Repro Parts Quality

T

TagMan

Well-known member
I've noticed (and contributed, unfortunately) to a few recent posts concerning quality, fitment and general correctness of reproduction parts. Just a suggestion, but how about we start a single, ongoing thread and ask questions of our members BEFORE we order parts? I may be wrong, but I believe that most, if not all, of the repro parts are made by one manufacturer and sold to the various Vendors for retail sale. No Vendor bashing, just a quality report based on previous experience.

What I'm proposing is that before we purchase an expensive or "needs-to-be correct" parts, we ask the question here: "Has anyone bought ____ part and were you satisfied with it?". We could all learn from it and it could save some return postage, as well as disappointment. Why not use the power of the internet & the FB site to help us out on one post, instead of repeated posts about problems after they occured.

Just a thought...................
 
Tagman
That is one of the best ideas I have seen on this forum.
Thank you, and I will use that option in the future.

Bruce

Works good
Lasts long time
 
This is how I research and buy anything from tools,appliances,grandson's toy's etc,with the internet and reviews from people who bought item.This is a feature you can find on Amazon and other outlets.Would be great for repro parts.
 
Tagman, Good Idea.
I recently purchased a new 6V starter motor for my 8BA which is sold by the large Ford vendors. It had the modern Bendix spring and was made in India. Problem was the Bendix spring was about 1/2 inch too wide to clear the flywheel on a stock mount. I did receive a full refund plus shipping costs.
Also purchased a new 8BA Carb made in the USA which was okay except was a standard 94 without 8BA logo and also had a fuel line thread problem so returned for a full refund plus shipping.
Both fair deals but parts not suitable for application.
 
Great idea.
It might be the best way for the manufacturers to find out what is wrong and correct it, if they want their parts to sell.
Robert1936
 
great idea, this should be one of the items on the main page or at least on each individual, i.e. Early v/8. The item I would like to ad today would be the rear wheel cyl. for 40-41 p/u. These items should be the US made as the foreign versions have unfinished machine work where the brake line threads into the cyl. This does not allow the brake line to seat properly resulting in leakage. I pulled them all off and sent them back for US made ones. Problem solved.
 
I think the main point of value here is the identification of specific parts and vendor/manufacturer, and review of those parts.
Just saying US or China doesn't cut it.
If we say part number xyz from vendor abc, a star rating and reason why, that should generate interest from the vendors to correct the problems.
Also, a "Product Review" thread rather than a section of the Barn might be less likely to cause legal problems for Ryan, I'd think.
 
TagMan, yours is an excellent idea in theory :)however, in application maybe not so much...:( My reason for saying this is simply this; there are some people that just want to cast aspersions on a vendor/manufacturer for reasons that may not be relevant or applicable to a particular part offered or business practice exercised by that vendor.:confused: We've seen that in numerous posts on the FordBarn where a dissatisfied customer excoriates individuals and their companies because they were not satisfied with a particular part or a policy.:( All too often these rants are directed at an entire organization and instantly take on the aura of a vendetta,:eek: not necessarily a valid complaint. While I do think that some sort of "rating" by customers would be a valuable asset to us as consumers,:D in each case, the reader would have to consider the source of the information, along with the reason(s) for the posting. Remember, the internet promotes anonymity which tends to embolden those that otherwise would fear reprisals for promoting misrepresentations and/or falsehoods…:eek: Caveat Emptor once again rings true.
 
Vic,
I appreciate & respect your comments. My idea was kind of an off-the-cuff thought and obviously needs a lot more thought to make it useable. We can't have a thousand different posts to read through to find information on one particular item.

I'm envisioning a post that would allow one to look up a particular part number and have a rating on the part inputed by real life Users. I'm sure you'd get a few biased inputs, but hopefully the majority would average those out and we could get a good idea of what to expect if the part was purchased. Maybe something on the lines of the polls that are done that show a bar graph of quality rating (i.e. Rate this part on a scale of 1-10).

