The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Crappy door handles from across the pond

Well, the one thing that burns my butt, beside a flame about 3ft high, is to pay good HARD EARNED money for crappy crap from across the pond. I've had two NEW door handles for a long time and was putting them on today and boy was I in for a surprise. Surprise, well not really!!
The original handles had the 1/4" clutch head screws in them so I go get me 4 Phillips head and figure I'm good to go....wrong.
I ended up taking the handles with me to the hardware store as nothing seems to fit. Turns out the holes are METRIC :mad:

Next, I put the new springs and the retaining washer down into the handle to hold the spring in and wouldn't you know, the NEW retaining washers would not fit down in the NEW handles, AND even the old ones would not fit down in the new handle. I ended up having to grind quite a bit off the retaining washers to get them to go down inside the door handle so I could get the retaining ring in the grove :mad:

THEN....just today I found a new place less than two miles from my house that does chrome plating. (Rim Werks) Two nice guys run it and I left two rain deflectors to be chromed. Ended up knowing one of the guys from some time ago. From now on I'll get my old parts rechromed and the repop folks can kiss where I can't and its not the back of my neck!!! ...and the money stays here in my town.

Sound about right Alvin, I bought a pair of reproduction door handles for my '50 cus the old ones had a few small pits in them. the square shaft was not square when they poured them and when you install them the handle points up about 10°. Ended up putting the old ones back on and living with a few pits.

I bought a new coil from JC and they made the socket ID to small and the coil wire clip would not fit into the socket. I ended up taking the socket out of the old Delco coil and drilling out the new coil so I could insert the Delco socket. Now the coil wire will snap into place like it's supposed to. Not to mention the chinsey way the lugs were made, thread was way undersized and nut wobbles around and lack of proper clips to hold the wires straight.

There is definitely a need for quality reproduction parts in this and other hobbies. You would think with the high profits and high wages that our manufactures would be able to turn out top notch parts, but that taint happening. There is lots of room for backyard cottage industry out there and with all the baby boomers retiring maybe some of them will start turning out some good parts. Maybe when all the jobs are lost to greed in this country and we get back to a reasonable wage and profit margin, we will start to see them manufacturing some decent quality parts again. We are living with a world economy now and you can't pay $45 and hour plus as much in benefits for someone to stand and watch a robot put cars together or pull the handle on a drill press and expect to compete with someone that is happy with a tenth of that. I'm afraid the American worker is in for a big adjustment in the next few decades as are their bosses and business owners. That's why you hear of so many executives grabbing all they can get now, they know that much of our industry is headed down the dumper in a few short years and the big buck salaries and bonuses just aren't gonna be that easy to come by.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

My 2 cents,
Used parts are worth double, compared to the reproduction parts we are able to buy from a catalog. Do used parts cost more upfront? Sometimes. Do used parts fit, yes. Are used parts available from a reliable source, not always. Depends on how fast you want the job done, availability, and ability to restore the factory part.

Amen Brother...........

Chevrolet made these parts over 70 yers ago,
the still survive today, and they still fit!

I will (and have) paid two to three times as much for an original part rather than a cheap a$$ copy from the land of cheap steel and low wages.

They cannot make sh*t last the shipping journey, let alone 70 years.
Give your money to a fellow countryman instead!

Only problem is...when the sellers of original parts ask $35 for a nice original used door handle....
They usually get a response from the buyer stating that the seller is crazy & they can buy a "new" one for $20.

So true, Marvel. Bought a turn signal switch for my 63 GMC, turned out to be for a 62 which is one year only, virtually unobtainable and everyone with a 62 wants one. Put it on fleabay twice for $50 with only $5 shipping (bear in mind I'm across the OTHER pond!)and guess what it's still here!

Similar probs with repop parts for old (WLC) Harleys.

marvel....I've had a few do that to me on used prices and I generally tell them, have it plated/fixed like new and I'll give you new prices for it.

Indeed, it is a matter of economics, forethought of the re-builder, and the desire to not be troubled with parts that don’t fit correctly. I recently changed out the door handles on a 1967 Mustang. I did it for a fast sale. I was embarrassed of the poor quality, accompanying hardware and the dang push buttons were sloppy.

Bottom line, some re-pops are quality. It is determined by quality control by the purchaser from the direct manufacture. I complained to the supplier, and they told me that if I don’t like it, to return them for a refund. He did not understand, I am willing to pay for quality, not quantity. Hence, he has undercut his price so low and willing to procure sub-standard re-pops, has lost my business. Perhaps I am standing as a minority on this issue. There is no excuse for not providing the correct thread type on the hardware. And metric to boot. To me this is just plain drunken sailor greed on the supplier and not the manufacturer. No Q.C., and even if brought to their attention, they just don’t care cause the next guy will buy it and never complain, and wind up reworking the part for a passable fit.
Again, buy used if available, made in the USA and will last another 70 years until up for the next resto in year 2079.

Back when my 58 was my primary means of transportation, I noticed that alot of the repro parts I was using to keep it on the road weren't holding up to everyday use. I've worn out a couple of drag links, gone through two or three sets of front wheel bearings, and the tie rod ends have been replaced at least twice that I can think of. I guess most of the parts are just supposed to hold up well enough for the once-in-a-while sunday drive, or the trip to the car show. I will say that over the past few years the quality of the parts available seems to be a little better. Either that, or I've gotten better at sniffing them out.

It is with great interest that I read this thread and completely agree, I too bought some repoped door handles for my '64 since the "originals" consisted of someone welding a long bolt to the spleened axle . Anyways, one handle fit ok, the other one the thread was stripped out of the box so I had to rethread it and use another bolt. My question to all of you is, how can we discern between good and bad repops? Sometime we need to buy new since old ones just aren't available. Could we start a list or something of supplier/part and peoples rating? I need to get a lot of parts for my truck but frankly I am weary of spending tons of money on "ok" parts that wear out quickly. Ideas?

It would take a list of the PARTS and not the vendors. "Most" vendors get parts from the same repop place. It would be nice if the VENDORS would get on the a$$ of the manufacturers....and I'm not sure that would do any good. Its just a shame that somewhere along the line there are people doing crappy work and they really don't give a darn and take no pride in workmanship or quality.
I better go take a BP pill as I feel it going up...again.