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i am sick to death of customers buying after market parts for there classic rides that in no way are suitable for the application or are of inferior quality.

in recent past i have had the misfortune to hve purchased parts for classic vehicle from Classic performance parts, and i am still being followed by this company on almost every job of this nature.

i will go as far as to say that if it comes in one of their boxes, do not even accept it from the U.P.S. man

many suppliers are using classic performance parts as part of a package, which stops the kit being fitted.

i ordered a power steering mounting kit for a 1960 chevy 1/2 ton and followed the instruction to the letter but when i fit the recomended box to the bracket it was about 2" out of line with the column, by the time i re drilled the chassis leg it looked like swiss cheese and i had to weld the bracket to the chassis to strengthen it back up.

i ordered some rear spring pearches for the same vehicle, in the box were 2 left hand brackets.

i ordered a disc brake kit for the front and rear of a 59 el camino, complete with brake booster kit this kit was well over $1000.00 first the rear brake caliper mounting brackets needed machining to give the right offset or tthe brakes locked on, the brake booster that they assured me had been trial fitted to a real vehicle, was about 11/2" into the valve cover of the original 283 small block so i guess that the trial vehicle was ain line 6,
they supplied me with an adaptor bell crank type gizmo to move the booster, looks like the part from a 70s chevy van but the bell crank was about 2-1 ratio doubling the pedal effort now when you fit discs you need more pedal effort.

most recent is a 69 chevy pickup power steering kit supplied by tuckers, when i open the box i see the dredded CPP logo, we fit the kit with some difficulty as nowone on the planet knows which of about 10 pitman arms is correct, this is a kit remember, not just odd parts but a kit. none of the mounting brackets fit the 454 cu in motor, if you have a big block you can have power steering but no altenator or you can have an altenator but no power steering, wich is rediculous have you tried to by pulleys for a big block? the hoses in the kit were obviously made for a vehicle but not this one, this was a kit not just odd parts but a make and model specific kit.
oh and on start up, the end blew out of the steering box.

so the customer arrives with a rear sway bar kit make and model specific for this 69 pickup,the thing bolts to the axle with u bolts but there is not enough axle free of original fittings like brake lines and shock mounts to fit the bracket to and to make things worse chevy put the x member in the frame crooked and the chassis mounts are not going to fit.

same customer different car, mazda miata, water mod kit, well it wasn't easy but it all fitted, strut brace kit all fitted perfectly.

does this say something about the aftermarket industry that stuff for classic restoration is junk in the most part and import performance suppliers have got their act together?

comments please.

p.s. i could tell you a story about a certain alluminum engine block as supplied by classic performance parts

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this story shall the good man teach his son,
and chrispin chrispian shall ne'er go by,
from this day to the end of the world.
but we in it shall be remembered.

Maybe not junk, but often inferior. Fortunately there are at least a few vendors who take quality more seriously, and try to avoid selling junk. And these days it's pretty easy to find out who they are. In general you'll pay a lot more for a quality item. It's the price-shoppers who keep the junk resellers in business.

You need to specialize in a specific range of vehicles. I have little interest in "muscle" cars and trucks, but I suspect being that you are on here, you might get a lot out of Lateral-G and Protourings forums. Similiarly, if I had a Miata, I'd browse GRM, both the paper and forum.

I have a couple Volvo's and I read T-bricks and Savarturbo forums.

I have a Sidekick getting an engine and axle swap, so I am in Pirate 4x4.

Life is not long enough to become expert on all vehicles, but I have to say you need to know what you are into, and not be afriard to research, and to put your foot down when it comes to customers choosing their own.

look, i am a degree qualified mechanical engineer, i am also a certified master tech, i have 46 years of engineering background mostly in automotive, i have built and raced many various types of race car from 8 second dragsters and nitro burning motor cycles, to historic sports cars at Sebring and many european tracks, i have more knowledge concerning cars in my big toe than most people have in their head.

so when i say something to do with vehicles is junk, believe me IT'S JUNK and the aftermarket for restoration of classic american iron is full of it!

the number of people who could build a hot rod, a custom car or a truck and use it as a daily driver, with a commute of over 50 miles day in and day out is very small, in fact, i would go as far as to say that any classic car or truck would not hold up in as new condition direct from the factory, and when these so called experts at brake kits, steering kits and the like, deign the stuff, they know darn well that the owner is not going to use the car more than about 5 times a year to potter about at a cruise or custom show, would you take a street rod or a classic custom and flog it round a race track for 12 hours,

i can assure you that if i was going to sell something to the public i would make very shure that it would do the job it was purchased to do.

the stuff made for imports is usually derived from motor sport in some way and not the chrome candy store, so the stuff survives, doing the job it was sold to do.

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this story shall the good man teach his son,
and chrispin chrispian shall ne'er go by,
from this day to the end of the world.
but we in it shall be remembered.

I'm curious. I took a look and didn't see anything they sold that looked like engine parts.

I know someone building a turbo Lotus twin cam and they bought a nice aluminum block for it. On the first dyno runs it didn't sound right, just a tad off. So he started looking and found a damaged piston. After very careful inspection they found the casting was porous at the top of the bore, just a few very tiny pits. He took some pictures inside the bore and you could see a couple of spots where it was discolored. Tiny bubbles under the surface that got hot and caused pre-ignition.

Now they have to get the block sleeved and it only ran a few minutes.

Having a good mechanic makes a big difference. That motor must have only been a couple of seconds from being a slag heap.

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