[Entropy11]

…poor quality parts that still cost a fortune!

I’m feeling like I’m in the home stretch trying to button up this car after 2yrs since disassembly and the (what I assumed to be) “simple” parts I’ve had sitting on the shelf waiting to go are proving useless.

Quarter Glass “U”?

Complete garbage. Zero holes line up, it’s about an inch too tall, and the wrong shape/profile to match the outside of the body.

Window belt-line/fuzzy whatever you choose to call it?

Absolute trash. I double checked the description and sure enough it specified ‘68. I spent over 3hrs sweating to death yesterday evening trying to make the quarter section fit only to eventually throw in the towel and assume the seller should have said ‘69-‘72? I’m assuming ‘68 is a one year part.

From now on my first choice will be Ames for everything. All the parts I’ve purchased from them have been great and the place is even honest enough in the description to mention things like “low quality AP reproduction” or things like that.

Sorry for the rant… I do feel a little better now though.

[OG68]

Even the higher quality rear quarter fuzzies will require a bit of tweaking and drilling to fit right. Just gotta know when to walk away when frustrated and come back another day. But there is a difference, primarily with the bead. I also found out (by accidentally ordering the wrong one), that the 68 is not only shorter for the front door but is actually fuzzy. 69-72 outers use a rubber seal against the window

I think you'll find the Metro brand a better fit for the quarter window 'U'.

[Half-Inch Stud]

Mines been done since 2006, but there was more to do that involved repop parts.

Basically every repop had dissatisfaction where i had regrets enough to return or sell or toss.

AC Dashpad: fantastic except the 3vent opennings are hoplessly unable to fit vents. Now Speaker grills.
Armrest pads: foam crap so went back to stock.
A-pillars: craaap, so i painted an GM awesome light green set to black.
Headrest post escuteons: 69 misfit to 68 seats, so put em in a box.
Wood Shift knob: fantastic, but thread boss lossened (they all do) so JB Weld and been excellent.
Wood Wheel Center Lucite: fantastic until it cracks out from heat/cold. Probably need to buy the 3rd one now.

95 Towncar repops all over ebay for cheap:
Power windows:fantastic
Rear air bag spring : gotta grind the upper frame pocket to fit-in (tough) but work fantastic
Suspension pump: fantastic (wrong mount screw size but no biggie)
Centercaps: bogus logo, loose fit but they stay on.
Fender lense: bogus logo but excellent fit.
Full nterior carpets: look real good and too low a price, scared to buy it, should be 4x the price.

[dataway]

Yep, I've probably have about a 25% throw away rate on repop parts. Pricey ones I'll send back, but a lot of the small items I have just tossed and looked for good originals, which I should have done from the get go. But a lot of the really small used stuff people don't bother selling because it's just not worth it for them to package and ship.

Just got a set of front parking light gaskets yesterday. Compared to originals these are just total crap, cheap, delicate foam that looks it will pass water like a sieve. And they are from a well known "quality" supplier. I'd be way better off rolling up some strands of electricians putty and making my own seals.

[Entropy11]

Ha- looks like I’m not alone. You guys all sound like you’ve been run through the ringer a few times too.

I’ve been ok learning my lessons with the cheap parts but tossing a set of $140 window sweeps that I couldn’t even use once, let alone mount, just pushed me over the edge. That and the waste of time was just infuriating. To make matters worse, I swear the rate of backordered parts is increasing each day, so ordering up a correct replacement is now often months of waiting. I still have a set of bucket seat bottom springs on back order from when the world was ending and we were all locked down lol.

On a positive note, thanks for the tip OG. I’ll find the Metro branded “U” and I think I also had in my notes that you had mentioned the Repops brand of fuzzies in the past? If not, I know someone mentioned them as being high quality. I’m hoping Ames uses them as their higher quality offerings because they actually offer them as just the outer sweeps (I have new inside door panels with sweeps already mounted from the factory) and they also mention they have the “correct thick fuzzy outers”.. Unfortunately they’re on back order too so I may have to buy the full set and hopefully sell the inner ones. Oh, and you’re right… I’m often better just walking away, but sometimes the “mental anguish” of endlessly thinking about how to fix it is worse than battling it out! Haha

John, I’m slowly learning what cheap gaskets and seals are good for. If they have decent alignment, they at least are good templates for cutting your own out of better or higher quality material! Lately I find myself tracing nearly every gasket or seal before installing just so can make my own down the road in a pinch. I’ve had rolls of various Felpro gasket material for years and I often save various packing materials if they look like they could be handy down the road. Squishy foam cuts great with a razor when compressed down on either side of the cut with sheet metal!

