The resto world has changed in 10 years...

Discussion in 'Repro Parts' started by Nicholas Sloop, Sep 29, 2016.

  1. Nicholas Sloop

    Nicholas Sloop '08 GS Nats BSA runner up

    Hi folks
    I was a daily regular in the whole Resto Shop 10-15 years ago. Re-restoring my 70 and back here. (Looks less lively than it was then...)
    Parts Place looks like it always has. Few pictures, no info, and a seeming attitude of "It's good enough, don't ask..."
    Year One used to be higher prices, and shipping was automatically 50% of your order, but good pictures of everything, and a lot of honest information about correctness and fit. Now they seem to be simply a Parts Place competitor. Perhaps Len Anth... (unpronouncable Greek name) has moved on, or just gotten "more commercial?"
    Thoughts? Input? Advice? (I know to "go Chevy" for the interchangable stuff, but I also know there is "good" Buick-specific stuff, and "bad"...)
     
  2. Ken Mild

    Ken Mild King of 18 Year Resto's

    I'll be honest I have not found a single solitary aftermarket part from any parts company that can stand up to the quality of an OEM part. The last piece of my puzzle is my headliner that I have yet to install. I think I got it from OPG, so we will see. Anything else (especially emblems), although they look great when they are new, are cheap crap compared to the original stuff. Original GM stuff if you can find it is best way to go. I bought a repro breather hose for the air cleaner on my 69 GS and it split at the end that attaches to the air cleaner after just a few years. I did not realize you have to treat half these parts as wear items like brakes shoes. LOL
     
  3. Nicholas Sloop

    Nicholas Sloop '08 GS Nats BSA runner up

    Hi Ken!
    Thanks for replying. You are one of the names I certainly remember from 10 years ago. I so agree. I posted a lot about "non-exact repros," and would rather have an identifiable original, worn, part, than an identifiable repro.
    After I "restored" my car in the early 2000's I showed it in BG for two years. (Won third place, by default, the last year there was a "1970" class.) One of my fondest memories is one of those years in the show field at BG. Someone said "That's a really nice, original car." My first instinct was to be mad--I put a year and a half into it! But then I realized, that WAS my goal. My car was built in April 70. It was bought in August. I bought it in October 1983. My goal was somewhere between how it looked in Aug 1970, and how I "could have" bought it in Oct 1983, had it been perfectly cared for. I really couldn't care less how it looked in April 1970, when No One owned My Car.
    Pretty weird, I know... But it is My Car, and how I remember it as an 18 yo dying to own a GS as his first car!!!!
     
  4. 69GSM21

    69GSM21 Silver Level contributor

    I would love to add a few thoughts here. I work in the restoration industry and yes I came into it 10 years ago so I have seen exactly what you guys are talking about. Except, I am (unfortunately) selling all reproduction (chinese) parts. I promise you that even when you get repop parts that say "made in the USA" it doesn't mean anything at all. When you see "GM Restoration Part" it also means nothing at all. You see, in order to obtain that decal all you have to do is pay GM licensing fees and then you get a roll of stickers. GM never looks at anything nor do they make sure it fits anything. Do you really thing that Hop Sing has a warehouse of cars over the pond to check the fitment of any of this stuff? So, everytime I get aggravated when I cannot just buy a part for my Oldsmobile's or my Buick I usually realize that if I could it wouldn't fit anyway. I can honestly say that the only reproduction parts I have bought so far for the Buick have all had to be modified in some way. I fought the damn PCV grommet for a couple of days. After some cutting and the use of a step up drill bit I was not only able to get the grommet in but also the PCV without fishing it out of the manifold...what a joke! This however leads me to the lecture I give some of my customers that want to discuss this..... Would you really pay what it cost to make it here? Everyone says yes, but then they go to Harbor Freight and buy Chinese tools, you go to Auto Zone or Advanced and buy foreign filters etc..... How about going to the local hardware and paying extra for what you know you can get at Home Depot or Lowe's to ensure an American local job? O wait, too late you already helped put them out of business to save pennies. We all were a part of the cause, but we can be the solution VOTE for America and not your own wallet!

