having record sales. What is everybody thinking???

 

Thankfully 95% or better of the Studebaker stuff is still US made. Of course it's all from 1966, but....

 

Toyota is an American made car. Even though the Ford's and Gm's are American made (and based), take a look at the parts that make them up and see where they come from.

 

The American consumer drove the American entrepreneur to China by demanding ever lower prices for the same goods. Ever notice the immense popularity of Dollar Stores of every kind, even 99cent stores.

 

American made to me means made in the USA or Canada and the ownership of said company is here also.And the profits stay here.
I believe that GM made stuff in Mexico back in the 50's,a few small parts.

 

"Ford Tough, with Beijing Stuff"

 

with all Americans looking for $15.00 per hour and over ,,,,, its no wonder that all the stuff is made overseas.... and no wonder that were all out of a job ... fender guitars is now made in Mexico ,, as well as everything else ... walmart has really hurt us and most company's that WERE American,,, had to start building there products in 3rd world country's just to stay in business .. if i owned a business that had the option of paying $10.00 or $2.00 per hour ,,, and still selling for the same price ,, guess which one i'd choose .. too bad for us ....

 

Same with the my 54 Cadillac. They dont make many aftermarket sheetmetal or motor parts, which I like because you cant build one from a catalog.

 

As a capitalist, I don't really care. If your buying for price, you are buying crap. That goes for food too. If crap is good enough, why worry?

If you want to pay for real workmanship, and pride, then quit shopping with the 80 page catalogs.

 

bobjob55, only the Squires are made in other countries. To the best of my knowledge, all of the signature series, custom shop and others not marked 'Squire' are made here. Things definitely could have changed, but that's how it was when I bought my last custom shop.

 

My car is 100% "American steel" AND 100% made overseas .. Go figger .
Klaz

 

i used to work at fender and lost my job when they moved to Mexico.. but i can't say that they are all made there.. shop was in corona cal.. moved it just south of the border to save money ...paid them $2.50 hour .. we were getting $15.00 hour...

 

A number of years ago, my wife and I had an American made car and a foreign made car. A Chevy Lumina made in Canada and a VW Rabbit made in Pennsylvania.

 

You don't have much choice anymore where you get your steel from. Biggest producer is Lakshmi Mittal, third richest man in the world. Based in India, lives mostly in UK, bought up most of the steel mills in the former eastern european communist block, makes his money from scrap in India. He is where china gets its steel from, cos it's cheaper for labour to produce steel in India.

 

And this means think twice before ya by that new pair of VISE-GRIPS...

 

When I wrecked my nearly new supposedly US made Yukon XL a few years ago the GM body shop ordered parts from GM for a standard unit and they didn't fit. Turns out the truck was made in Mexico and uses GM parts with a seperate number just for Mexican built units. Go Figure?

 

Amen.

 

NOS is the way to go if you can get it!

 

Ive got a french flathead, so I am already screwed

 

I know my o/t '05 Stang was built at Flatrock assembly in Michigan... Just wondering where all the parts came from??

 

Okay, so what would you guys call ANY US car that was built/assembled in a GM, Ford, Chrysler, Hudson, AMC, or other "US" manufacturer, plant in Belgium, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Britain, France, Austrailia, or South Africa?

 

Haha - reminds me of the Cragars I just bought for my '55 Chevy pickup - the entire box was emblazened with the "REAL AMERICAN MUSCLE" logo all over it - and cast into the back of the wheel is 'made in China'.