[Scarebird]

Originally Posted by Entropy11

...Lately I find myself tracing nearly every gasket or seal before installing just so can make my own down the road in a pinch. I’ve had rolls of various Felpro gasket material for years and I often save various packing materials if they look like they could be handy down the road...

It would be nice to have a database of patterns you could print out onto gasket material thin enough to run through a regular printer. Granted stuff like valve cover gaskets and lifter covers won't fit but water pump gaskets and thermostat gaskets would. This would work best for stuff you don't have a chance in hell of finding - ie. 1937 Terraplane water pump...

[OG68]

I think that my overall best purchasing experience was buying hardware from AMK. Mostly American made products of high quality and attention to detail.

I bought my car back as a shell with about 50% of the hardware thrown into a box.
Buying the correct hardware I found requires a lot of study especially of the assembly manual with nut and bolt part numbers.
For the hardware not contained in their kits, I like the fact that AMK has an index of factory part numbers cross referenced to their catalog offerings. Not every number is there of course, but their illustrated catalogs make it easier to narrow down the search. Not as cheap as the local hardware store, but quality never is.

[dataway]

Yep, AMK is one of the better suppliers ... I just found one of their mistakes for the first time ever .. battery tray hardware ... The corner clip-nut they included didn't fit the bolt they included with it ... but that was the first mistake I've found from them.

Great tip on the patterns, I should have started doing that way back. When I was building vintage race bikes the engines were small enough that I could lay the parts on my flatbed scanner, scan them at 600 dpi, import them 1:1 into AutoCad, vector trace the image and print out a perfect copy accurate to about .002". Or use the ACad file to have parts made at a CNC shop.

If we had scans of things like OEM parking light gaskets, door handle gaskets, mirror gaskets, hard to find individual engine gaskets etc., formatted to standard 600 dpi then anyone could print them out life size to use as patterns. McMaster sells just about every conceivable material you can use for a gasket in any thickness you could want.

I've noticed there is a lot more of this kind of ingenuity in other fields of interest, lots of sharing info on how make stuff yourself. I ended up designing and reproducing tons of performance engine accessories for small vintage Hondas .. when I stopped making them I just gave all the CAD files away so anyone could have them made.

I don't even know how to describe how crappy these parking light gaskets are ... but then they are only $5 ... but with $10 of freakin shipping. I'm trying to think of an example of where foam this incredibly cheesy is used .... it doesn't even rise to the level of cheap packing foam.

[gtobird]

So, I'm not the only one that got banned from buying parts from a supplier on ebay? LOL

Reading this thread reminds me of the many dollars I should have just flushed down the toilet, rather than wasting my time on trying to work with crappy parts. Pretty much every vendor in this thread I have purchased parts from at one time or another. I will say that I've had both good and bad experiences sometimes from the same vendor since a lot of them purchase wholesale from each other. What I like about Ames is their honest attempt to tell you if a part is good or not so good right on their website.

Okay, so my latest purchase was for a number of hideaway headlight system parts for my 68 clone wagon. I already had some OEM used parts, but had to buy some repop parts to complete the setup. I will only report on the excellent parts I received on Friday. I purchased the 68 hideaway headlight plastic grill type covers and chrome molding from the Parts Place. I'm totally pleased with them. The molding went on without issue and both the right and left assemblies look great. I haven't mounted them to the mechancial metal covers yet, but at this point I see no issues.

Now I just need to buy the last of the repop parts I need without getting into another episode of "As The Stomach Turns".

Old Joe

[Entropy11]

That’s right, AMK is always a sure thing and a pleasure to order from. The best thing I ever did was order the master kits for this current car. Seems like substantial $$$ at first, but it’s a joy having every single fastener you need already in the box with a label on it, and individual fasteners from the hardware store most times cost even more (if they’re even close to being correct).

Rustreplace.com is the most recent vendor I’ve dealt with and I honestly can say they’ve provided the best customer service, detailed info, and transaction I’ve ever had in my life. I’ll do a separate post on my windshield install soon, but the service they provided me was exceptional. Really great and informative group there.

I guess sometimes it’s better to focus on the good transactions instead of the bad ones.

Great idea about building a “collective database” of gasket scans. What really pushed me towards cutting my own was running to 3 different stores which claimed to have a fuel pump gasket in stock and never actually did. That and the fact they wanted to charge me $8 even if they did have it!

[dataway]

Got my windshield install stuff from RustReplace also, helpful folks there.

[76TA462]

I watch re-runs of MacGyver to put me in the mood for fitment of aftermarket stuff. That said, I have had great luck with Ames over the years.