[Les Saville]

Don't want to sound like a whiner but of the last nine resto parts I've attempted to install on my car a total of nine of them either have had to be extremly modified to make them fit, or just tossed or returned!!!

Anyone else run into this at such a large degree? I'm still faced with at least a hundered or more parts to install and I'm thinking I'm going to need my doctor to write me a script for some prozac. :noway:

 

[jtm60]

YES. Way more bad than good.

Trim Parts stood out as making some really nice quality emblems and such. The worst stuff that caused the most headaches was some underhood items, including fuel lines, and especially the front small trim pieces, eyebrow moldings and such..lots of tweaking, and modification of speed nuts. Oh yeah, lots of swearing. Simple tasks made time consuming and aggravating.

 

[Wheelhop]

you're right, I've tried to use as many original parts as possible on my restoration.
Stick with the prozac, it's good stuff!!!!

 

[Al]

If you have a poorly reproduced part, please add it to the review section so we can get feedback and perhaps make a bit of a difference in what is being sold.

List the product, not the person who sold it if you can.

 

[TH396]

YES. Way more bad than good.

Trim Parts stood out as making some really nice quality emblems and such. The worst stuff that caused the most headaches was some underhood items, including fuel lines, and especially the front small trim pieces, eyebrow moldings and such..lots of tweaking, and modification of speed nuts. Oh yeah, lots of swearing. Simple tasks made time consuming and aggravating.

I agree.... Trim parts are excellent. The biggest problem I've seen is sheetmetal parts.

 

[Bill Rose]

Les, what parts are you having problems with?....and is Mr Lessonberry over there helping you? If not why? If I didn't live 1000 miles away, I'd be giving you a hand:yes: Aren't we down to 7 weeks.

 

[CDN SS]

I agree ....seems like anything that replaces factory exterior trim that was anodized aluminum fits poorly or as was said the speed nuts are incorrect for stud size or incorrect in apearance ...eyebrow mld is my big problem and I have not been able to find a pair of NOS or good ones to polish and reanodize .brand dont seem to matter .... IMO a market out there for a "Premium " line of exterior trim ...rear rocker mld and eyebrow mld ae only repo on my cars exterior and I cringe every time I look at those parts .not good fit for my liking


Help Needed

with one repo part ..66 inner front fenders .fit very well BUT the hole for the park lite grommet is too big @ 1" ......checked the grommet with original its correct @ 7/8" and the hole in my original inners is 7/8"

Any solutions anyone run into this before ????

 

[Ark68SS]

Les, what parts are you having problems with?....and is Mr Lessonberry over there helping you? If not why? If I didn't live 1000 miles away, I'd be giving you a hand:yes: Aren't we down to 7 weeks.

Lessenberry (less than a berry, more than a nut ) has a day job that wears his old ass out:boring: , Les's car is an hour's drive away from me, and I'm not sure if the shop where he has it will let him work on it after hours. My car's not ready to go yet, either. The pinstripes on the side are giving me a fit, I need to fix the crack in the steering wheel, valves need adjusting, oil needs changing & I can't find a correct repro filter , the car is filthy dirty with pollen all over it , i.e. I got troubles of my own.:clonk:
When I get my stuff all together, then I'll jump in on his. :thumbsup:
BillL

 

[Bill Rose]

Ok calm down! I understand.
It will all come together in the end. :thumbsup: Which is only 56 days from today

 

[Les Saville]

Bill, The parts so far have been: Front windshield, rear windshield, fresh air plenium, quarter window chrome and rubber, window fuzzies, vacuum pod for plenium, right rear quarter, rear vinyl top corners, wiper linkage bushings, and master cylinder, just to name a few.

At this juncture I'm starting to look at a trailer or a tow bar for my car to get to CB07 as I think I can finish it but won't have time for a good shake down cruise.

 

[Les Saville]

Actually, BillL has been a major help to me, lucky for me he has a 68 as I visit Rosanne at least once a week sometimes twice to find out how things fit and bolt on, as I didn't disassemble my car but am re-assembling it, BillL even let's me use his tools without a deposit!

Bill, you have also been a big help, your experience on 68's has saved me alot of time and money on where to find the stuff I need.

Thanks Les :beers:

 

[D Stroud]

I've started sending any item back that does not come at least close to fitting like the original part. I used to just keep the small dollar items thinking it wasn't worth the time to fool with sending it back, but not anymore.

If we all started sending ill fitting and ill quality parts back to the vendors, they would eventually get the idea and insist on better quality products from the manf.

