Yesterday I sent a message about a camshaft that I purchased from British
Parts Direct. I was surprised by the large number of replies from people who
had *unpleasant* experiences with BPD.
Last night I borrowed a micrometer and measured the lobes on the new cam,
compared them to my cam, and found a basically insignificant difference
(0.7mm).
I also had a good look at the core from which this cam was ground, and found
the following:
- all! the surfaces that go in the bearings are pitted. Not major craters,
but certainly larger than I could take out with a good polish!
- the threaded and of the shaft is bashed up and won't take a bolt (without
some "Rob's custom thread repair"
In general the camshaft is pretty beat up. I would call it a piece of shit and
I will not put it in my engine.
The clutch is a bit better, with the possible exception of the scratches
and dents on the pressure plate surface (which probably occurred during
shipping?) and the fact that there is surface rust all over the steel part
of the bearing. It looks like it has been on a shelf in damp storage for a
couple of years.
So this morning I put in a call to Bob at BPD. I was very friendly as I wanted
to try and negotiate something reasonable (like I'll give you this shit back,
and you give me my money, and I won't have to hurt you!).
Well, it took a couple of tries to get Bob, as his calls were being screened.
I explained the problems with the parts and Bob got real mad and started
talking very load (like lawyers do when they want to intimidate you) and
stated that:
"the cam shaft is perfect and if you want something better go pay twice as
much at Victoria British. The pits in the bearing surfaces prolong the life
of the cam by helping spread oil across the bearing"
I should point out that these pits are from wear, just like the ones you get
one lifters etc..
There was more discussion about whether or not I had in fact received a cam
which was ground to "Leyland 714 profile". I don't think so, but I don't have
the numbers, and Bob WON'T give them to me!
Bob also told me that the rust on the t.o. bearing is no problem as the thing
is gonna get rusty anyway.
He then said no problem if I didn't want the stuff - he would be glad to take
it back. I said "great, then you will just credit my VISA and we'll all be
happy", to which Bob replied "less 20% re-stocking charge".
We had an argument.
Unfortunately, Bob knows I don't live near him, and is probably 100% correct
in assuming there is absolutely nothing I can do.
Anyway, I just thought I would warn anyone on this list against dealing with
BPD - unless maybe you are close enough to deal directly so that you can check
out the parts before you get them.
Rob
PS: are there any laws in Ca. that can be applied for me to get my money? In
British Columbia we have this thing called an "implied warranty". This
(as I understand it) says that any merchandise is 100% guaranteed to be
what it is claimed to be when it is sold. The text says that if an item
is "unsuitable for use", then we have a "replace or repair" situation.
This applies to everything that is sold in BC, and if the value is low
enough, I could make a claim through what we call the small claims court,
which basically means "it ain't gonna cost me a fortune to get a
settlement".
I should probably just write off the loss ($50) and be done with it, but
this type of thing sure pisses me off.
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