Another rant over "the usual suspects!"

[DrEntropy]

Steering column bushings... from one of "the two" larger suppliers. The felt "bottom" one is too tight. The top, plastic one is too loose. What does it TAKE to reproduce these parts in some semblance of CORRECT!?!?! I'm fumeing. Gonna put the OLD nylon bush back in at a 90° angle to vertical, mic the shaft and figure a way to MAKE MY OWN junk parts. This is maddening and usury.

...I'm old enuff to actually REMEMBER what the BMC bits were like: AHA-whatever would fit and be CORRECT. This is NOT a shuttle launch.

...Okay, I'm nearly better now... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[ecurie_ecosse]

It's best you get that frustration off your chest Doc. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/savewave.gif
I can't figure out how the parts are made so badly that they don't fit. Aren't they using the original specs? Maybe they think it doesn't matter? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif

Stuart. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif

 

[kcbugeye1275]

My bitch was my sons tr6 master cyl rebuild kit from VB. I live 5 miles from VB and after a winter to find the waifer washer that would work, I went to the counter and got all the kits out and found the one that had the seals that fit. Tis frustrating!!!!!!

 

[Scott_Hower]

[ QUOTE ]
Gonna put the OLD nylon bush back in at a 90° angle to vertical, mic the shaft and figure a way to MAKE MY OWN junk parts. This is maddening and usury.

...Okay, I'm nearly better now... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

I feel yer pain, Doc.

The felt bush should be modifiable (is that a word?) without too much fuss. Have you soaked her in light oil? If you have access to the machine tools to fabricate, you can buy solid nylon or delrin chunks from: www.aircraftspruce.com This is my favorite place for buying esoteric materials.

My father bought a combo lathe/milling machine from HarborFreight a few years ago. Not the best quality, but it's a handy tool for making stuff like this. Takes a bunch of practice though. Wife couldn't understand my irrational exuberance when I showed her my first thread cutting exercise. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devilgrin.gif

 

[tony barnhill]

I'm telling you guys - Gerry Masterman makes THE steering column bushings...anything else isn't!

 

[Scott_Hower]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm telling you guys - Gerry Masterman makes THE steering column bushings...anything else isn't!

[/ QUOTE ]

Info... link? He's in NJ, no? I think I might have met him once at Moss Britfest @ their Dover warehouse.

My 73 column is wobbly at the top.

(Edit: found it: https://www.theautoist.com/steering.htm )

 

[tony barnhill]

He's in Louisiana...I'll get him to come up on-line...

here's his email: gmasterman@aol.com

& website: https://shadetreemg.com/gem.htm

 

[jessebogan]

It is not just LBCs either. I can buy factory parts from Jaguar and find cheap parts made in China, packed in Jaguar boxes. I bought an AC evaporator for an XJS recently. NOS parts are no longer available. I bought an aftermarket part.( This is about a 14 hour job by the way). I went to install the part, and the pipes would not come close to exiting the heater box, and the metal attaching plate was 1 1/2 inches out in space. Great!. I got on the net, and searched until I was crosseyed, and everybody that sells an evaporator for the XJS sell the exact same unit.I had a second unit overnighted in hopes that I had just been shipped a bad unit. No such luck. I took a big old "railroad" wrench and gently bent the pipes until they would exit the box somewhere near where they were supposed to. I took a dremel and cut the support plate away from the pipes and attached it to the heater box, and made up a stainless plate to fill the gaps. A little JB weld and it was ready to refit. You can just bet that nobody covered my time on any of this. I hope that that SOB never leaks, or I might be forced to commit a felony on the vendor. I bought an interior screw kit for a 65 vette. You know, American car, should be an easy thing right? No screw in the kit exactly matched up to one in the car. The car had never been apart before, so I know the car was right. Had these people ever seen a Corvette before? It was like they went to the chrome screw store, and grabbed a handful, charged me a lot, and shipped them. Like the good Doctor said, it ain't rocket science.

 

[AngliaGT]

Most suppliers don't understand that we're willing to
pay a little more for the CORRECT replacement parts,& the
OEM quality type nuts,bolts,& screws.

- Doug

 

[DrEntropy]

But Doug(!): These guys are having the stuff MADE for the application... How much more trouble is it to MAKE the "widget" to actual spec?!?! Cost would be the same in any case. It's lack of QC, and an uncaring attitude toward those of us fool enuff to buy the junk!

