> Could anyone shed some light on the quality of parts
> from a UK supplier called County?
> It seems that most all of the US parts houses are
> using this source. I've had some questions concerning
> just how good these parts are.
> Jim
Yah, a lot of stuff has started to come from County in the last few years.
The quality, and originality, really depends on the particular part in
question. Examples:
TR6 Clutch Master... nearly dead on, even says "TVS Girling" on the casting,
so I am guessing that County have some sort of rights to produce a part with
Girling still on the casting. The cap is a nice vented plastic unit, which
is probably more functional than the original tin top, but does not look
great... it is swapable with the original Girling tin tops and is an easy
change. Internally the master cyl is the same, if I handed you a County
clutch Master and a Girling clutch master there would be absolutely no
difference other than some external casting numbers / IDs. Made in India.
TR6 Clutch Slave is a different story. County took the cheap way when they
decided to producing these slaves. The original units, and the Lockheed
units also currently available, have a waisted body, with two "ears" at the
rear of the unit above and below the bleed and line holes. Rather than
producing a complicated casting like that, County decided to just make the
exterior body of the casting perfectly cylindrical with no shape changes.
So the casting is thicker and heavier. County of origin unknown, probably
made in India.
County TR6 rear wheel cylinders are also dead ringers for the originals...
you could not tell the difference other than different manufacturer casting
marks. I have a pair of these on my TR6 and so far so good, Adam Wilhite
(fellow lister) installed these County RWCs on my 72 back when Adam stilled
owned the car... I would guess that puts the installation at about 3+ years
ago. Rear wheel cylinders are produced in Italy.
Ed @ Just Brits recently had an issue with a County oil pump for a BMC A
Series 1275 motor... there was an issue with how it mounted on that
particular motor. This did not appear so much as a defect, but more along
the lines of someone at County trying to use a casting from another oil pump
to service all 1275 motors (not all 1275 oil pumps are interchangable).
County also sells wheel bearing kits under their own name, but when you
break open the boxes you'll find name brand bearings that are merely
repackaged in County boxes. I have RHP and NSK bearings that came in County
boxes.
I have no opinion yet on County's line of engine parts. I am perfectly
happy with quality AE brand pistons for instance and have no reason to
experiment with County's pistons. Although even AE has gone cheap with
their piston rings, the oil rings are now a one piece ring which is not
desirable as the three piece rings that used to come with AE piston sets.
My rating? 4 out 5 so far on the parts I've used and sell. No returns or
failures, even on my own car, but they obviously are willing to sacrifice
original appearance in order to squeeze out some more profit by simplifying
the manufacturing process. In a lot of instances, the County parts retail
for 33-40% below the OE style equivalent, so if you're doing a restoration
on a budget and do not care that your slave cylinder differs in shape a
little (or about getting plastic cyl caps), I would consider County parts.
Kai
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