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Old 12-01-2013, 12:39 PM   #21
ctvpa
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Default Re: Dumbest Reproduction Parts

I have a Snyders Catalog from the late 70's, it is about 14 pages with hand drawn pictures of the item, and the prices are a bit different. I am not in any way saying Snyders is junk, just noting the catalog.

I always enjoy 'Exact Reproduction' parts with Phillips screws and Metric nuts.

From the past (circa 1976-7) I bought a $4.50 item from J.C.Whitney, the item was out of stock, they sent a refund, and the check bounced.
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Old 12-01-2013, 12:47 PM   #22
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in those earlier days, though, wasn't there a kind of inverse relationship in that repro parts were junkier but there were more NOS parts available?
I hate to sound like my father, but I bought my Model A just 40 years ago. Back then when the tranny made a noise, you would go to the club and 5 guys would say they have 6-10 of them in the shed, find one that works. Not like that any more.
I was recently contacted by a guy that has 5-7 trailer loads of Model A stuff his brother bought when a Model A place went out of business in the 80's. He wants $7k, I looked through it, massive undertaking, way too much. So it was sold for scrap. He would not dicker on the price at all.
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Old 12-01-2013, 01:03 PM   #23
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Default Re: Dumbest Reproduction Parts

A friend has a 30-31 Radcap from Mac's But when you try to put it on the Rad the mounting part underneath is to big and wont fit the Rad .

It wont fit because the mounting part is for a Gas Cap !!! But it wont fit on the Gas Tank either as the Rad cap top is too deep to fit on a Gas Tank .

IMO A Classic Example of a Crap part .
John Cochran
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Old 12-01-2013, 02:09 PM   #24
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Default Re: Dumbest Reproduction Parts

I concur with Brent, the early stuff from the 60s and 70s was really something. The reason I started the magazine was to point out some of the really bad stuff and see if we could get it fixed. I think I have made some headway but we will keep reviewing.
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Old 12-01-2013, 02:20 PM   #25
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Default Re: Dumbest Reproduction Parts

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I concur with Brent, the early stuff from the 60s and 70s was really something. The reason I started the magazine was to point out some of the really bad stuff and see if we could get it fixed. I think I have made some headway but we will keep reviewing.
John,

You have no idea the "headway" you have accomplished towards the hobby!

Keep it up...

Pluck
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Old 12-01-2013, 03:26 PM   #26
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Default Re: Dumbest Reproduction Parts

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in those earlier days, though, wasn't there a kind of inverse relationship in that repro parts were junkier but there were more NOS parts available?
Yes the NOS stuff was still available however fewer in between ...and at a much higher price. In the instance of Tommy Trayler, he got his start by scavenging NOS parts from small TX Ford dealers and from aftermarket parts stores (Western Auto, etc.). His grandparents had empty dairy barns that he filled with parts. Tommy's downfall IMO was he really didn't know Model-As like Marco and different ones who have researched design changes. When Tommy would have something 're-made', he would find a part (often a NORS item) and send it down to Argentina (the back then version of Taiwan) to have THEM reverse engineer it. :O This became Specialized Auto which later became affiliated with MACs when they bought Tommy's tooling & parts and started offering the same parts as he had been making. Based on my own experiences, I believe MACs is still using some of that tooling to make parts!!

Now to bring this back to a positive spin, I realize that many here do not see the direct benefit that Fine-point Judging has/had on the hobby, but I believe it is directly through the efforts of Marco, Doug Clayton, and a super large list of people who have studied prints and releases tirelessly to establish a timeline and to document what the vehicle was originally. Their work has also been published not only in the Judging Stds & Restoration Guidelines but in both club's mags. and some websites. This has educated the hobbyist (albeit sometimes subliminally) where they demanded better quality. When there is a market, folks like Steve Becker, Don Snyder, Walt Bratton, and others have done their best to produce a much more authentic item to fit the need. I guess everything has to start somewhere and build on that. Therefore maybe we needed Rick's and Specialized back in the day to start supplying where we could grown on making it better. I know that I recently had the opportunity to work on a car that I restored back about 14 years ago, and throughout the entire vehicle I kept seeing little details that I couldn't believe I/we did like that back then. Now some 50 Model-As later, we have learned to be better so I guess that is a step in the right direction.
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Old 12-01-2013, 05:06 PM   #27
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Default Re: Dumbest Reproduction Parts

