Cheap AND poorly designed after market products - don't blame it on the Chinese!
We've all been there, you buy a replacement part to replace an item that has been functioning perfectly fine for over 50 years only to have the replacment fail, or not fit, or be cosmetically inferior even to the original part that was over 50 years old!
You mention it to someone and the answer, more often than not is "what do you expect, its made in China". The real question should be why did the company that sold it to me NOT insist on a higher level of quality to begin with. Many of those aftermarket parts suppliers and distributors post content and replies on this site so I hope they read this one.
There is no substitute for quality control when you are sourcing a product, in particular into a market where the buyers fully expect form / fit and function to be paramount. The overwhelming number of people that own vintage vechicles don't want to buy junk or waste time installing aftermarket replacement parts repeatedly especially when many of the items that need replacemnt are difficult to get at in the 1st place. So why can't these suppliers be more proactive and insist on replacment parts meeting the original specifications (including materials used) that were designed by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM'S).
Case in point was a recent experience I had replacing an instrument cluster in my 63. Not exactly a moon-shot but somewhat involved. I'll skip all the cursing and dumb things done, but can someone please explain why a simple speedometer cable that is sold as a replacement can not be manufacturered to the correct length. By correct length I mean the portion that fits into the speedo head or the length between the stop-ferrule and the tip?
I know there are numerous posts on this topic about t******* to length, but if it's so common to have to do this then why can't the companys bring these into the States insist on having them meet the original specifications. In my case the tip on the aftermarket piece looked fine but was a tenth of an inch longer than the AC original. Not a big deal of course but I found out the hard way and now the cluster has to be removed and speedo head has to be repaired. Ironically, I will end up using the orignal cable as it looked perfectly fine upon further inspection.
So I'm curious about how others feel, agree / disagree, or if we simply have to accept a lower standard from these sources?
You mention it to someone and the answer, more often than not is "what do you expect, its made in China". The real question should be why did the company that sold it to me NOT insist on a higher level of quality to begin with. Many of those aftermarket parts suppliers and distributors post content and replies on this site so I hope they read this one.
There is no substitute for quality control when you are sourcing a product, in particular into a market where the buyers fully expect form / fit and function to be paramount. The overwhelming number of people that own vintage vechicles don't want to buy junk or waste time installing aftermarket replacement parts repeatedly especially when many of the items that need replacemnt are difficult to get at in the 1st place. So why can't these suppliers be more proactive and insist on replacment parts meeting the original specifications (including materials used) that were designed by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM'S).
Case in point was a recent experience I had replacing an instrument cluster in my 63. Not exactly a moon-shot but somewhat involved. I'll skip all the cursing and dumb things done, but can someone please explain why a simple speedometer cable that is sold as a replacement can not be manufacturered to the correct length. By correct length I mean the portion that fits into the speedo head or the length between the stop-ferrule and the tip?
I know there are numerous posts on this topic about t******* to length, but if it's so common to have to do this then why can't the companys bring these into the States insist on having them meet the original specifications. In my case the tip on the aftermarket piece looked fine but was a tenth of an inch longer than the AC original. Not a big deal of course but I found out the hard way and now the cluster has to be removed and speedo head has to be repaired. Ironically, I will end up using the orignal cable as it looked perfectly fine upon further inspection.
So I'm curious about how others feel, agree / disagree, or if we simply have to accept a lower standard from these sources?
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