I've wrenched on my own "EuroTrash" for nearly forty years, professionally since the mid '70's. Repaired, rebuilt or restored some wonderful cars... I can expect the problems similar to what Jesse related above when the "patient" is something like a DB 2/4, but when it started happening as a matter of course (about the time Special Interest went Tango Uniform) with cars like MG's and Jags, the handwriting was on the wall. It said: "Retain your sanity, get out now!"


This B is a '64. G.E.M.'s "kit" likely won't work.

 

[jessebogan]

Oh yeah, parts that they had made... I bought a bezel for the high beam switch on an E type. The bezel says "Highbeam" on top, and "Dip" on the bottom. The new one had High Beam(two words). The font was wrong, the spacing and angle of the letters was wrong, and it was too thick to let the retainer threads engage. AAAIIIIEEEEEE!!!! It would have been exactly as expensive to do it right as it was to do it wrong!!! Who makes these craptastic parts anyway? I mean come on, I don't even check the vendor who sold that part for parts anymore. Why lose a shop customer over a ten dollar part? I would never use a junk part like that on a customer car, so why would they even sell it? And if they sell a junk part like that that fits on the dash and is visible to the world, what quality of parts are they selling that make up more complicated assemblies? Who needs it? That God for Ebay. NOS parts are still out there, but you have to be a lot more patient. I have a thing for XJSs. I buy a parts car or two, every year, squirrel away the best of the stuff that I need, and sell off the rest. This seemed expensive initially, but it has more than paid off over the years.

 

[DrEntropy]

That dip switch phenom was another "boondoggle"!!! I unboxed it and when I looked it over it was: "AM ~I~ NUTS?!?!"

I opted out. IT consulting is cleaner.


...marginally.

 

[jessebogan]

wish I knew how... On the other hand, somebody should still know how to fix these things for people who can't... or won't.

 

[DrEntropy]

I still do a bit of wrenching, but now I can be *selective*. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[PAUL161]

You'r 100% right Doc! It wouldn't cost any more to duplicate a part to look and fit as original, than some of the junk that's on the market as "Replacement" parts. Also, thier's no reason why a dealer can not advise thier customers that a certian part is not as original in looks, fit, or whatever. Seems like in dash items are the biggest culprit, I guess because we look directly at them. Oh well, so much for my two cents worth. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif PJ

 

[Basil]

He used to be on this forum occassionally /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[cfiaime]

Greetings...

I recall about 40 years ago hearing my uncle complaining about the reproduction parts for his Ford Model A, and another bemoaning the parts for his Model T. As long as there have been people restoring cars, there have been people making junk and selling it as good.

But it is frustrating.

 

[Peter_Rogers]

I know its frustrating and I know we often have cause for complaint but lets not lose sight of the fact that we are talking about cars that went out of production 25 yrs ago, where the supply of original spares is gone. My opinion is that it is better to get a good supply of stuff from other parts at affordable prices even if the quality is sometimes inferior. Can't say from experience but I heard that Jaguar parts are prohibitably expensive which is maybe due to the fact that thety are not mass produced in China.
Just a thought

 

[DrEntropy]

See Jesse's comments above with regard to Jaguar T/signal cowl markings... and yes: that part was *insultingly* expensive for what it was. Further: making it ~at all~ regardless of country of origin would be the same price-per-unit, so why not make it to spec (so as to actually FIT the intended purpose) in the first place? It baffles me.

Another case-in-point: A turnsignal switch from "one of two" suppiers was ordered for a friend's '67 MGB project. It sat in the packaging for months awaiting installation, until the project got to the interior assembly stage. The switch had ONE of the two small strap steel detents missing; which means you have to HOLD the stalk in place to keep the blinker "blinking." Recourse(?): "HOW long ago did you purchase the part?"

---ARGHH!!!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hammer.gif

 

[jessebogan]

Actually, Jaguar parts are not all that expensive in the cosmic scheme of things. Some parts *are* expensive, but so are some Toyota parts. Compare prices on a camry alternator with an XJS alternator.Porshe parts are expensive. What I truly dislike is when I buy from the dealer, pay the price for Made in the UK parts, and find the parts were made in China. My customers do not drive Jaguars for the "made in China" driving experience.
I am grateful that any parts are available at all, but is buying a part that is available, but will not fit or work really any better than not having one at all? I, personally, would not care if I had to pay 10 or 20 percent more to get parts that are fit to use. I think that part of the problem is the widely held perception that "cheaper is better" I don't really know a lot of people that feel that way, but a lot of marketing, and evidently production, seems geared to, and driven by that. I would like to have a choice. I don't care if a U joint has metric rollers inside, as long as the OD fits exactly. I do care if the part will not fit because it is too tight, or too loose. Come on suppliers, make parts that make you proud, and make me proud to use them.