Reproduction problems

F

fisheasy

Senior Member
I am wondering if i should be looking another hobby? I tell ya its been real testy the last couple of weeks. To start I have been buying some reproduction parts for my 47 coupe that has almost turned out to be unreal. In the last 3 weeks i have purchased stuff from 4 different dealers and its came to my house missing parts or its the wrong part. There is even been a situation where the piece was made crooked. I am loosing faith in these reproduction places! To start i ordered a windshield wiper 12v system from a company here in NC. When i get it I am all excited and take the old one out of the car and I am ready for the install process. Well i go to hook the wiper pieces to the motor and something is missing. I tear the box open and still dont find the piece. I call the company and they look at a sealed one in a box and tell me yes we have it and tell me to call vintique. So i call vintique and they tell me there are no extra parts and wants to see a picture of the motor. I send a picture and get no response so i call back and he says he sees what i am missing and ask me if the box was sealed and i tell him yes. So He supposedly sent me the piece i need which i still have not received. Then i order some taillights from a guy on ebay that also come from vintique. I go to take the stainless ring off to mount them and the lens is broke on one. I am thinking wth. So i proceed with putting it into the taillight housing and its sits in there all crooked. Then my girlfriend ordered me the chrome plated dash for christmas from a place and it came in all scratched up. also from Vintique. Lastly i just received an order from drake. It was taillight housings and the rubbe and they sent me 2 left handed rubber pieces. Should i just sell my car and get out while i am somewhat ahead?lol This is really discouraging. Anyone else had these problems? Sorry for the long rant.

Spencer
 
before you give up I've had some very good luck with mac's antique auto in lockport new york. great quality parts and good prices..i have used them from 2005 till now . no issues. for sheet metal try ems. also found a small guy for stock brake parts . mac's has alot of things and very reasonable . i have a 1946 ford.. if you call or email they will send you a free catalog with many parts . ems or macs . also found a guy in texas that has 9 storage places full of parts. antique auto parts . i got my wiper transmission from them . used 100. bux. ask for Stacy brown. very nice people
 
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I don't know but it sounds like you hit the jackpot as far as getting damaged and/or bad parts from a number of places all at once. You need to realize that when you order after-market parts, they may not fit as well as the originals. I had a 12 volt after-market windshield wiper motor for our '51 F-1, it fit just fine as long as you didn't try to install the original radio???. I have to admit that in all the years (45+) that I've been playing with old cars/trucks, Flatheads in particular, I've been lucky for the most part when dealing with after-market and reproduction parts however; I still try to find NOS or original parts. Part of the fun of this hobby is searching for that illusive part but, if you want to find another hobby, I might be interested in the '47 Coupe...:D Vic
 
Most of us that have been in this for a while make certain the parts we are being shipped are NOT Vintique. Nearly without fail, their parts are far from even what I would call acceptable replacements.
There are those in this hobby that are not only good persons but run their business dealings ethically. You have to know where to look but they exist.
 
Fisheasy,
After building 3 cars, I have now come to the conclusion that any part I order is "a good start". I consider myself lucky if I don't have to bend, tweak, drill or file to fit. On my current "T" project I have taken many of the original pieces in for re-chrome and am amazed at how well they look. It does cost a little more but the quality of the piece to me is worth it.

Don't get too discouraged as it is worth it in the long run.

Working on 'ol fords and mercs makes it all worth while.

Have a happy new year.

Fourdy
 
I also tell my suppliers...NO VINTIQUE SH-T.
My last, of several issue with them was a 36 ford Tail Light housing. No matter what I tried I couldn't get the two screws to line up on the outer chrome glass cover. I finally gave up and found an original at a Flea market. I don't mind doing some fitting but this was hopeless. If we don't send them back they will continue to sell us this SH_T.
That said, now I feel better!!
Happy, Healthy New Year to all,
Bruce/CT
 
200.00 dollars for vintque 41 ford running board covers and still trying to make them fit at the front will end up using a black silicone to cover paul
 
yeah it seems to be anything vintique that i have gotten has been messed up. The only reason i am buying new pieces to some of these are b.c certain parts of mine are not worth fixing. I am sure drake will make the rubber part right and was very excited about the other pieces i bought. After messing with the car all day and getting the one taillight/brake light working i went for a drive and got 500 ft from the house when i heard BAM. It now seems that the distibutor cap has broken off. I tell ya its been crazy. But I still like my car and was kidding of getting rid of it. Now I need to find out how to fix this problem and what may have caused it
 
Vintique window kits are definetly junk. I had a set i bought for a 39 2 dr sedan,that layed in the garage for about 10 years out of the sun. I got ready to use them and they were deteriated and looked like most of it was made of foam instead bristles. Doers anyone on this forum know of another brand of window kits that are good? Marv
 
Drake makes a window kit as well as Carpenter.I have had decent luck with Drake's parts fitting for the most part.Over 15 yrs with a Drake channel kit and its still holding up.
 