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I hate to sound like my father, but I bought my Model A just 40 years ago. Back then when the tranny made a noise, you would go to the club and 5 guys would say they have 6-10 of them in the shed, find one that works. Not like that any more.
I was recently contacted by a guy that has 5-7 trailer loads of Model A stuff his brother bought when a Model A place went out of business in the 80's. He wants $7k, I looked through it, massive undertaking, way too much. So it was sold for scrap. He would not dicker on the price at all.
In the mid '50's, at our hang out shop, we had a standing deal with a scrapper, he'd sell us complete Model A & Early V-8 transmissions for $5.00 & rear ends for $7.50! Sometimes, the rear ends even had wheels & once in a while, a usable tire Bill W.
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Old 12-01-2013, 06:26 PM   #28
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Default Re: Dumbest Reproduction Parts

hasn't Gaslight Auto Parts been around since the 1960s and while my perception has always been that their inventory was somewhat limited, I never heard anything negative about their business practices....
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Old 12-01-2013, 06:50 PM   #29
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Default Re: Dumbest Reproduction Parts

Becker Parts....I've got a suit case full of that stuff! Very nice Parts!!!
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Old 12-02-2013, 06:19 AM   #30
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Default Re: Dumbest Reproduction Parts

My coupe came with a 1986 Rick's catalog; didn't read it til now. They must have been composed by whoever did the JC Whitney catalogs. I like how they would put Rick's picture in the listings to show how sincere they were.
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Old 12-02-2013, 09:18 AM   #31
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Default Re: Dumbest Reproduction Parts

In 1972, after buying a $12 fire wall mounted sediment bowl that wouldn't seal at the tubing flares because of a shifted mold, and after buying a genuine A roadster front seat upholstery that was none returnable (it looked like a hot stamped vinyl rain coat) for $79 from Rick's. I mentioned it at our Bellingham Antique Auto Restorers Club meeting about how bad a rip off that Rick's parts really were. My report accidentally went down in the meeting minutes and they were printed up in our monthly club bulletin, The Spokesman. One of our members, who also was also on a rant about Rick's parts, sent Rick's our Bulletin as a testimony of how bad Rick's parts really were. Rick call me one evening and chewed on my butt for saying such bad things about his business. He said that he worked long hours at night to keep his business going and that I had no idea how hard it to have a business in the market place. He also called our club president, Ron Harriman, and chewed on his butt with the same complaints that Ron allowed me to say such things at a meeting and then have it put into print. I threw the sediment bowl into my scrap barrel. The hot stamped seat covers I gave away to a member that had a rat rod type of a model A roadster, and he wouldn't even use them either. I am still pissed off at Rick's.
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Old 12-02-2013, 04:27 PM   #32
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Default Re: Dumbest Reproduction Parts

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"..... I did most of my business with Masonville Garage during that time.............". Rod
Oh man, that's a blast from the past ! I bought almost all of the parts for the first A I restored about 30 years ago from Masonville Garage. I hadn't thought about them for a loooong time!
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Old 12-02-2013, 09:15 PM   #33
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Default Re: Dumbest Reproduction Parts

Guess who built companies like Vintique , Bob Drake , Ricks etc. When you find a part you want you say "How much is it ? These companies are trying to give you what you want at as low a price as possible so you will buy from them and not use American parts, which may or may not cost more.
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Old 12-02-2013, 09:23 PM   #34
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I can't find a photo right now, but some of the repro Murray Body number plates (the yellow on brass ones) from the early 1970s said 'Detoit', not 'Detroit'. Better check yours.
Must have been made out East
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Old 12-03-2013, 04:11 AM   #35
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Default Re: Dumbest Reproduction Parts

