[Healeys] Mind if I Rant?

Sun Jul 14 09:53:42 MDT 2019

In the wise words of John Ruskin:

*There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little
worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are
this man's lawful prey.*

On Sun, Jul 14, 2019 at 11:45 AM Bob Spidell <bspidell at comcast.net> wrote:

> I found an obscure British car parts dealer in an industrial area in San
> Jose (or maybe Los Altos).  They had an OEM front bumper for a BJ8--I
> presume it would fit any 6-cyl car--on the wall.  The owner of the shop
> told me he'd had it for years; no one wanted it because it cost a hundred
> or so bucks more than the crappy repops.
>
> Who's doing this?  Surely, no one on this list who's complaining about
> crappy fitting parts has sprung for the cheap version over the quality one,
> right (I'm guilty; I bought a cheaper rear brake cylinder over the pricier
> one a couple years ago)?
>
> Bob
>
>
> On 7/12/2019 6:38 PM, Don via Healeys wrote:
>
> When I bought front and rear bumpers for my 67 BJ-8 from Moss . I had a
> show coming up and I needed them quick . Well they weren’t even close to
> fitting. When I called Moss back , the salesman said , when you ordered
> them , didn’t the salesman tell you they will need to modified to fit ?
> Sent them back , ordered a new set from AH Spares . Fit first time .
>            Don ,
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Jul 12, 2019, at 4:43 PM, Michael MacLean <rrengineer.mike at att.net>
> wrote:
>
>      As far as repops go, I asked a Moss rep one time why a lot of the
> reproduction parts and the rubber was so bad and did not fit well.  He told
> me that he could sell better parts for our cars but very few people will
> buy them.  If he lists both a premium part and a cheaper version, almost
> 95% will buy the cheap part. It would be foolish to inventory such slow
> moving parts, so they sell what the majority will buy.  Everyone wants the
> parts to be cheap.  S
>      So, I guess you get what you pay for.
> Mike MacLean
>
> On Friday, July 12, 2019, 8:29:19 AM PDT, Richard Collins <
> gonnagitcha90 at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> Yup, fully agree with the rant:
>
> The rear bumper brackets were not even close to fitting the attachment
> holes on my rear bumper, both purchased at the same time from the vendor.
> As a result, one each of the bracket bolts hold the bumper to the car with
> the other hole in the bumper empty. Looks weird but doesn’t impact
> drivability. The bumper is so thin that any rear ender will destroy it
> anyway.
>
> Regards,
> Richard C
> BN7 440
>
> On Jul 11, 2019, at 23:41, Bruce Steele <healeybruce at roadrunner.com>
> wrote:
>
> Amen to that.  The inner forks of front bumper mounting brackets I bought
> a number of years ago were a bit over an inch shorter than the outer forks,
> which required sectioning and welding in extensions to bring them level.
> In retrospect, I probably should have taken an inch out of the outer forks,
> as the bumper sits too far proud of the shroud.  I’d totally forgotten
> about this until I took my aux lamps off and reinstalled the bumper for a
> show this weekend.  After the show, the bumper is coming off and the lamps
> are going back on.
>
>
>
> Bruce Steele
>
> Brea, CA
>
> 1960 BN7
>
>
>
> *From:* Healeys [mailto:healeys-bounces at autox.team.net
> <healeys-bounces at autox.team.net>] *On Behalf Of *Michael Salter
> *Sent:* Thursday, July 11, 2019 1:39 PM
> *To:* Michael MacLean <rrengineer.mike at att.net>
> *Cc:* healeys at autox.team.net
> *Subject:* Re: [Healeys] Mind if I Rant?
>
>
>
> Mike you are pretty well "on the money" there.
>
> I have encountered endless problems with repop parts. I fail to understand
> why manufacturers have so much difficulty getting things right.
>
> My suspicion is that we are all partly to blame for accepting the junk and
> trying to make it work.
>
> I will go to untold lengths to purchase a good used part any time as so
> doing invariably saves me hours and hours of frustration...
>
>
>
> I feel your pain.
>
>
>
> M
>
>
>
> On Thu, Jul 11, 2019, 4:19 PM Mike MacLean, <rrengineer.mike at att.net>
> wrote:
>
> I am beginning to understand what a restorer friend of mine once told me.
> He said he could restore three BJ8 cars in the time it took to do a 100.
> Virtually no parts I have bought from the usual suspects for my BN2 are
> easy to install.  Nothing fits like it was made for the car.  This morning
> I made an attempt to bolt up the two bump stop boxes over the rear axle.
> None of the holes in the part lined up with the holes in the body above the
> rear axle.  I will have to auger out at least three of the holes in the
> bump stop box to get all four bolts in.  This car is fighting me every step
> of the way.  I guess it's like my restorer friend who has since passed told
> me when he sold me that rolling frame with a few body panels on it, "Go
> ahead buy the car, it will give you a reason to live".  I am beginning to
> understand what he meant.  Half the time I am pulling my hair out and
> inventing new curse words, but I go out to that garage everyday and try to
> accomplish something on the car, even if I end up beating my head against
> the wall, I keep coming back.  Rant over.
>
> Mike MacLean
>
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