Errr. a rant

[steve from staten island]

Aftermarket import parts. When I had the MG I bought a lot of stuff off of Moss Motors and British Victorian. It was after marketed im sure but thinking back the only thing that failed was a "new" clutch slave cylinder after a year and I blame myself as I bought the cheaper one.
Not so with Mopar aftermarket parts. Ive had wheel cylinders fail after no use, forget about sending units. Rock auto alternator rebuilt overseas was junk and some other items but tonight set me off
Im working the bugs out of the car, taking it on very short trial runs. The big run is soon but tonight i took it out and no headlights. Tail lites parking lights directionals no headlights.
I hit the highbeam and the headlights came on. Then they worked properly. The connections are tight. Its the dam hi beam switch. Brand new and I might as well start searching for the old one.
Ive fooled around with cars a long time and as a young person way back I cant never recall having a issue with a name brand aftermarket part. Now I guess so much is import junk

 

[Bb70charger500]

The thing used to be new everything on these old cars ! Now it's how much of the org parts you can keep because there better!

 

[33 IMP]

My dad attended a little class on classic car restoration. The instructor said" never throw any of the parts you replace away, someday there wont be any more available, and you might need the old stuff."

My mom absolutely hated that guy.

 

[DeltaV]

Chinese Reproduction Auto Parts

 

[moparnation74]

lol...

 

[moparedtn]

A quick GIS will show that the high beam switches have proven to be a pain from a number of sources.
Why Ma chose to run so much through them is a wonder to me...

 

[fwi]

I am currently struggling with a master cylinder replacement for my 97 Land Rover....am on the second one and it still doesn’t work right! Both chinese ****, guess I will have to spend the big bucks for the real deal!

 

[1 Wild R/T]

It's an epidemic... Back in the early 80's the only places carrying low end import parts were Kragens & Grand Auto....

Napa, Car Quest, most all the local auto parts stores carried good quality parts... But certainly allot of DIY types & some shops absolutely price shop & that leads to sales declining at the Napa, Car Quest, most all the local auto parts stores... And Kragens was killing it... So by the late 80's Napa, Car Quest, most all the local auto parts stores started offering import stuff as a cost cutting option but continued to offer the name brand stuff too.... By the mid nineties quite a few name brand manufacturers were moving their operations off shore to be able to compete...... NAFTA didn't help the situation & the NWO trade deals kinda sealed the fate of many US factories.... And as years go by it hasn't gotten better... Well maybe a little in the last couple years but bringing factories back to the US won't improve quality of the product if the workers don't take some pride in what they are doing.... Industry in general for the past 25-30 years has been so focused the short term goal of making the investors happy that they don't see the benefit of long term sales by offering a quality product...

 

[jonny0666]

Those headlight switches are a pain to start with. Add the foreign import crap factor and they are a nightmare. I did some work on a 68 Satellite. Guy replaced the switch 3 times. I still think he has problems with it. Sometimes it just pays to get the right stuff and save the headache.

 

[Richard Cranium]

The fit, finish and quality of 99% of the repro parts is so poor that I'd rather pay more for good used or NOS parts than new repro parts.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

When dealing with switches, motors & such another really good option is to contact Jim Slotts @ JS Restorations, he specializes in restoring all that sort of stuff.... https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/738678/js-restorations.html

 

[68Moparmaniac]

Some advice my dad gave me way back when was "buy the cheep stuff twice or buy the good stuff once" how much is your time and aggravation worth?
Seems we're all in agreement, import stuff isn't even close to what was manufactured back in the day. Substandard materials and a quality department that's asleep at the wheel plus the "it's good enough" attitude of todays labor force overseas leaves us with that typical WTF we've come to express all too often. Bottom line is corporate greed, forget quality it's quantity they want.. rant over

 

[moparnation74]

The fit, finish and quality of 99% of the repro parts is so poor that I'd rather pay more for good used or NOS parts than new repro parts.

All true points....another point relates to the installer themselves.....

 

[conv67bdere]

Aftermarket import parts. When I had the MG I bought a lot of stuff off of Moss Motors and British Victorian. It was after marketed im sure but thinking back the only thing that failed was a "new" clutch slave cylinder after a year and I blame myself as I bought the cheaper one.
Not so with Mopar aftermarket parts. Ive had wheel cylinders fail after no use, forget about sending units. Rock auto alternator rebuilt overseas was junk and some other items but tonight set me off
Im working the bugs out of the car, taking it on very short trial runs. The big run is soon but tonight i took it out and no headlights. Tail lites parking lights directionals no headlights.
I hit the highbeam and the headlights came on. Then they worked properly. The connections are tight. Its the dam hi beam switch. Brand new and I might as well start searching for the old one.
Ive fooled around with cars a long time and as a young person way back I cant never recall having a issue with a name brand aftermarket part. Now I guess so much is import junk

Steve - had the exact same thing happen to me in my 66 Chevy II . . . So now I just tap the high beam button to make sure all is working properly . . .

 

[kiwigtx]

Rock auto alternator rebuilt overseas was junk and some other items but tonight set me off

I have had mixed success with RockAuto parts ...some good and work well....others are just junk.

Needs pictures of this car Steve.......

 

[33 IMP]

I wouln't even mind seeing pics of your mg, Steve. About a hundred years ago (slight exageration) i wanted a MGC-GT, with the rover 215 in it. I thought of it as a poor mans tiger, which is a poor mans cobra of course.

 

[Cranky]

For the last several years I tell the guy at the counter (I know some of them) to not even bring it out if the box says made in China because I won't accept it. Any other country is fine with me as I'm willing to take that chance but most of the alternative stuff is made in Italy, Mexico or Canada and a few others....but I will NOT accept anything made in China anymore. I'll fix the original stuff if possible if I can't get it elsewhere.

 

[kiwigtx]

I can tell you that every time my mechanic buddy Cliff gets any bearing with 'Made in China" on the package or bearing cases....they get sent straight back to the supplier. He has had too many experiences of bad bearings. They are generally a few thou' off in the specifications, and sometimes are so loose fitting (or tight) that they don't fit anyway.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Add it to the list of reasons why I no longer turn wrenches... I hate doing a job twice especially since the second time is virtually always free even though I didn't make the part that failed...Or make a profit off the part that failed...

Everyone price shops but whats the true cost? In this case the cost was all the quality suppliers folded cause they couldn't compete...

 

[Cranky]

Add it to the list of reasons why I no longer turn wrenches... I hate doing a job twice especially since the second time is virtually always free even though I didn't make the part that failed...Or make a profit off the part that failed...

Everyone price shops but whats the true cost? In this case the cost was all the quality suppliers folded cause they couldn't compete...

Have been building rear ends for a lot of years until guys were bringing me the parts that they bought. Sometimes gears were questionable but China made bearings......I won't use them!