My original post was meant more to gage interest than to actually begine a system. Maybe I should float the idea with Ryan and see what his thoughts are. As was said, there might very well be legal ramifications in doing this.
 
37 Coupe raises an interesting scenario. He says he researches the web before making purchases. This is good in theory but given that many manufacturers/vendors take an active interest in threads and forums relating to their business, they are often the ones who 'load' positive information and reviews onto the sites that are relevant for them. Skewed threads are common, and furthermore we may see the development of fake bad reviews put up by competitors, or as Vic said; a disgruntled person bent on 'Vendetta'.

I also think a 'Sticky' as Bassman suggests would be the way to go. But instead of a formal rating system, just a few informal comments or suggestions might be the way to go. After all, a rating system is too subjective to be of any real value, where the expert has a professional expectation, more knowledge and a well formed opinion. In contrast the amateur is operating on a much more personal level and his opinion may be slanted by many small factors. Lack of operator skill or knowledge can easily translate into frustration, from there it's a short step to write a bad review.
 
Vic Piano said:
TagMan, yours is an excellent idea in theory :)however, in application maybe not so much...:( My reason for saying this is simply this; there are some people that just want to cast aspersions on a vendor/manufacturer for reasons that may not be relevant or applicable to a particular part offered or business practice exercised by that vendor.:confused: We've seen that in numerous posts on the FordBarn where a dissatisfied customer excoriates individuals and their companies because they were not satisfied with a particular part or a policy.:( All too often these rants are directed at an entire organization and instantly take on the aura of a vendetta,:eek: not necessarily a valid complaint. While I do think that some sort of "rating" by customers would be a valuable asset to us as consumers,:D in each case, the reader would have to consider the source of the information, along with the reason(s) for the posting. Remember, the internet promotes anonymity which tends to embolden those that otherwise would fear reprisals for promoting misrepresentations and/or falsehoods…:eek: Caveat Emptor once again rings true.
Click to expand...

VIC ......................
I think it is a good idea, and I think it would work in application, too. Naturally, there will be a wild herring or two, but if several people say the same thing, the majority will get the nod.
This, also, might get the vendors to hold the manufactors to a little better tolerance. Plus, the vendors might do a little better, in the in-house inspection, before they put the parts on the market.
I see a "win" for us consumers.
MIKE :)
 
YES This is a major problem with the rebuilding of our classic cars. MONEY!! I love the chalange to take a rusty heap and put it into show quality. And I don't mind spending my hard earned bucks on the project. But to spend the bucks, wait for a delivery, and have to spend the whole weekend trying to make it work,,,,,,,,,,,,Well you know!!! I'm thankful that someone is trying to reproduce parts for us. I'm sure if we listed the good parts and the bad parts the suppliers would notice. My three cents. Dave
 
TagMan & Mike, I do think that it is a good idea to have some sort of "rating service" but, for reasons I previously mentioned, I doubt that all the "ratings" would be reliable as there would be no way to clarify and/or validate the reasons for a rating post (positive or negative) however, if we lived in a perfect world, there would be no need for such a service. I may be in the minority but I've had very good experience with vendors like BD & DC as well as companies like JobLot, Joe Smith, and Roy Nacewicz. The only problems I've encountered (with Mac's Antique auto Parts) had to do with wrong parts (not the ones I ordered) being delivered. When I do order parts I always try to get "Made in U.S.A." parts as some of the "off shore" produced parts are not of equal quality. I have had to settle in some cases and use non Ford & non American made parts however, in all but one instance (transmission synchromesh) I've been able to use the foreign made parts and get by in a pinch, (not the best solution in my opinion but...). Hopefully someone will come up with a valid way to “rate” vender’s level of customer service as well at the quality of their parts. I’m sure we’d all appreciate it.
 
I'm gonna chime in here because I just got burned on this very thing.

Bought a fanbelt for my '36 from Mac's. The one with the ford logo and part number. It was $16.00, BUT since my order was less than $20.00 there was a $2.00 additional charge. Bringing it to $18.00. When I completed my order online the shipping was shown as $7.00. OK, so I paid a little premium but it's got to be the right thing - Ford part number right on it. $25.00 and done.

