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Author
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Topic: I'm keeping a list....
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66HIPO&more
Gearhead Posts: 4244
From: SLC, UT
Registered: Jul 99
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posted 09-16-2006 01:13 PM
 
And there's going to be some really hostile letters going out real soon.I am getting sick, sick, fed up with garbage being sold by Mustang parts suppliers. I could damn near fill a page with the crap we've paid for and can't use on our concours restoration. Water pump - trash! The catalogs say "concours" or "MCA approved" and this stuff is pure garbage!
Drip rail and grill moldings! I could do a better job with a roll of tin foil! Wiring harnesses that don't match up front to back - different connectors! How about the "complete body bolt kit" that doesn't even have bumper bolts. How's that complete???? Not to mention the bolts that the judge said to toss because they aren't right. Good thing we kept the old bolts. Headlight switch - catalog says 64.5 to 66. WRONG! 64.5 is different! Knob doesn't fit, it should be about 1/2 inch shorter. I ordered and paid HUGE price for "CONCOURS correct restored 64.5 seat belts. Cost me $120 for four rubber boots on the belts. Well, guess what? Judge just told me to cut them off!!!! 64.5 did not have boots! ARRRR! My dated glass was supposed to be here AUGUST 10. Where the hell is it? Make phone calls. "Oh, Uh... we'll have someone work on it over the weekend and guess what we ship it out express Monday and NOT CHARGE YOU EXTRA!" What total BS! I guess I'm supposed to know this stuff up front. But when these bloody businesses have been doing this for years and I'm a novice (at concours) you expect some guidance. Oh, then there's the E-bay frauds who advertise NOS with pretty blue and white Ford boxes. Then the stuff shows up with different part no. and dates than what is on the box! They switch out aftermarket repops and reuse the NOS box! I'm not done raging... But I'm done typing before I get so PO'd I puke on my keyboard! (Sorry... had to vent!) J.
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69 Sportsroof
Gearhead Posts: 2814
From: Valley, Alabama, USA
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 09-16-2006 01:57 PM
Sorry for your grief Joyce.Reckon this is one of the reasons Ford want folks to quit using the Mustang name in their businesses?
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gmliebau
Gearhead Posts: 691
From: Port St. Lucie, FL
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 09-16-2006 02:43 PM
Been there. I bought a GT-350H stripe kit with no "H" and fiberglass scoops that are an inch short all the way around.
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66HIPO&more
Gearhead Posts: 4244
From: SLC, UT
Registered: Jul 99
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posted 09-16-2006 03:27 PM
I'm usually pretty patient and tolerant.
But we have a show we've been planning for all year. Now it's two weeks away. The MCA judge we've been working with sent a list of 35 "problems" with things he saw in pictures I sent last week.
More than half are related to improper stuff the vendors sold us. That's what we get for trusting supposed "professionals."
If it weren't for the time crunch, I could deal with it a little easier.
Three steps forward, and two steps back.
J.
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Fastback68
Gearhead Posts: 4511
From: Sucat, Paranaque, Philippines
Registered: Jul 99
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posted 09-16-2006 07:11 PM
I feel your pain, and being in the Flips I get to pay import duty etc. on wrong parts it's too expensive and tedious to send back.
I now take it for granted that if I place an order for, say, 20 parts, I'll be very happy with 15, four will be so so, and one will be like, WTF is that?!?!?
"Oh, it'll work," they say. "Yes," I reply, "but did it ever occur to you that when I order one thing, and I live all the way over here, and you're out of stock, you might contact me before shipping something that'll 'work'?????"
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Dave Gibson
Moderator Posts: 10769
From: Norfolk, Virginia, USA M&M#166 MCA#47921
Registered: Aug 99
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posted 09-16-2006 10:17 PM
Joyce,
Sorry to hear of all your headaches.  Not fun when you are on a limited time schedule. Hang in there. You all will do just fine. Not so sure about the vendors, though.   Dave & Terri ------------------
'65 Mustang Fastback
'66 Mustang Coupe
'02 Explorer XLT
Common sense isn't common anymore.
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rmousir
Gearhead Posts: 1124
From: Amelia, Ohio
Registered: May 2003
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posted 09-16-2006 11:14 PM
I am sorry to hear about the problems you are having. I have been pretty lucky with the service and support I have gotten from NPD and MustangsPlus. I have not bought from anyone else when it have come to new parts. But then again I am not doing a show car. Hang in there.Richard. ------------------
rmousir
'66 Mustang Coupe
Ford Blue & white stripes
95 roller 302, C4 Auto
Offy 360 intake & Holley 4 bl carb
grab-a-track 620s, 4.5 leafs, 1.25" drop blocks
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66HIPO&more
Gearhead Posts: 4244
From: SLC, UT
Registered: Jul 99
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posted 09-17-2006 03:40 PM
Today's a better day. Sometimes it helps to vent.
See my post today in Sam's Place.
INDY is beeyooteefuulll!J.
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Crystalnet
Gearhead Posts: 129
From: Hoschton, GA USA
Registered: Dec 2003
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posted 09-17-2006 03:44 PM
And some people wonder why restomods are so popular. Is it right that the fender bolts I get from the Mustang Vendors are the same items I get from Ace Hardware?------------------
Randy F.