    Hallelujah, holy **** where's the Tylenol....
    Clark W. Griswold
     
  5. pbr400

    pbr400 68GS400

    And if it does fit and look right it won't last, like the repro hood ornament I bought last year for my El Camino. It looked perfect for a few months, then got cloudy and opaque like dried glue. So I bought 'good used' and a couple of spares. Of course the vendor ignored my emails about it, so now I ignore theirs announcing sales etc.
    Patrick
     
  6. 69 GS 400

    69 GS 400 Well-Known Member

    I think some of these manufactures think that we are only looking for a replacement part and don't understand what a restoration is. I would rather pay a few bucks more for them to make a quality part than just something manufactured for a price point.
     
  7. Nicholas Sloop

    Nicholas Sloop '08 GS Nats BSA runner up

    I am working hard to buy the best parts, with a, to the extent that I can, "money is no object" attitude. (No, I'm not buying anything NOS for unobtanium $, but if the good repro is $300, and the bad one is $150, I WILL buy the good one.)
    I don’t necessarily want to turn this into a gripe thread, but perhaps we can share some good advice between the "bitching." :)
    Most of my biggest pet peeves are around the instrument cluster. If you (god forbid!!!) DRIVE your car, you should spend at least as much time looking at your instrument cluster as you do admiring your paint job and chrome…
    When the reproduction dash tachs came out, they at least did offer a "pointy lens" and a "flat lens." But no one seemed to care that the FONT of the numbers also changed when the lens changed. (Who knew what a "font" was before we had computers?) I think they have corrected that now. (I still have the one put in my car in April 1970 in Flint, so just trying to help others :) )
    But, I think the repros still have a pointer that is an elongated cone, instead of the correct straight shaft with a point. (Look at your speedo needle, people!!!) I presume you could cut the needle off a spare speedo, and attach it. Maybe there would be a weight difference that might affect accuracy. But if you’re racing, you’ve got your trans dialed in, or are using a supplementary, "real," tach. (As I do. On a removable collar around the steering column, with a wiring quick-disconnect.)
    How many companies are making woodgrain? I see some ridiculous looking woodgrain! (The "font" issue again.) I gather Greg Setter may be on and off, but I see so much NOT EVEN "close enough" woodgrain in otherwise nice cars.
    My biggee—the cluster housing itself. It IS a godsend to have the repro. But it is missing the black paint on the ledge around the woodgrain.
    If you use a Parts Place (or equivalent) repro bezel, PLEASE paint that before you install it :pray:
     
    Last edited: Oct 10, 2016
  8. ajesh35

    ajesh35 Well-Known Member

    Can you show a pic the decrepency of the bezel?
     
  9. Nicholas Sloop

    Nicholas Sloop '08 GS Nats BSA runner up

    Exhibit A. A scan of a photo from the November 1969 Hot Rod article "Mister Muscle of 1970."
    (This is actually a scan from the late 1980s Brooklands Books Buick Muscle Cars 1965-1970, which is, itself, a scan of period magazine articles.)

    factory dash 1.jpg

    Exhibit B. This is a photo I took in Bowling Green in 1984.

    factory dash 2.jpg

    Exhibit C. This is the Parts Place bezel I bought in May 2014.

    Parts Place dash 5-2014.jpg
     
  10. ajesh35

    ajesh35 Well-Known Member

    Thanks for posting
     
  11. thood1954

    thood1954 Well-Known Member

    There's a place that's called Inline Tube that is selling Buick parts on ebay. I was interested in armrest bases. Has anyone used them?
     
  12. MGCslugger33

    MGCslugger33 Back in Buick

    We bought the parts place bezel. Painted the area you are referring to and then had a place create stickers in the right font. Not ideal but the best we have to work with right now and it actually ended up nice.


     

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