Attn people new to the hobby and a reminder to old hands..."New" parts are CRAP

[AKcharger]

A quick rant to remind new people DO NOT stock pile new parts. you will find 50% of them don't fit, don't work or fall apart on installation. If you buy parts and let them sit for two years you will not be able to return them. There are many vendors but really only one production source so with VERY few exceptions it doesn't matter if you buy from year one or AutoZone, it's coming from the same re-education camp/factory in Guangzhaou

Old hands before you spend time looking for a problem suspect your new Chinese part is the cause..9 times out of 10 it will be. I currently have a brake drum that is made wrong and hits the back plate spent hours adjusting checking, I should have known.

Rant complete, thanks for reading!

[cbrestorations]

Stick with original as much as possible, I get really frustrated paying good money for repop parts that fit like shit, not the same material, doesn't last long and poor quality.

[dreamcatcher]

Cant agree more  . I have used aftermarket body parts on GM, Ford and Mopar some ok some totally junk. Some times there is not my choice. But all of them I have used have required work. But none have been as bad as the 68 1300.00 each charger front fenders. I have over 20 hours in just to get them to fit and there still not as good as the rusty ones I replaced. Unfortunately mine were just not salvageable. If you have no choice just be prepared to spend a lot of hours on them. In my case at least there was something out there.

[hemi-hampton]

I learned this many years ago. I remember Restoring a B5 Blue 70 T/A Challenger about 25 years ago. I put a used rustfree Arizona Desert 1/4 panel on one side. The boss was looking for a another for the other side. I then quit the job for another job. But then quit that job a year later & went back to my old job. When I get back in that year time all they had done on that T/A was put on a cheap aftermarket Sherman & Associates 1/4 panel on the other side. The difference was very obvious. The factory used 1/4 fit like glove/perfect like it should. The aftermarket was so bad I felt like cutting off & finding another used one but Boss said NO, So it stayed, unfortunately. LEON.

P.S. Pic below at Detroit Autorama in the 1990's.

[Challenger340]

Whooaa  there... say it ain't so ?

You mean to say some of the repop sheet metal out there these days is Crap ?

[RallyeMike]

Dealing with this yesterday with well known brand suspension rebuild kit.... and it would be so simple to have just made the stuff right 

[Kern Dog]

Thank you for bringing up this topic.
I imagine that there are plenty of people that buy some project car then start ordering stuff for it because it is available. A buddy did this with  late 60s Bronco and also found new stuff was not fitting or working as it should. It isn't just limited to us Mopar guys.

[AKcharger]

Well, what "seems" to happen (at least with a friend of mine that did shower curtains in china) is you send a Item to "zingxoaug" manufacturing. After a bit you get back a sample piece, it's OK but you need to tweak it. 2nd sample comes back and it's pretty good, so you order 1500 items. The mass production is at another facility with different material. 2 months later you get 1500 pieces of crap. you can bit the bullet and take a MASSIVE loss but not screw anyone OR like most choose...Sell them off with "buyer beware" in you head.

[AKcharger]

 

[Ghoste]

Someone else who also dealt with manufacturing in China once told me that another problem is that the deal you make over there today, doesn't apply tomorrow.  I don't know, I just wish there was a way to improve it.  Things like the fuel senders that don't read correctly but after being a known problem for several years they are still the only thing available.

[Kern Dog]

You mean the chinks don't honor their word with people?

[c00nhunterjoe]

The problems are not limited to the restoration market. I see defective parts manufacturing daily.

[Birdflu]

The problems are not limited to the restoration market. I see defective parts manufacturing daily.

[DanielRobert]

Luckily, thats why we have this site. We can ask who used who for parts and whats good and whats great and whats crap.

[Chargen69]

about 10 years ago my dad's company (not auto related) gave up on china and started back making their own parts.  They would have to ship stuff back to china 3 times before 1/2 of their parts would be close enough to use.

[lloyd3]

I look at a hood and a fender that have never been quite right every time I drive the car.  Close but no cigar.

[stripedelete]

I look at a hood and a fender that have never been quite right every time I drive the car.  Close but no cigar.

I do too.  And mine is original.......

[Challenger340]

I look at a hood and a fender that have never been quite right every time I drive the car.  Close but no cigar.

I do too.  And mine is original.......

at the risk of gloating here....my all original sheet metal is perfect as far as I can tell ? fit, gaps all look great.

[c00nhunterjoe]

I look at a hood and a fender that have never been quite right every time I drive the car.  Close but no cigar.

I do too.  And mine is original.......

at the risk of gloating here....my all original sheet metal is perfect as far as I can tell ? fit, gaps all look great.

Thats the joy of hand assembled cars of the era. Monday Wednesday and friday cars are all different depending on the mood of the guy putting his part on.

[Mytur Binsdirti]

at the risk of gloating here....my all original sheet metal is perfect as far as I can tell ? fit, gaps all look great.

That certainly can't be a Chrysler product from the musclecar era you're referring to. Either that or your eyes are failing.  

[lloyd3]

If I remember correctly, mine was a Friday car (SPD of 7/5/68, not sure how that would have worked, they had Thursday off?). Even with that, however, the original sheetmetal fitment was noticeably better.  What I have now was done as well as could be, I'm certain, but....it's noticeably imperfect.  Having grown up with Mopar in the 60s and the 70s, imperfect was the rule and not the exception. Knowing that helps me live with what I have.

[Mytur Binsdirti]

[b5blue]

I paid more for Trim Parts door handles and in 5-6 years they are pitted and getting crappier daily. (Along with having to swap hardware to work correct.) I was told they were made in USA?  (Same for the Flip top gas cap.)

[tan top]

use as many original restored / real good / NOS parts as you can , you would think with all the manufacturing  processes of today would far supersede  that of 50 plus years ago ! but looks as if they cant even match  manufacturing of 50 plus years ago !
what kills me they go to all that trouble to produce a repop part  & it don't quite look / fit  right !  why crazy  
 you can get away with some repop parts to a greater lesser extent , dependent how fussy you are ! but stick to as much OEM as possible

[Challenger340]

at the risk of gloating here....my all original sheet metal is perfect as far as I can tell ? fit, gaps all look great.

That certainly can't be a Chrysler product from the musclecar era you're referring to. Either that or your eyes are failing.  

LOL !
maybe my eyes are failing, but many others can't be as well ?

I think same as everything else, there may have been a few good ones fluked down the line with the bad ?
The Car's a survivor and it would be easy to see if things had been "adjusted/moved" in the factory paint/bolts etc. ? and just nothing there and the gaps look great ?

Had a restorer tell me "Black" Cars got specially selected from the "bodies in white" stage on the line because Black shows everything ?
That was since debunked on this site as garbage when I asked... all I know is it's original... black... and the gaps/sheet metal looks really good ?
just lucky I guess ?