Now it's junk from Carpenter!

Sadly, it is becoming evident that the manufacturing of quality reproduction parts is "fading away" due to a dwindling market as those who desire or restore old cars move on or pass away.
It's like what happened to the demand for brass era cars and Model T's.
 
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I truly believe there are still quality aftermarket parts out there, but some vendors see an opportunity to find cheaper options just to make a buck. I always thought Carpenters had a fantastic reputation in their market, until now.
 
19Fordy said:
Sadly, it is becoming evident that the manufacturing quality reproduction parts is "fading away" due to a dwindling market as those who desire or restore old cars move on or pass away.
It's like what happened to the demand for brass era cars and Model T's.
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He's right. Today, I sold my last condenser. Old age and arthritis finally got me.
 
My friend John Bizal, owner of Midwest Military, sells lots of Nos, used, AND reproduction Jeep and ww2 dodge parts. He tells me it goes like this....

He sends a sample or a blueprint over to a few different Mfrs, they send a few samples back. After price haggling, the best part for resale gets the job. Next, you will get really nice quality parts for a while...maybe years even...Then the greedy china man shops around to find someone who will make it cheaper. Then one day the batch of 2k parts you bought, that used to be good, maybe for years, arrives and you put in inventory. So, you still have old inventory to sell, maybe many months later that stock is used up, you open the now 6 month old new stock, it trickles out the door little by little and its a year later you start getting complaints about bad parts
 
Yes, quality costs, but my point was you can't trust that MFR will keep sending the same parts you bought before. The vendor is not likely going to examine every aspect of a new shipment as he is expecting the same parts he got in the past.
 
There was a recall on the Pinto gas tank fiasco, there was a shield if I remember correctly made from a rubber or plastic material to buffer the zone. I am not sure the recall fixed the problem but I remember installing the part in the recall in the early days as a ford tech.
 
cas3 said:
My friend John Bizal, owner of Midwest Military, sells lots of Nos, used, AND reproduction Jeep and ww2 dodge parts. He tells me it goes like this....

He sends a sample or a blueprint over to a few different Mfrs, they send a few samples back. After price haggling, the best part for resale gets the job. Next, you will get really nice quality parts for a while...maybe years even...Then the greedy china man shops around to find someone who will make it cheaper. Then one day the batch of 2k parts you bought, that used to be good, maybe for years, arrives and you put in inventory. So, you still have old inventory to sell, maybe many months later that stock is used up, you open the now 6 month old new stock, it trickles out the door little by little and its a year later you start getting complaints about bad parts
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This is why companies that want to keep a good reputation inspect incoming deliveries against blueprints.
This is not on an outsourced supplier. It is on the company that acquires this stuff and chooses to resell it.
 
Dec211975 said:
There was a recall on the Pinto gas tank fiasco, there was a shield if I remember correctly made from a rubber or plastic material to buffer the zone. I am not sure the recall fixed the problem but I remember installing the part in the recall in the early days as a ford tech.
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I was working in a Ford garage at that time too, as a Parts Mgr., and it seems that that 'fix' alleviated the problem, but I still wouldn't have trusted them!
Mustang II was based on the Pinto platform. They were almost the same car of course the rack and pinion steering on Mustang II was light years ahead of everybody. They never had that rear end gas tank rupture problem.

It got so bad by 1975, that if the owner wanted LTD's or Mercury Marquis' to sell, and they were flying off the lots, for every 4 of them Ford MADE our dealership take a Pinto... you couldn't sell those things by that time:eek:
 
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Many moons ago while working with Mercedes-Benz for the procurement of G-Wagons for the Canadian military, we started getting vehicle fires at the starter. Very serious problem. MB investigated and while trying to save money on the manufacture of the starter, Bosch moved it from Germany to Spain IIRC. Same design/manufacturing specs. They found out the supplier in Spain changed the plating on the plunger. It was inferior, would corrode, and cause the plunger to seize. By the time this happened, I believe all of the 1,100 plus vehicles had been delivered to bases across Canada. They had to create a mobile repair team to swap out the starter. Was a multi-million dollar effort. MB said Bosch was on the hook for the cost.
 
19Fordy said:
Wonder where the parts will come from when DRAKE and Carpenter are gone?
Will that be the beginning of the end of restoring old Fords?
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I can answer this: it will be like it was in 1962 when I bought my '40 coupe. I searched wrecking yards for better parts . Good rubber on running boards was always hard to find along with hood latch levers, and trunk lid handles and of coarse taillight lenses. The big difference now is: there are none of these cars in yards and few yards left.
 
The parts will come from the hoards accumulated over the last 60 years by car collectors and enthusiasts.

The big problem will be to get them into the hands of those who need them and will use them and not in the scrap heap.
 
tubman said:
The parts will come from the hoards accumulated over the last 60 years by car collectors and enthusiasts.

The big problem will be to get them into the hands of those who need them and will use them and not in the scrap heap.
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Thats where guys like Matt at Iron Trap come in, they are saving these hoards and making them available to everyone in the hobby. He just a young guy too.

Pat
 
36and63 said:
Thats where guys like Matt at Iron Trap come in, they are saving these hoards and making them available to everyone in the hobby. He just a young guy too.

Pat
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This is very interesting. I had a phone call from an old (born on Pearl Harbor Day) friend that I met in 1959 just yesterday. This guy has been collecting old Ford parts since God knows when, and had collected quite a stash. It was all good stuff, too, no junk. A lot of top of the line rare vintage speed equipment, Stromberg 97's, etc., etc. He mentioned that he and his wife had recently moved into a hi-rise retirement community. When I asked him where all of his parts went, he told me he had sold it all to Matt at Iron Trap for an amount that amazed even me, and I have seen his "stuff".

At least one batch that didn't go to the scrapper.
 
If you follow Iron Trap Garage on YouTube, you know they just hauled a mess of stuff back from Oklahoma.

And there is still more that they have to go pick up.
Do a search on Iron Trap Garage to find out more.
 
If these guys can make a living rescuing parts and cars, diverting them from landfill, then they deserve our thanks.
We will just have learn to pay for the expedience of others when we pay for parts, that they have stock piled, essentially on our behalf.
 
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