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Author
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Topic: If you think NOS parts are perfect...
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SteveLaRiviere
Administrator Posts: 48752
From: Saco, Maine
Registered: May 99
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posted 05-18-2005 07:22 PM
 
...guess again. I bought a NOS driver's side lower door hinge to replace the repro hinge on my Mach. The folks in China don't get them quite right and the check assembly doesn't keep the door open like they should, in fact on the ones I have the springs don't even touch the rollers. Anyway, I got the NOS hinge, painted it with self-etching primer, went to install it, and... the bolt holes on the door side are ever so slightly mislocated. They had to be drilled oversized to allow the bolts to line up. So much for perfect. At least my door holds like it should now. ------------------
'70 Mustang Mach 1 351C 4V/FMX/3.25 Open
'70 Mustang Convertible 250 I6/3 speed/2.79 Open
'72 Mustang Sprint Hardtop 351C 4V/FMX/4.30 Trac Loc
'94 F-150 XL 5.8L/E4OD/3.55 Limited Slip
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mellowyellow
Gearhead Posts: 8198
From: So. Fl.
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 05-18-2005 09:21 PM
Possibly that part was rejected on the assembly line. Reject parts were often sold. When working in the body shop while in school, it was not uncommon to get fenders that had dinks and were ill fitting.
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RICKS
Gearhead Posts: 438
From: Ocala, FL
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 05-19-2005 10:33 AM
Naw, they use heavy fixtures for drilling holes like that. The fixture was either off to begin with, or got put out of adjustment. In any case, if one hinge was drilled that way, I'll bet hundreds were, if not thousands, before anybody at the Ford supplier noticed or caught it. That type of defect does not happen as isolated incidents. And ill-fitting or dinged Ford fenders were not uncommon out of the box, out of regular Ford parts & service inventory. Service parts never got the same details sweated as production parts. Back in our restoration days, Dad tells me that just about every piece of original Ford metal would take hours of finesse and adjustment before it was ready for prime. T-bird fenders were so poorly made, that they would disassemble the headlight bucket area, and re-work it completely, to custom fit each fender to each headlamp door, so that they'd line up. If you just took the parts out of the box, and bolted them together, you'd get gaps that Yugo would not have accepted!! They would spend days fixing those brand new T-bird fenders, in the course of a top-line restoration. As I've said before, there's no single answer with parts, you can't generalize between O.E. and reproduction. You've got to approach every part with a blank sheet of paper. In some cases, the repro is far superior. In most cases, the Ford service replacement is superior. But there's no carved-in-stone formula. You've got to make the comparison part-by-part. I've got an N.O.S. Ford service replacement 71-73 RH fender apron on eBay right now. The stamping is HORRENDOUS in the detail, but hey, that's how they were making them, and if you want a thicker Ford apron to make your repair, you've got to start with that and spend a day or two cleaning up the mess with some filler, alot of prime coats, and alot of sandpaper and raw fingers. That's not a "defect", that's the schlop they distributed across the country with a Ford label on it. Same goes for GM, Chrysler, you name it. Never generalize or stereotype when talking about parts, and who they were made by.
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63Kcode
Gearhead Posts: 281
From: Anna Tx
Registered: Dec 2004
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posted 05-20-2005 09:47 PM
I used to work on a Perterbilt assembly line. You would be supprised how many parts need to be "ajusted" to make a truck fit together. The only good thing is after "ajusting" the same part to fit over 100 times you get good at it. With over 14 years exp. I think I can get a square peg in a round hole.
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Tom G
Gearhead Posts: 1069
From: Bethlehem, Pa USA
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 05-22-2005 11:16 PM
quote:
Originally posted by 63Kcode:
With over 14 years exp. I think I can get a square peg in a round hole.
AMEN To that!
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Thud
Gearhead Posts: 1407
From: Cumming,Ga.,USofA
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 05-23-2005 10:50 AM
quote:
Originally posted by SteveLaRiviere:
...guess again. I bought a NOS driver's side lower door hinge to replace the repro hinge on my Mach. The folks in China don't get them quite right and the check assembly doesn't keep the door open like they should, in fact on the ones I have the springs don't even touch the rollers. Anyway, I got the NOS hinge, painted it with self-etching primer, went to install it, and... the bolt holes on the door side are ever so slightly mislocated. They had to be drilled oversized to allow the bolts to line up. So much for perfect. At least my door holds like it should now.
I had the same problem.
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"We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing." - Benjamin Franklin - "I don't care where I sit, as long as I get fed." - Calvin Trillin - Dwayne M&M Member #18
Son of Smurf
'94 Lightning #942 of 4007
'67 Mustang Coupe
'70 Mach1
'75 Cougar
'65 Galaxie 500 + parts car
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exlocal
Gearhead Posts: 1552
From: hacienda hts., CA, USA
Registered: Dec 2004
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posted 05-23-2005 10:27 PM
I just replaced my parking brake cable today with a new part bought from California Mustang. It had a cone shapped ball on the end while the original one had a round ball on it. Had to use the hand held rotary tool to grind it down to a ball under the dash, great stuff for an old back and butt like mine. I should have been more careful as some of the printing on the package was in French.  ------------------
reliving youth
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