Non fitting / defective aftermarket parts

[burner31]

Originally Posted by SteveB31

Great thread.

Cost (price) is 99% of the problem. I had three guys call me this week wanting Chinese steering wheels (we only sell USA Made ones) because they are $20 cheaper. Who would of thunk that? Happens all the time.

Steve @ Bert's

Must be the reason I have found myself getting 99.5% of my parts from Bert's.
I like how they re-use packaging too, I got an order from them awhile ago and what the boxes said they contained were not the parts that I ordered, so I called them, they asked if I had opened the boxes, I replied "no, those were not the parts that I ordered"
They said open up the boxes...and lo and behold...there were my parts.
It's like a surprise Christmas everytime I order, haven't had a misfire yet from Bert's.
Have a Model A parts shop down in the city (OKC), nothing but misfires, maybe their counter people should own or at least know a little bit about the cars they are trying to supply. (Their employee parking lot is full of Honda's/Kia's and the like)

I don't know, and I'm not sure, but I have the feeling that most, if not all of Bert's people own a Model A...or have worked on one.

With Winter coming on I'll be going up to 99.9%

And no I'm not a paid actor...just my humble opinion.

[Karl Wescott]

To those whining about "poor quality" reproduction parts.

Please consider being quiet. Consider this a golden opportunity. Invest your time and money in making and marketing the part to the quality level you feel is needed.

Then sit back and enjoy...
a. Being called a rip-off artist because your prices are so high.
b. Looking at a lovingly restored part because the value you placed on a good repro part made the piece of junk original "valuable" enough to spend the unpaid hours to rebuild.
c. Competing with a "new and improved" version from the cheap importer that was better than they did before, but not quite as good as what you have but still half the price.
d. Explaining why you will not accept a return of "the other guys" part that someone says was sold as yours for 1/10th the price on e-pay.

Oh, did I mention sales... What sales? When a repro part is made right and priced to cover the costs of making it, all the NOS stashes seem to come out of the cupboard because the perceived value increased, and the need to hoard decreased.

But you will be on your way to making a small fortune, but only if you started with a large one.

[mrtexas]

I know why many of the sheet metal parts don't fit. They are made by a guy in Beaumont Texas Carline Inc. that has been making them for 20+ years but really doesn't know much about Model As. He is a sheet metal shop. He went from 20+ employees in the 1980s to just himself now. Do you want something that doesn't fit or nothing at all? He drop ships them for all the parts houses. I see many people unsatisfied with Howells sheet metal parts but not his parts. He doesn't sell them retail unless you live in Beaumont. He has made me a few parts that fit but I took an actual fitting part there and asked him to make the same.

My advice would be to really complain to the parts house every time the sheet metal doesn't fit. Maybe it will get back to the maker!

[Y-Blockhead]

Originally Posted by denis4x4

After looking at Y-Blockhead's post showing the cowl light arm, I'm going to bet that the manufacturer of that particular part made a casting from another repro part and that the pattern "grew" causing the mismatch.

"Made in USA" ... And I suppose the mounting hole "grew" at an angle also?? What gets me is both right and left arms are equally ill fitting. So the arm in the picture is not a fluke.

But I guess there are plenty of people on here that are willing to pay $100.00 for a part that is totally useless or make excuses why parts cannot be made to fit :

[Mike V. Florida]

What about interiors? There we have a part that has no machining, no molds or casting, but the major manufacturer still has distance between pleats, edging and the like incorrect. You buy the kit, take the stitching out and have it re-sewn to match the Guidelines. Why?

[Hoogah]

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Originally Posted by Y-Blockhead

"Made in USA" ... And I suppose the mounting hole "grew" at an angle also?? What gets me is both right and left arms are equally ill fitting. So the arm in the picture is not a fluke

A perfectly matched pair. Well, at least they're consistent!

[rocket1]

I would like the suppliers to indicate whether a part is foreign made or USA made,then I would make my decision to buy it or search for a good used part.

[George Miller]

Funny thing Guys Like Bill Stipe get it right. You all can say what you want, but there is no reason parts have to be wrong. The problem is people buy the junk.
For me I use most all the original stuff even the bolts. You can not buy any better bolts than Ford used. I did try a set of points one time, ya they were junk. Went back to the original points that was 20,000 miles ago. Also helped three cars stranded on the road with the wire less lower plate. Some more improvements. Hope they learned there lesson.