67 Convertible 289 T-5
67 Coupe 289 C-4
http://mustang.crystal-ga.com
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SteveLaRiviere
Administrator Posts: 48752
From: Saco, Maine
Registered: May 99
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posted 09-17-2006 05:13 PM
If you are doing a strict restoration to concours or thoroughbred standards you really can't use repro parts. As much as they like to think so, very few resto parts compare to OEM parts. Of all the repro parts I've bought the only one I've really been happy with has been NPD's rear wing for my '70. All other repro parts have missed the mark by a country mile, sad to say. Repro parts are useful in the 'no other alternative' category. ------------------
'70 Mustang Mach 1 - '70 Mustang Convertible - '72 Mustang Sprint - '94 F-150 XL
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sigtauenus
Gearhead Posts: 3969
From: Va Beach
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted 09-17-2006 06:08 PM
I saw Rick from NPD address this issue over at vintage-mustang.He wrote a lot, and I'm doing a disservice by summarizing it here, but bottom line I got out of it is that 80-90% of the hobby is not looking to pay what it costs for concours parts. Majority of folks are people who just want something that looks good and catches peoples attention and they'd rather pay $20 for something that is ok than $60 for what it would take to make that same part concours correct. Big question that always comes up is, if they can make it at all, why can't they just make it right instead of settling for wrong?
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adragon8u
Gearhead Posts: 5867
From: Oceano, Ca. member# 2895
Registered: Mar 2003
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posted 09-17-2006 06:19 PM
quote:
Originally posted by sigtauenus:
Big question that always comes up is, if they can make it at all, why can't they just make it right instead of settling for wrong?
My thought would be that in any manufactioring line, you're bound to have a percentage of parts that don't meet the required standard. Do you?
A: throw these parts away at a loss.
B: sell them as less than perfect for a 3rd the price to people who are happy with it just fine.
------------------
"Be yourself
everyone else is taken"
http://mustangsandmore.50megs.com/MembersPics/adragon8u.html
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66HIPO&more
Gearhead Posts: 4244
From: SLC, UT
Registered: Jul 99
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posted 09-17-2006 07:06 PM
quote:
Originally posted by SteveLaRiviere:
If you are doing a strict restoration to concours or thoroughbred standards you really can't use repro parts. As much as they like to think so, very few resto parts compare to OEM parts. Of all the repro parts I've bought the only one I've really been happy with has been NPD's rear wing for my '70. All other repro parts have missed the mark by a country mile, sad to say. Repro parts are useful in the 'no other alternative' category.
Agreed about the use of repops in concours. Sometimes there's no alternative, however.
Even many OEM are no longer any good.
There's been several instances in this restoration of do we use scratched dented originals or thin tinny poorly fitting repops.
We have original uniquely 64.5 door sills refinished, polished, dents removed. But they're over 40 years old and won't ever look new again. They are OK but not as clean as new. But new aren't correct for this car. We paid alot of $$ to have the window frames rechromed. There are some pits that didn't come out. Do I throw them away? Use them and say Oh well, or put on repops that will look good for a year maybe? Or find another orignal set and start all over hoping for better. My budget says no. Some original parts we just can't find right now. Do I not finish the car while I wait for those parts? Life's too short to let the car sit idle any longer. I don't like the repops, the judges don't like the repops, but sometimes it's all ya got to work with.
We've reconditioned the grill molding and drip rail molding rather than settle for crappy repops. But we did settle for the repo tail light buckets - for now. Sometimes you have to compromise. My biggest gripe is when they advertise "concours" and the thing isn't even close. Water pump for example. Or "complete kit" that's missing many of the essential parts. J.
[This message has been edited by 66HIPO&more (edited 09-17-2006).]
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Fastback68
Gearhead Posts: 4511
From: Sucat, Paranaque, Philippines
Registered: Jul 99
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posted 09-17-2006 07:55 PM
quote:
My biggest gripe is when they advertise "concours" and the thing isn't even close. Water pump for example. Or "complete kit" that's missing many of the essential parts.
And therein lies the rub. Almost all of us are doing this from catalogues, rather than walking into a store where we can actually see the part before buying. And this puts us at the mercy of the guy packing the order.
With one major supplier (and M&M sponsor), I'm thinking of asking for an order packer by name in future. Last time around, the guy who took the order on the phone was extremely helpful. Then someone who didn't give a damn packed one original GT hub cap along with three repops with different color paint. Then when I called to question this, a surly voice responded that I must have made a mistake because they only stock repops from one supplier and they are all the same.
That's what I'm going to suggest, in fact. Big suppliers should keep track of who packs the orders, and hopefully share this info with customers.
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Blacksmith
Gearhead Posts: 604
From: Front Royal, Va., USA
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 09-18-2006 10:17 AM
quote:
Originally posted by gmliebau:
Been there. I bought a GT-350H stripe kit with no "H" and fiberglass scoops that are an inch short all the way around.
You should maybe put the scoops AND the stripes on your riding mower...And advertise where you got the garbage parts from.
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