The General State of Parts

[svenedin]

I thought I would start a thread about parts for our cars in general. A discussion about availability, quality, durability, suitability etc.

I have had my car for a long time, 34 years since I was a teenager. Over the years the car has needed many parts. Back when I was young, parts were plentiful and very easy to obtain. In those days there were motor factors everywhere and they were usually run by knowledgeable (if sometimes grumpy and sarcastic) people. Petrol stations sold common parts like light bulbs, points (contact breakers), condensers and fan belts so those were even easier to obtain. Gradually the motor factors have disappeared like so many independent businesses have vanished from the high street. As our generation of classic cars gets older, the parts get scarcer and the number of specialist suppliers decreases (Charles Ware Parts went into liquidation for instance).

I have made many mistakes with parts that I bought in good faith but that turned out to be either completely unsuitable or shoddily made. 3 recent examples are: a heater valve that exploded whilst out driving resulting in total explosive loss of all coolant; wiper wheel boxes with the wrong number of teeth that reduced the sweep of the wipers excessively and a reproduction horn push with clips of the wrong design that would not hold. There are many reports of all manner of other parts of poor quality: condensers, ignition coils and many others.

I am now moving towards trying to find NOS parts, good S/H parts or poor S/H parts that can be refurbished. I have 1 good spare of quite a few things e.g distributor, dynamo, control box (RB106), fuel pump, carburettor. I use the businesses that still exist to rebuild the original parts. Recently I had a heater blower motor and a Lucas C40 dynamo rebuilt.

A frustration of mine is the attitude of those who buy cheap reproduction parts which fail and then they rubbish any part of that type. For example, buying a cheap dynamo instead of a genuine Lucas C40. The dynamo fails and so they say "dynamos are rubbish get an alternator". Or their distributor is very worn with all manner of drift and free play so they say points are rubbish, get electronic ignition.

Anyway just my tuppence. I would be very interested to hear other views.

Stephen

[Classiccars]

Same issue with other classic car as well since not just moggies

[myoldjalopy]

Ah, those happy days when you could get a lot of parts locally - and when these cars weren't precious antiques!
As to quality, I used to regularly have breakdowns caused by rotor arm failure, but that has been solved by getting ignition parts from Distributor Doctor. I have also had problems with poor quality control boxes, which could be seen as an argument to swap to dynamo, although the current control box seems to be holding out well - it was taken from another car! I also recently bought two tab washers for the top trunnion pins - one fitted, the other wouldn't! The other issue which many have reported is rubber components which fail very quickly.

[svenedin]

Ah, those happy days when you could get a lot of parts locally - and when these cars weren't precious antiques!
As to quality, I used to regularly have breakdowns caused by rotor arm failure, but that has been solved by getting ignition parts from Distributor Doctor. I have also had problems with poor quality control boxes, which could be seen as an argument to swap to dynamo, although the current control box seems to be holding out well - it was taken from another car! I also recently bought two tab washers for the top trunnion pins - one fitted, the other wouldn't! The other issue which many have reported is rubber components which fail very quickly.

Yes rubber parts. I recently renewed the gaskets for the wiper wheel boxes. The new seals were about a 1/3rd the thickness of the one original NOS seal I have. Clearly not correct and I doubt they will last. I wish I had taken a picture of old and new side by side. I think I will get a company to cut proper thickness seals for me from Viton as I have an unused original as a template.

The Far East made RB106 copies are absolutely terrible. The originals can be overhauled but it is rather expensive. NOS ones do crop up. Without going as far as swapping for an alternator the internals of the RB106 can be swapped out for an electronic module. Everything still looks original but the charging performance is greatly superior

[Monty-4]

On the positive side the price of custom moulded rubber parts from non-specific suppliers, and services such as laser cutting and CNC machining have come down considerably.

My suspicion is that in future fewer suppliers will be providing parts for more car models on an on-demand basis, for a higher price than the old mass-produced stuff for prevalent cars.

It might be an idea for clubs to start building up a database of CAD files.

[jagnut66]

It might be an idea for clubs to start building up a database of CAD files.

An excellent idea, perhaps someone on here planning to attend the MMOC AGM could propose it?
At least then we can say it has been officially proposed, if nothing is then done about it (in time) they can't say it was never suggested to them.
Best wishes,
Mike.

[Chief]

Might be an idea for clubs to start building up a database of CAD files.

With modern 3d scanning (such as the Quixel/Epic Reality Scan for iOS and Android) it would also be possible to photograph OEM parts and convert them to 3D with a phone, of course there may be some clean up and dimension checking required still.

[Classiccars]

Sounds like the way to go

[Monty-4]

Might be an idea for clubs to start building up a database of CAD files.

With modern 3d scanning (such as the Quixel/Epic Reality Scan for iOS and Android) it would also be possible to photograph OEM parts and convert them to 3D with a phone, of course there may be some clean up and dimension checking required still.

Is the phone scanning really that good now? I assumed a dedicated laser scanner would be necessary.

I have (outdated) 3D modelling experience for video and games and am trying to learn CAD at the moment, it doesn't seem too scary so far!

[James k]

I have found new rubber parts to be particularly poor. I fitted loads of new seals and other rubbers recently and they're already cracked and brittle. It's a real problem since they're often tricky and time consuming to replace.

The new rubbers I fitted on the rear lights are the worst offenders. They appear to be made out of coal!

[svenedin]

I have noticed this with grommets too. I think the only way this can change is to complain

[myoldjalopy]

Does the club ever take these issues up with suppliers?

[Chief]

Is the phone scanning really that good now? I assumed a dedicated laser scanner would be necessary.

I have (outdated) 3D modelling experience for video and games and am trying to learn CAD at the moment, it doesn't seem too scary so far!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2BdDqtttuA

Box modelling is never outdated

[radioactiveman]

Did you buy the horn push from one of the main suppliers? If so I think I've got one of those too...

[svenedin]

Did you buy the horn push from one of the main suppliers? If so I think I've got one of those too...

I did yes. They have agreed to take it back and refund me. Not only were the clips unsuitable but it had a horrible “action” and the button would stick. I have since sourced a genuine NOS Lucas horn push and fitted it without issue. In fact the NOS part is a bit tight rather than being ridiculously loose. Unfortunately the plastic of the originals becomes brittle with age and this is especially true in a convertible like mine where there is sun damage as well. The NOS stock one was a little more expensive than the copy (about £10 more) but is in far better condition than my original horn push before I broke it.

Stephen

[radioactiveman]

It's a shame. My solution was to remove the spring that wraps around the central contact wire which seems to be fine for now, but I'll buy a NOS one eventually when I can be bothered.

I also bought an oil filler cap from the same well-known supplier which didn't fit at all!

[svenedin]

It's a shame. My solution was to remove the spring that wraps around the central contact wire which seems to be fine for now, but I'll buy a NOS one eventually when I can be bothered.

I also bought an oil filler cap from the same well-known supplier which didn't fit at all!

Which bit of the oil filler cap doesn’t fit? The retaining ring or the actual bung? Both are tight fits when brand new but the bung seems to fit much better after several heat cycles on the engine. The vented cap in particular is tight. It has to be because air is supposed to be drawn in through the cap (not around it) through a metal gauze filter. I had trouble fitting mine but it did fit with a warm engine and putting some oil on the bung.