I know I threw a little fuel on this flame, now I've had my morning coffee
and a shower.
Even with my harsh criticism for some of the New Old Stock parts I have
bought, the rolling restoration of my 63 Falcon Squire Wagon would have been
impossible without the joy of finding some NOS parts. Who would have
thought someone would be so crazy as to restore a Station Wagon with Vinyl
siding? Evidently someone thought, hey, lets hang on to this wood grain
stuff for 15 years, just in case someone might need it. I spent 5 years
looking for the correct tail gate emblem. When it arrived in the mail, it
was almost as good as..., well, this is a family list. With the Spridgets,
we get spoiled. With the lone exception of the padded dash board on the
1969-1979 cars, there isn't anything I haven't been able to find New OEM,
New OS, Reproduction, New from old tooling, new from somebody who bought out
somebody else, new under license from the original company, rebuilt, used,
or rebuildable. (I'm out of breath on that sentence). I do agree that the
catalogues and the seller has an obligation to disclose correctly which
description best suits the part they are selling, and to stand behind what
they sell. One of the things that makes me chuckle the hardest at all of
this is, when it comes to British Cars, and please forgive me if you
disagree, is that so many of the parts were of sub-standard quality right
off the showroom floor. This doesn't mean I don't love these cars. It just
means that like almost every other mass-produced item, they weren't designed
to still be here. We were supposed to wear them out, throw them away, and
buy the next hot thing.
David Riker
74 Midget
78 Midget
63 Falcon
70 Torino
http://personalweb.sunset.net/~davidr
----- Original Message -----
From <type79 at ix.netcom.com>
To: "Charles Christ" <cfchrist@earthlink.net>
Cc: "Wiedemeyer" <boxweed@thebest.net>; <spridgets@autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, June 06, 2000 8:10 AM
Subject: Re: nib / nos
> Charles,
> This is not intended as a flame, so please don't take it personally. Since
it
> appears that this thread is going to continue about the merits of
reproduction
> parts, I must get out the soapbox.
>
> This subject has been reviewed ad nauseum in the past, so rather than get
> detailed, I will just outline the major points.
>
> 1) SOME repro parts are useable.
> 2) MANY repro parts are crap. That's spelled C-R-A-P.
> 3) MOST of the large suppliers sell repro parts but won't tell you so
unless you
> ask. ("But don't they have wonderful catalogues". Gimme a break.)
> 4) MANY owners are unaware of differences between the factory parts and
> reproductions and therefore are unaware that they have a choice.
> 5) ALL of the large suppliers could put an end to this continuous stream
of
> inferior repro parts by taking the bull by the horns and insisting on
quality.
> The easiest and most obvious area is that of softgoods
> (tops/tonneaus/seats/interior/etc.) but the retailers are ignorant by
choice.
> Ever see a tonneau for a Spridget from that large California supplier? J U
N K.
>
> So Joe enthusiast who doesn't know everything about Spridgets yet, goes
out and
> buys a car that needs this and that and because he has a pretty catalogue
from
> that godly firm, he/she is lead to believe that they can supply him with
> everything under the sun. He/she thinks nothing will be a problem. WRONG.
>
> And concours and related issues of originality have nothing to do with
this
> problem.
>
> When ordering parts, ask whether or not it is a repro and where it is
made.
> (Taiwan?) And I cannot overstate the importance of dealing with small
suppliers
> rather than the Wal-Marts of the lbc world. (I am still pissed about that
> rebuilt gearbox that **** sold me that wouldn't stay in gear, that they
wouldn't
> take back, and that was rebuilt with parts from some car other than any
model
> Spridget and that they could not determine even after being given the part
> numbers!)
>
> Jay Fishbein
> Wallingford, CT
>
> Charles Christ wrote:
>
> > the end result is that you have been afforded the opertunity to
preserve your
> > car the way you choose to. as loudly as the complaints are made about
inferior
> > reproductions and no
> > longer perfect nos items the fact remains that you are able to choose or
not
> > to choose in what you want to invest in for your specific car.
> > owners of spridgets are very lucky!
>
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