Quote:
Originally Posted by Formulajones
As I mentioned, the repops are patterned off an original used as a mold. OEM's haven't been any better and I've seen more than a few. We've even talked about how the OEM cast iron intakes have been pretty ugly in the port area.
Doesn't really matter this day and age where it's cast, given the fact that most of your aftermarket aluminum heads everyone covets are cast over seas now anyway, and the finish work is done here. It's really not the casting that is the problem, in fact some of the aftermarket head castings are actually pretty nice from over seas. It's the finish work that is most concerning.
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It does matter where parts are cast because offshore metals are NOT to the quality level of an OEM part. Many years ago, the Chinese bought up much of our scrap metals and boated it to China. There, the scrap is melted down to be used as casting material for many products. The metals are not pure and have glass, rubber, etc., mixed in that takes away from the strength. A prime example of this is the flat tappet camshaft failures we see today. Further, the machining processes overseas are not nearly as precise compared to the parts made domestically.
The failure rates of many offshore made parts is very high but people buy them because they are cheap and available. OEM is the best, if you want to pay the price but many people don't...You get what you pay for!!