So I recently discovered my 55 had no lighter, as the PO had a manual choke in the spot. (My car is mostly in pieces at present) SO, I get on ebay and find a 'new' lighter and a 'new' lighter bezel. Lighter comes, in an unopened Danchuk bag. Bezel shows up a couple days later, in an unopened 'GM Restoration Parts bag. Today, I open the lighter and bezel and I thought I was going to have to go to a machine shop to have the bezel pressed on because it's ultra tight. Finally get it on, put it through the dash, and the retainer barely screws on, like maybe the bezel is too thick. Oh well. I try it out, and now the lighter works a little hard in the socket, but it heats up. I went to pull it out and the cheap plastic knob pulls right off. Wonderful. I could have gone to the local auto parts store and saved about $50 by buying a generic setup and replacing the lighter with an original one. Don't really care if it works as I don't smoke, but it is a 12 volt power source. Anybody else discover this, or did I just get lucky?
craig32
Craig,
Unfortunately most everything is made in China and quality control takes back seat to price and you get what you pay for, on a good day.
American manufactures , in order to compete, have to sacrifice some where. But I will always buy the made in USA product.
Jim
Unfortunately most everything is made in China and quality control takes back seat to price and you get what you pay for, on a good day.
American manufactures , in order to compete, have to sacrifice some where. But I will always buy the made in USA product.
Jim
On the lighter issue, there are 2 styles of GM lighters/receptacles from those days (more now), and they don't mix. Nothing wrong with your parts, they just don't match.
On the overall picture, yes there is some total junk out there. Even more often, is that many parts can't be used "out of the box", you need to work on them to make them right.
If it isn't going to work don't eat it, send it back. Otherwise these parts vendors don't know how bad their stuff is.
Many vendors work with you, but always buy with a credit card, that's your way out when all else goes wrong. And the best reason to stay away from Ebay on many items.
On the overall picture, yes there is some total junk out there. Even more often, is that many parts can't be used "out of the box", you need to work on them to make them right.
If it isn't going to work don't eat it, send it back. Otherwise these parts vendors don't know how bad their stuff is.
Many vendors work with you, but always buy with a credit card, that's your way out when all else goes wrong. And the best reason to stay away from Ebay on many items.
Anybody else discover this, or did I just get lucky?
No Craig... you're not the chosen one. We've all experienced this. :sign0020:
No Craig... you're not the chosen one. We've all experienced this. :sign0020:
Once I started to TRY to put the bezel over the casing, I couldn't get it back off to open it up a little with a file. I didn't use anything other than my fingers to move it. I think the bezel was a little too thick as the retainer wouldn't screw on more than a turn. I don't know if it is what is restricting the lighter in the receiver. All the lighter was is a generic lighter with a plastic 55 looking knob on it, and it pulled off because there was a little resistance. I don't know if super glue will fix it or not. Am I correct in assuming the originals were metal, as all the other knobs are? The 210 lighters look to be black plastic, or were all the 210 gadgets plastic?
Profit and price have nothing to do with how good the parts are these days. They are either good or they are not. The sheet metal stuff that sells for less or the same and is better fit/quality proves that in a big way.
The lighter deal is another animal. The problems are compatibility of the two parts. I'd return the parts and seek another vendor, and ask hard questions this time.
The lighter deal is another animal. The problems are compatibility of the two parts. I'd return the parts and seek another vendor, and ask hard questions this time.
Many OEM car parts are made overseas now. Try to buy a new disc brake rotor made in the USA. Mine are China and look and work fine. Maybe the metal is crap but they work fine so far. Every part must be taken on its own merits. And yes, USA original GM is always best.
It is for things like this that I do not use repro "stuff" unless there is absolutely no other choice. I will restore, replate, repair or find good used first. And as mentioned in this thread for the sheet metal, From what I have experienced the foreign panels are far ahead of the USA panels in every way.
-Bruce
-Bruce
Overseas stuff can be maufactured well,,it just takes years of profit loss to them, to make the part right. Once they have a huge pile that isin't selling, back into the smelter it goes,,then they make it right.
They have that luxury of paitently waiting for some of the crap to sell, and still make a huge profit. We dont like to wait,, one of the reasons for the high price for a quality USA piece.