When the credit card charge came through they charged me $14.00+ for shipping. SO now my $16.00 fanbelt is about $32.00. OK, well it's still a little dear, but heck it's got to be the right thing right?

NO WAY. The belt is far too short to fit - this is a stock unmodified engine. It wouldn't even come close to fitting over the water pumps - not even close.

So I bought one at NAPA (B 54) and sent the wrong one back to Mac's. It cost about $6.00 to send it back.

Mac's credited my card for $16.00. So I wound up paying $20.00 shipping back and forth for nothing.

Now if you let this kind of thing get you upset, you'll be in the asylum before long, - it's a LITTLE thing compared to what ever else is going on in our lives, so I just wrote it off.

BUT here's what makes me angry: I've seen at least two other posts by barners on this same part. They get it and it doesn't fit. I can see if there is a modified engine, but this is a stock setup it SHOULD FIT - but it doesn't.

Wouldn't you think Mac's would look into this and rectify it? They must have a 100% return rate on this part.

So here is my review:

Don't buy a fanbelt from Mac's for a stock 36. It will not work. It is too short. You will be charged shipping both ways, you will lose $20.00 in the transaction.

Hope this might save others some $.

Henry
 
Perhaps instead of just rating a part... if it doesn't fit, post a picture showing the fit (gap or whatever) or if the finish quality is poor, a picture would show that.

I think this idea of TagMan's is great!
 
I tried 3 of Macs 'Ford Script' belts. The 55, 53 and 36 inch belts are all 2 inches shorter. Their '55' measures 53 and fits the 53 requirement for my stock 8BA generator and water pumps. I got it from a mate who needed a 55 for his stock 36, and saw it not fitting. Similarly their 36 fits the 34 requirement for the fan belt.
Henryat1140 said:
I'm gonna chime in here because I just got burned on this very thing.

Bought a fanbelt for my '36 from Mac's. The one with the ford logo and part number. It was $16.00, BUT since my order was less than $20.00 there was a $2.00 additional charge. Bringing it to $18.00. When I completed my order online the shipping was shown as $7.00. OK, so I paid a little premium but it's got to be the right thing - Ford part number right on it. $25.00 and done.

When the credit card charge came through they charged me $14.00+ for shipping. SO now my $16.00 fanbelt is about $32.00. OK, well it's still a little dear, but heck it's got to be the right thing right?

NO WAY. The belt is far too short to fit - this is a stock unmodified engine. It wouldn't even come close to fitting over the water pumps - not even close.

So I bought one at NAPA (B 54) and sent the wrong one back to Mac's. It cost about $6.00 to send it back.

Mac's credited my card for $16.00. So I wound up paying $20.00 shipping back and forth for nothing.

Now if you let this kind of thing get you upset, you'll be in the asylum before long, - it's a LITTLE thing compared to what ever else is going on in our lives, so I just wrote it off.

BUT here's what makes me angry: I've seen at least two other posts by barners on this same part. They get it and it doesn't fit. I can see if there is a modified engine, but this is a stock setup it SHOULD FIT - but it doesn't.

Wouldn't you think Mac's would look into this and rectify it? They must have a 100% return rate on this part.

So here is my review:

Don't buy a fanbelt from Mac's for a stock 36. It will not work. It is too short. You will be charged shipping both ways, you will lose $20.00 in the transaction.

Hope this might save others some $.

Henry
Click to expand...
 
Most of the repop parts are made and marketed thru maybe three outfits to the retailers. I have found that it appears some of the best vendors prefer to make a return or refund rather than a change to a part. Its difficult to get them to admit something is not made correctly. In this day and time one is much better off buying genuine old stock parts for critical performance things like engine, drive line and steering. Some of the eye candy stuff is overpriced and just does not fit and it seems to be built offshore. Some can be made to fit satisfactory which is better than no source. Our hobby is plagued with old age taking its toll and for vendors to stay in business they have to sell volume.
 
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