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Guess who built companies like Vintique , Bob Drake , Ricks etc. When you find a part you want you say "How much is it ? These companies are trying to give you what you want at as low a price as possible so you will buy from them and not use American parts, which may or may not cost more.
Good point! Some one once told me you can have quality, quanitity and price but you only get a choice of any two. Most dealers opt for low quality low price or large quanity low price -Very few opt for high quality high price .-Karl
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Old 12-03-2013, 11:53 AM   #36
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Default Re: Dumbest Reproduction Parts

I agree, you will only get two out of the three. A few vendors sell low quality at high price. I won't name names. I think that most vendors offer the Vintique products because they are the only people that make them. Same for some of the sheet metal body parts that are made by another firm.
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Old 12-04-2013, 02:56 PM   #37
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Default Re: Dumbest Reproduction Parts

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Originally Posted by ctvpa View Post
I hate to sound like my father, but I bought my Model A just 40 years ago. Back then when the tranny made a noise, you would go to the club and 5 guys would say they have 6-10 of them in the shed, find one that works. Not like that any more.
I was recently contacted by a guy that has 5-7 trailer loads of Model A stuff his brother bought when a Model A place went out of business in the 80's. He wants $7k, I looked through it, massive undertaking, way too much. So it was sold for scrap. He would not dicker on the price at all.
Bet he didn't get $7K for it.
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Old 12-04-2013, 05:12 PM   #38
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I agree, you will only get two out of the three. A few vendors sell low quality at high price. I won't name names. I think that most vendors offer the Vintique products because they are the only people that make them. Same for some of the sheet metal body parts that are made by another firm.
Well, Purdy, I just got a locking handle for my R/H door & rumble from Snyder's, made by VINTIQUE, & they both fit & work perfectly! YES! the Dog advised me to save the originals Bill W.
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Old 12-04-2013, 08:57 PM   #39
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Guess who built companies like Vintique , Bob Drake , Ricks etc. When you find a part you want you say "How much is it ? These companies are trying to give you what you want at as low a price as possible so you will buy from them and not use American parts, which may or may not cost more.
Ya,know, this kind of nonsense has gotten really old. Bob Drake started out making his own stuff himself (and besides, he doesn't do A parts-Deuces and up). But beyond that, business has always been about the best quality for the best price. Competition drives the prices, so suppliers always want to be the least expensive, but at some point, if you cheapen the quality, customers will leave.

Our major suppliers try to buy the best they can. Sometimes that American, sometimes they have to go overseas-things like giant metal presses don't exist here anymore. Folks like Bratton's will tell you the quality of their parts-and offer a variety if it's available. Sometimes, only crap is available, but they'll offer ti as the only alternative.

You make it out like suppliers are not only anti-American, but also out to get you at the expense of making a dollar. That's just not the truth.
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Old 12-04-2013, 10:38 PM   #40
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Well, Purdy, I just got a locking handle for my R/H door & rumble from Snyder's, made by VINTIQUE, & they both fit & work perfectly! YES! the Dog advised me to save the originals Bill W.
Well, Bill, I also use the Vintique parts on some of mine. The door handles fit and work good. The thing is that they are cast and don't don't hold up as well as the originals. I had the handles break off on both sides of an early 1930 AA. The handles were cast pot metal Vintique and the only handles available new from the vendors. I haven't had any problems with the ones on my sedan, they seem to be stronger than the Vintique early truck handles . I also keep it inside, unless we are driving it. My roadster had a good original stainless steel clad handle on the drivers side and I found another good original handle at A's and more for the passenger side. I really don't care about judgeing. I just wanted a handle that was real model A for my pride and joy, roadster.
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