They have that luxury of paitently waiting for some of the crap to sell, and still make a huge profit. We dont like to wait,, one of the reasons for the high price for a quality USA piece.
Seems to me that we had to put up with years of buying US made crap before the higher quality Taiwan sheetmetal came online. I bought all US made sheetmetal for my Nomad, and the price was high and quality sucked. If I need sheetmetal from here on out, I'm buying the overseas stuff. All reports I've read say it's better than the USA made parts.
I don't know what other parts are made overseas, but I would guess a lot of them are. Maybe the other parts would fit better if we had them made overseas. LOL!
Obviously we have a lot of nice parts made here by folks like AME, Heidt's, Gene Smith, Danchuk, etc. But they sure don't come cheap. Overseas parts seem to be getting better with time, and that is to be expected as they learn what we expect in terms of quality and price. Manufacturers are moving overseas to lower costs.
Pretty sad situation we have in this country. I remember decades ago when "Made in Japan" meant it was "junk", and now they make some of the best products on earth. "Made in USA" is now beng correlated with "junk", unfortunately. We have to cut corners everywhere to compete.
I don't know what other parts are made overseas, but I would guess a lot of them are. Maybe the other parts would fit better if we had them made overseas. LOL!
Obviously we have a lot of nice parts made here by folks like AME, Heidt's, Gene Smith, Danchuk, etc. But they sure don't come cheap. Overseas parts seem to be getting better with time, and that is to be expected as they learn what we expect in terms of quality and price. Manufacturers are moving overseas to lower costs.
Pretty sad situation we have in this country. I remember decades ago when "Made in Japan" meant it was "junk", and now they make some of the best products on earth. "Made in USA" is now beng correlated with "junk", unfortunately. We have to cut corners everywhere to compete.
It's unfortunate that America's quality and value seems to be a thing of the past. However, I think that I agree with Chevynut here.
Ray
Ray
In the news... Imported chinese toys are painted with paint containing lead. imported chinese sheetrock is eating up copper plumbing in walls. Imported chinese pet food is killing animals. In china, baby food is causing serious illness and death in children. Yep, I'm heading right over to walmart, you bet! Dave
As a New Zealander, we also suffer from the dollar driven quality that China offers, I work in an industry where we use hydraulic torque wrenches made in the USA. These are not the ultimate tools, but properly maintained, they work ok. Well, the Chinese copied them, I did not use them myself, but saw the results of what happened to another crew on first use. The tools broke first time! It seems the they can machine fine, but have no sense of strength of materials, heat treatment or fit quality. I was told the prototypes demonstrated to test first were good, but as soon as they score the order, the peasants replace the tradesmen and no QC.
I guess this is why we get useless reproduction stuff for our TriFives.
Rule is, China can produce good products as long as they are directly supervised, ala SCAT, EAGLE do with their products. I guess that 90% of all computors are made in China, so that proves that they can build quality if they wish.
The baby food thing involved a NZ company, who had invested in a Chinese company that made baby milk powder, their Chinese factory suppliers were bulking out the milk powder with powder that is used to make plastic, which of course was toxic. Babies died, and it caused the NZ company to lose billions.
I will not use anything that goes into my body, that is made from China because of this, you just can't trust it.
I once asked a Chinese expat why this trait occurs and he said it stems from their basic culture of being proud to cheat and of course the almighty dollar rules, often the prototype is tested, then the customer says, yes but we want them made for a lessor amount, the manufacturer will say, sure, then replaces the workforce with people who will work to that budget.
I guess this is why we get useless reproduction stuff for our TriFives.
Rule is, China can produce good products as long as they are directly supervised, ala SCAT, EAGLE do with their products. I guess that 90% of all computors are made in China, so that proves that they can build quality if they wish.
The baby food thing involved a NZ company, who had invested in a Chinese company that made baby milk powder, their Chinese factory suppliers were bulking out the milk powder with powder that is used to make plastic, which of course was toxic. Babies died, and it caused the NZ company to lose billions.
I will not use anything that goes into my body, that is made from China because of this, you just can't trust it.
I once asked a Chinese expat why this trait occurs and he said it stems from their basic culture of being proud to cheat and of course the almighty dollar rules, often the prototype is tested, then the customer says, yes but we want them made for a lessor amount, the manufacturer will say, sure, then replaces the workforce with people who will work to that budget.
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