If we all continue to use them and try to make em fit, they will never improve the fit or quality. No incentive for them to.

I recently bought and returned 6 - yes 6 different fan shrouds back to a vendor. Each one that they sent looked like they had a watery rust stain on them and when you tried to clean it off, it would make the finish look funny.

After the sixth one they finally said, "Thats the best we have" maybe you should try another vendor". OK with me. I bet they spent over $100 shipping and picking up and re-shipping 6 shrouds. The bad part is that each time, I would call them and tell them specifically, that I was working on a frame-off COPO car and that the part had to be right. But, they kept sending crap at their expense.

The absolute worst fitting piece of junk that I have bought so far is the underhood insulation made by Re-pops. Complete junk that doesn't even come hand-grenade close to fitting like it should. So, I sent it back for a refund.

 

[Lilump]

I am involved with the industry that makes and sells these parts, although I don't personally make or sell anything. I can tell you one very important solution to this problem: Stop ordering parts by "application", and start asking your seller for the manufacturer's brand name of any part you buy! You see, retailers feel pressure to have the lowest prices...and WE are the reason why. We customers try to stretch our meager budgets by calling around and checking prices all the time. But every time a retailer loses a sale (when we tell them we can buy it cheaper elsewhere), they feel pressure to find a resource for a lower-priced part. Indeed, they actually make more profit selling the higher-priced better-quality parts. But they constantly lose sales to shoppers who search for the "best" price for a part. So, rather than quote you the price for a premium part made by Trim Parts (for example), they quote you a price for a cheapo part made by who-knows-who. And worst of all, many customers are frankly happy with cheaper parts of lower quality.

 

[CDN SS]

I am involved with the industry that makes and sells these parts, although I don't personally make or sell anything. I can tell you one very important solution to this problem: Stop ordering parts by "application", and start asking your seller for the manufacturer's brand name of any part you buy! You see, retailers feel pressure to have the lowest prices...and WE are the reason why. We customers try to stretch our meager budgets by calling around and checking prices all the time. But every time a retailer loses a sale (when we tell them we can buy it cheaper elsewhere), they feel pressure to find a resource for a lower-priced part. Indeed, they actually make more profit selling the higher-priced better-quality parts. But they constantly lose sales to shoppers who search for the "best" price for a part. So, rather than quote you the price for a premium part made by Trim Parts (for example), they quote you a price for a cheapo part made by who-knows-who. And worst of all, many customers are frankly happy with cheaper parts of lower quality


Your absolutely right .this applies to alot of biz sectors not just repo parts ......those of us who demand quality and will pay are pbly inthe minority BUT if retailers would offer a choice of price or quality more people would understand and pay for quality .the retailers have some obligation in this too .called upsell to often sales guys focus on price thats why it pays to shop for your repo parts from a seller who actually installs these parts on a car ..........I support Hinshaws becuse he tells me when a part is poor and no option or he has good quality and low price quality or and he has done this, dont buy have your factory part refurbished .for alot more money ....... I buy some stuff from Paragon Corvette where some stuff cross over to the Chevelle and the quality of thier parts is top notch and pricey ...... Brand , my experience ( trim) is a piece for one year Chevelle from one brand may not be a good as the piece for another year ..........so brand is not always consistant .I know itmore complex than this but retailers and consumers need to talk value not price as you say ........yet their will always be some on a budget or just happy with Ok stuff .there is a market for Quality exterior trim / grilles etc ........ I have been very happey with trim parts stuff ..........except the plastic dash pieces for 66/67 poor fit and other issues .... I have gone thru boxes of same part to find an Ok one for the plastic panel above the glove box ...in the sun you can see a ton of scratches between the clear cover and grey background piece .hopefully they have fixed that

 

[Les Saville]

If we could all constructivly list the name of the vendor we recieved the inferior parts from in our parts "review section" and notify the vendor's that we all are checking this section on a regular basis and they should too, then maybe they will demand better quality parts from their suppliers.

Will we be charged more for a better part? Yes but to the majority of us it would be worth it in the long run. Let's face it, we control the sales in the repro parts industry, now let's control the quality.

Maybe Al could champion this idea and set controls on it so it doesn't become a slanderious situation. This could be very healthy for both sides if done ethically and professionally.

I wasted a couple of hours trying to make my repro ($40.00 plus shipping) fresh air plenium work but it was so warped (won't mount to existing holes, or seal) I finally gave up and sand blasted, painted and repaired my 38 year old original. I'm probably going to have to eat it because I scratched it in the process of trying a half dozen times to make it work.

