Takes a little bit of courage to vent about this subject, as pride is certainly involved.
Hard to say anything in general about manufacturing in this country. Because there is so much, there has to be some that falls short of ideals.
However, especially in our small market I found to be a lot more good and honest than bad and poor quality.
I am glad for the many classic car enthusiasts that somebody makes new production parts at all for this comparatively unprofitable market....Perfect or less than.
It's good to even have it available. Many just don't have the patience or skill to acquire or restore original stuff.
I guess there is always some trade off, unless you do it all yourself.
I have only ever bought original equipment for my daily Chevy, except for fuel pumps, tires, batteries, rubber parts, etc...
To me it's part of the whole experience and reason why I never owned another vehicle in my life - I just like the original stuff from the days.
Years ago I bought the infamous offy dual intake when I found out it was still made by the same foundry.
....waited 6 months and when I turned it upside down, I instantly noticed the four holes were drilled an 1/8" to one side off center...
Like most of us, I made it work for me rather than complaining and returning it and just leaving me with nothing but frustration and anger.
I understand that offenhauser only casts so many units once or twice per year, to make it worthwhile for them.
The worker who machined the holes is probably at minimum wage and apparently never done anything like this before.
Quality control may have been there, but probably after all the fresh casts were already drilled.
Can anybody blame them for shipping the units instead of melting them down again....?
Casting this stuff is so much work for so little profit - they probably use a different worker next time around.
Is it the manufacturer's or vendor's fault and are they careless and grabbing for money ?
OH NO !! - not at all.
They just run a business, instead of being artists which put their own family name on their own handmade product....that's all.
Today's workforce and skill and care level could not possibly be the same on average as it used to be 50 years ago.
The economy and workers rights and demands have changed quiet a bit.
I can't even imagine living across the pond and restoring a classic American car.
My hat is off to you guys out there - when you all get to you drive down the road it must be quiet an experience.