Bruce/CT said:
I also tell my suppliers...NO VINTIQUE SH-T.
My last, of several issue with them was a 36 ford Tail Light housing. No matter what I tried I couldn't get the two screws to line up on the outer chrome glass cover. I finally gave up and found an original at a Flea market. I don't mind doing some fitting but this was hopeless. If we don't send them back they will continue to sell us this SH_T.
That said, now I feel better!!
Happy, Healthy New Year to all,
Bruce/CT
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Bruce, You are going to be in trouble with Hoop. He doesn't like to hear those wicked bad words.
 
oldford2 said:
Bruce, You are going to be in trouble with Hoop. He doesn't like to hear those wicked bad words.
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Let's not get into that again. We don't want to end up again where that ended up before. :cool:

I have to admit that much of what I've bought made by Vintique has had to be returned as defective. But, I had to try, no one else made what I wanted. After some returns I finally got something that worked.
 
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Yeah i am sure the drake issue was just accidental, and i know they will make it right. I talked to a cesar at vintique and he told me this was a problem and they took pride in there quality parts. But i am turned off by there products being that everything thats come from them has been messed up or missing parts
 
yep I think you should get out of the hobby and Im here to help. When and where do you want me to pick up that nasty old 47:)
 
I echo those words of others who say the reproduction parts are a "good start". As always, nothing beats orginal ford stuff, and I have to tell you most of it is still out there and available NOS or good used, especially for the 42-48 cars. Some tips: always call your parts vendors and ask who makes the parts and if they have them in stock before ordering. Second, shop around, prices differ greatly between the vendors for the same part from the same manufacturer. I have had great luck working with Midwest Early Ford in Springfield, Ohio. They are accomodating, keep your order history quickly on file, and never give you any hassle. Shipping from them to northern new york is usually three days faster thn Mac's, which is only 3.5 hours away! Mac's customer service has gone downhill lately, and it seems like every time I order something, they are out of stock, and won't ship the rest of my order without twenty phone calls and emails to them. Joblot automotive is also another great vendor...quick turn around, good prices, and hard to find items in stock always. But Drake over Carpenter....but don't expect any of the stuff you really need from Drake, they advertise items for sale three years before they even make them!
 
I have had bad luck with Vintique products as well, after less than a year the window kits started to separate from the frames and the stainless tail light rings for my 37' didn't even come close to fitting.
 
i agree reproduction is a good start, but when you pay good money for things you expect it to be half way decent. I mean the taillight i ordered set 1/2 inch out of level. I dont care who you are thats just crap. I am for sure going to salvage stuff that can be rechromed over buying new stuff. But most of my stainless is dinged up so i will likely have to buy new or find some decent from somewhere. I am tickled with everything else i bought from drake. The taillight housings fit like new and the stainless on top looks awesome. The girl i dealt with even sent me a thank you card. Only thing is they sent to left sided rubber pieces. Vintique I am sure has some decent things. I mean i got a new dash after the first one arrived scratched that looks great. But Three things messed up from them in 3 weeks is just like NOOOOOO Vintique
 
A lot of reproduction parts ALMOST fit. What I don't understand is the junk tooling they use to make these parts that almost work takes a lot of time and costs money to make. I can see a few problems whan a new product is interduced but after a few complaints these problems should be corrected. But this is not so with some producers they keep shipping bad parts for years??? G.M.
 
G.M. said:
A lot of reproduction parts ALMOST fit. What I don't understand is the junk tooling they use to make these parts that almost work takes a lot of time and costs money to make. I can see a few problems whan a new product is interduced but after a few complaints these problems should be corrected. But this is not so with some producers they keep shipping bad parts for years??? G.M.
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G.M., I can tell you from personal experience it costs a lot of money to alter a die and / or related tooling.
Should it be done when the seller knows the part is cr--? You bet, IF the seller was ethical it would be insisted upon.
What I don't understand (well, really I DO) is why the sellers allow this in the very first place.
The answer is of course, it is cheaper to produce tooling that is "okay" vs. correct.
When one understands the dynamics of manufacturing (design, development, production) it becomes quite obvious that greed and lack of ethics gets you to the level (low) the likes of Vintique thrives comfortably in.
The fact that other dealers sell this stuff KNOWING it is lacking in quailty is telling of their level of greed and ethics.
 
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