Build 'em like they used too?

[Rusty Nail]

Yeah..used to be (way before my day I understand)*ahem!
Back in the day, rebuilding something like a wheel cylinder or a master cylinder was the first choice and often only option I guess because it was so cheap to do and nobody had any money or some ****, I dunno - before my time.
I heard the stories though...like about rebuilding a fuel pump with bicycle inner tubes and stuff? LoL!

Good luck findin the kit.

 

[Octane]

One of the first auto parts companies I remember selling a lot of bad crap was called Nationwise auto parts.The local shops sent a lot of stuff back on them.They were an inexpensive store for a while,but soon it cost more labor than it was worth just buying their crap parts.

 

[Goldie Driver]

One of the first auto parts companies I remember selling a lot of bad crap was called Nationwise auto parts.The local shops sent a lot of stuff back on them.They were an inexpensive store for a while,but soon it cost more labor than it was worth just buying their crap parts.

HiLo auto parts went from high quality in the 80's - and hand written tickets, just as an extra cool old guy memory- to cheap, low quality crap before they went under.

Side note:

That Rural King battery in Goldie kicks ass, even in 14 degree weather

Never heard of that brand before her.

 

[Octane]

HiLo auto parts went from high quality in the 80's - and hand written tickets, just as an extra cool old guy memory- to cheap, low quality crap before they went under.

Side note:

That Rural King battery in Goldie kicks ass, even in 14 degree weather

Never heard of that brand before her.

I believe when Nationwise failed it was Richmond auto parts co. that bought them.They owned Advance Auto too I heard.This was back in the late 80s early 90s.I actually had Advance replace a bad parf and they said the parent company bought them out and would honor the warranties,but kinda kept it quiet.

 

[Octane]

I just googled Nationwise but it said Western Auto Supply bought them But the counterman at Advance told me the previous story so? What the heck?

 

[Goldie Driver]

I just googled Nationwise but it said Western Auto Supply bought them But the counterman at Advance told me the previous story so? What the heck?

Who knows. A buddy of mine worked at Big A Auto Parts in the 80's and from what he told me it was like it was a setup to guarentee losses and the corresponding tax losses...

 

[bucket]

I just googled Nationwise but it said Western Auto Supply bought them But the counterman at Advance told me the previous story so? What the heck?

Iirc, Advance bought out Western Auto which would make both stories correct.

 

[jake wells]

advance also bought out carquest but both carries the same parts yet the carquest is cheaper
castrol at carquest 4.79
castrol at advance 7.49
what kind of fuckery is this.

 

[Matt69olds]

I think a lot of the problems with rebuilt parts is finding quality cores worth rebuilding.

The water pump on my Olds was kind of a oddball, when was the last time you saw a Olds engine that didn’t have air conditioning? It seemed like I couldn’t get more than a couple years of use before it would start seeping coolant from the weep hole. When the core charge for the water pump is almost as much as the rebuilt pump, you know they really want that core back! I’m guessing since the core supply is drying up, the rebuilders are forced to use cores they would have scrapped 10 years ago.

On some of the more common parts, if cores weren’t available, then the rebuilders are forced to have new parts cast. That’s a huge investment, combined with the penny pinching mentality of today’s society they have to do it as cheaply as possible. That means less than top quality seals, bearings, and 3rd world labor and equipment to machine and assemble it.

I use to be a big believer in “keep my GM all GM”, and didn’t really mind paying for the GM quality. I figure my time is worth more than the added cost of the better parts and only doing the job once. When I started paying the elevated GM price for a box with the GM logo, with 3rd world parts inside is when I started to question the wisdom in my ways.

 

[Rusty Nail]

 

[rpcraft]

I think a lot of stores now days offer discount brands and then a upper scale quality brand and usually everyone defaults to the cheap brand and finds out afterwards the difference between a cheaper reman product vs a brand new product, but the price is often a difference as well. Advance Auto used to be carquest for those wondering. I found out when I bought a battery and one of the labels came off and it had a carquest label underneath.

 

[Octane]

I think a lot of stores now days offer discount brands and then a upper scale quality brand and usually everyone defaults to the cheap brand and finds out afterwards the difference between a cheaper reman product vs a brand new product, but the price is often a difference as well. Advance Auto used to be carquest for those wondering. I found out when I bought a battery and one of the labels came off and it had a carquest label underneath.

Autozone at least used to I know would offer a product with one year warranty and one with the lifetime.Dont know if it was same product but just a few dollars more for the lifetime or not.Bu I find that a brand new part can only be as good as the chinesium bearings and seals it has.

 

[Grit dog]

I concur, that the quality of re-man parts seems to have gotten noticeably worse in the last dozen years or so and, even for newer cars, finding new parts for some components is increasingly difficult.
Example, PS pump in sons 06 Mustang was whining and not putting out at low rpms (still is I think, but he claims it quit making noise after new tires....idk, haven't checked yet). I searched for a "new" pump. Car only has about 50k miles on it and the plan is to run it for along time. The ONLY "new" pump I could find was through Oreillys. Even Ford OEM PS pumps for that car are re-mans.
There's no reason a reman can't be as good or nearly as good as new, but, case in point with alternators, went through 3 or 4 remans on our Tahoe last year. 2 of them were junk before they came out of the box, from Napa. Hell, the advertisement on the side of the box actually says, paraphrased, "we test the unit, and replace whatever doesn't pass and all other components aren't touched if they're operational."
That's not the fault of being a re-man part, that's just buying a used part. May as well hedge your bet at the pick n pull...

 

[Bextreme04]

I concur, that the quality of re-man parts seems to have gotten noticeably worse in the last dozen years or so and, even for newer cars, finding new parts for some components is increasingly difficult.
Example, PS pump in sons 06 Mustang was whining and not putting out at low rpms (still is I think, but he claims it quit making noise after new tires....idk, haven't checked yet). I searched for a "new" pump. Car only has about 50k miles on it and the plan is to run it for along time. The ONLY "new" pump I could find was through Oreillys. Even Ford OEM PS pumps for that car are re-mans.
There's no reason a reman can't be as good or nearly as good as new, but, case in point with alternators, went through 3 or 4 remans on our Tahoe last year. 2 of them were junk before they came out of the box, from Napa. Hell, the advertisement on the side of the box actually says, paraphrased, "we test the unit, and replace whatever doesn't pass and all other components aren't touched if they're operational."
That's not the fault of being a re-man part, that's just buying a used part. May as well hedge your bet at the pick n pull...

I broke the positive lug off the starter solenoid on my 2011 Suburban last year while changing motor mounts. It wasn't possible to get just a solenoid or a rebuild kit for it and even rockauto and autozone wanted $200 for one. I went to the local parts yard and they had one from a low mile 2014 for $40... you just can't beat that, and its far more likely to last another 100,000 miles compared to whatever garbage reman unit you would get from the parts store.

 

[Rusty Nail]

Isnt this how cash for clunkers came about including ever stricter emissions regulations?

They bought up and crushed all the good **** while convincing you to buy a plastic 4 cylinder..cant have the masses armed with **** that wont break, we're sellin parts and new cars - tryin to run a business over here gawddangit!

Aint got no control over my 33 year old Blazer.

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