 

[Lilump]

With some parts, there is only one repro available, and for now we're all stuck with it. But with many parts, there are choices. But we usually just ask our retailers for a part by "application". It typically goes something like this: "Hello, do you have repro exterior door handles for my '66 Chevelle 2dr hdtp? You do? Good. How much?" And therein lies the problem! The retailer feels pressure to offer you a low price, so he doesn't lose the sale. And in truth, MOST of the times he WILL lose the sale if he doesn't quote a competitive price. MOST guys don't bother to find out if more than one manufacturer makes that part. In the example phone call I just cited, there are both "pretty good" door handles available from overseas, and beautiful products available from a well-known US manfr. Visual quality is indeed better, but the biggest difference is not very visible intially. The chrome plating will fade MUCH sooner on the cheapo handles, and the button hardware/springs are MUCH better on the US-made handles. Cheapos are okay if you're just patching a Chevelle together to make a quick sale. But if you're building a concours L89 convertible, the difference in cost is zero, when you realize how much longer one will last than the other.

 

[Lilump]

Another problem with all this is that some retailers really don't WANT us to know what brand of part they're offering, because they know we will go right out and shop prices for identical parts. This factor is precisely what killed all of those local speed shops in our hometowns when we were teenagers. If you recall, back in the 60's and early 70's when you wanted a hot cam or aluminum intake, you probably went to the corner speed shop, and talked face-to-face with a guy who actually built engines, and KNEW what would work best for us. Most of us couldn't really afford all the parts we needed to build up our street-fightin' Chevelles, as our budgets were all pretty small, so we often had to do without. But, local speed shops sold brand name parts by part numbers...right? Then before long, giant mail order speed warehouses came along. They offered the same brands, same part numbers to us "on sale" often for less than the local speed shop could even buy those parts at wholesale. (I'll be the first to admit that I sometimes would go to Ault & James speedshop for info, but then would end up ordering the part at MUCH lower prices over the phone). We stretched our little budgets, and we kept those speed shops from "ripping us off" (as we saw it) with "exhorbitant"-seeming prices for the same parts. The result? Well, there AIN'T any more local speed shops, are there? So much for supporting the "little guy" business man! So, what do I recommend we do? First, find yourself a Chevelle parts supplier that you really can trust, and then stick with them. Second, decide whether initial price or total quality is MOST important to your project Chevelle. Third, after making that decision, ask your retailer if more than one version of any part is available, and what are the benefits/differences of each. Then, make your purchase from the supplier you have decided to trust. Anyone going to Carlisle? I'll be there.

 

[Les Saville]

I agree with and practice the theory to ask if a better part is available and I try to purchase only GM Restoration parts.

The parts I've been burned on are the ones that are exclusive or parts only a coulpe of resto suppliers have and if one was out I would have to order from the other.

I learned early on that Modern Chevrolet has alot of GM Restoration parts and always at the best price, most of their parts come from OPG or Trim Parts, (good suppliers) but when they don't carry an item I need I have to go to the others and usually get burned.

 

[Lilump]

You are wise to select good, reputable suppliers, and stick with them. Keep in mind that there are usually BOTH good and poor parts available from lots of sources. For example, many "New Old Stock" NOS parts you buy today may have been produced only a few weeks/months ago, even though they fit a 40-year old car. AND, the tooling may literally be 40 years old too. Like anything else, tooling wears out. So, you can go to your local GM dealership, and order several parts that may still be available. When you receive them, you may find that some parts may be very good, and others not so good. Want an example? Consider the chrome-plated driver's door outside rear view mirrors on many GM cars of the sixties, including Chevelles. Factory-installed originals for Chevys had a bowtie impression, but GM "NOS" replacements do not today, since only one application now fits Chevys AND other GM cars. That's not always so bad. However, even though it looks very nice, and comes to you in a GM box, you may very well find that the mirror head won't stay in place as adjusted. The slightest vibration from the road will often make them fall out of adjustment. Why? It's because of the worn-out old tooling. So, how is this matter solved today? Fortunately for us, one really good dealer of restoration parts buys up those mirrors in large quantities, tears them apart, "restores" them with some new additional tooling of his own, and then sells them all over the aftermarket to other parts retailers to resell to us, the public. He even mills a bowtie emblem back in for Chevy applications, to make them look correct. BUT, once again, some retailers may prefer to merely buy them direct from GM (at a lower price, you see), and sell them to you as-is. The moral: Find a few good suppliers which you can trust, and stick with them.