Rant o' day

[Leif A.]

Pretty day here in the DFW area so I thought it would be a good time (after a nice drive) to take care of some of the items that caused some deductions at my judging at the Lone Star Regionals. One of the items noted by the interior team was that my door sills were the replacement style (25 grooves) instead of the original style (33 grooves). These door sills had, obviously, been replaced sometime in the cars last 47 years but they were getting a little gnarly and so I thought...what the heck, get some new ones. Here's the rub...when I went to the suppliers catalog (take your pick) they still list the replacement (25 groove) and the original style (33 groove) door sills. WHY????? Why intentionally sell something that you know is incorrect for the car. Even if this style had been available as a service replacement (which I don't now if it was or not)...why sell something that wasn't factory original. Additionally, the incorrect one is half the price of the correct one...I'm sure it cost twice as much to add those additional 8 tiny grooves. It just kind of pisses me off that companies knowingly do stuff like this. It's bad enough that so many of the products in the restoration business are from off shore or of questionable quality, but this... OK, off the soap box. I'm going for another ride

[Edward J.]

Re: Rant o' day

Leif, I know what you mean, 25/30 years ago not many parts could be had for mid year cars, so some of the parts are still around. and are improving everyday. I guess now these incorrect parts are a value line for those who don't care about the NCRS. correctness.

[Leif A.]

Re: Rant o' day

Leif, I know what you mean, 25/30 years ago not many parts could be had for mid year cars, so some of the parts are still around. and are improving everyday. I guess now these incorrect parts are a value line for those who don't care about the NCRS. correctness.

Edward,

I suppose that could be part of the reason some of these incorrect parts are still around but it still riles me that they're being sold. I agree, that we have more restoration parts available today then ever before...and that certainly is a good thing for the hobby. If anyone out there wants a real "value" on a set of reproduction (incorrect) door sills...I have a set for free. Any takers??

[Larry M.]

[Kenneth B.]

Re: Rant o' day

I think part of the problem is that "NOS" over the counter parts that were sold were NOT like the assembly line ones. In fact most were replaced by 1size fits all. I assume people building tooling used the service parts as a pattern & some suppliers bought the old GM tooling that was used for service replacements. Original looking parts cost more because we will pay more to get a few more points. You do realize this is a business not a hobby now.