Just thought of something that probably hasn't been discussed much on these forums....and I guess all of us have experienced something like this....How many times have you had to re-fix something that was supposed to have been Fixed//
I USED to think that when you got something or paid for something to be "fixed" that it was fixed. End of story.. That hasn't been the case with my car.
Some examples: I've got a 67 300 with 440 TNT. Part of the required equipment with the TNT package was the Budd disc brakes.
The Brakes. Well when I bought the car it had leaky calipers. Apparently, there is a difference between the left and right calipers. My mechanic said only ONE side was available... Anyway. within a few months, BOth caliper were leaking again...Found a place on-line that rebuilt calipers and sleeved them so they wouldn't leak again... I won't name the site....Anyway, again and again over a period of years the calipers would leak and I'd have to send them back...Well, I finally gave up on them; and my mechanic noticed that Advance Auto Parts had rebuilt calipers on their site....They are from Cardone. Anyway, got a pair of their calipers and for 3 and more years now, NO leaks and the brakes work fine.
Power steering gear. Well. when I got the car, the steering was beyond what you'd call "sloopy" A couple of inches of play in the wheel on-center before any steering took place. Long story short, I got a rebuilt extra firm box from one of the vendors;;;It was better than what WAS on their but was still sloopy as hell...I finally went with Firm Feel level 2 box....after some more adjustments it good...But, its the THIRD P/S box that's been on the car.
Carburetors. My Car came with a dealer installed dual quad system (Carter carbs)..Not going to go into every detail, but I've gone with Eddy Performer and Thunder carbs and a rebuilt Thermoquad. I've got an Eddy Performer 750 cfm on there now and it STILL has fuel and carb related issues.
Differential: I sent my original diff out to one of the advertised vendors....It came back noisy....I lived with it for years and finally had it sent out to somebody my mechanic recommended. He said the original 3.23 gear set was worn funny and recommended ring and pinion replacement...I did that and went with 3.55 gears...So far all is good and quiet..
I had a rebuilt power steering box put on that ended up leaking just as bad as the first one. Thankfully, I farmed that one out, and they replaced the box and it's better now.
Joined: Wed Aug 11 2010, 10:15AM
Location: E WA
Posts: 1230
theadmiral wrote ...
I had a rebuilt power steering box put on that ended up leaking just as bad as the first one. Thankfully, I farmed that one out, and they replaced the box and it's better now.
About five years ago I replaced the power steering gear box in my 67 Polara 500 Convertible with an A1Cardone unit and it was sloppier than the original which was more than 40 years old.
Finally I had Firmfeel rebuild the original gear box and it is wonderful.
I asked my shop (Ike's Transmission, in Austin) about rebuilding it, and they said that the labor of rebuilding it themselves is more than the labor of putting a remanufactured one in, twice. From there, it's just a gambling problem, right?
Joined: Sat Mar 29 2008, 03:36PM
Location: North eastern Wis.
Posts: 1638
66PolaraRagtop wrote ...
3 starters and 2 alternators in less than 1,000 miles. Reman parts blow!!!
Now I'm putting in the 2nd fuel pump. Last one lasted 100 miles. I'm starting to think I'm cursed!
It's not just you. Everybody is having trouble finding good quality in every thing. Especially new stuff. It was always possible to get bad stuff new or otherwise, but it seems to be getting worse. This could just be a point of view thing though. Maybe if I spend my day with my face in my phone, I simply wont notice.
I kind of find this subject very funny. It wasn't that long ago we used to get kits and rebuild these things ourselves. Of course fuel pumps were not rebuild-able, but I never had a problem with the new ones.
I suppose now that I have said that, I will need one and it will not last. With today's fuels I will probably just go with an electric one. Fingers crossed.
Joined: Fri Apr 21 2006, 07:28AM
Location: England
Posts: 739
Heres another. Looks my new m/c is leaking from the seal. Last time I did it, I used a rebuild kit, no probs but with the car having been stood 15 years this time the bore was too corroded. New m/c and I've got brake fluid on the paint below my servo
I also got some new brake disks, cheap enough. Only problem the hubs are parallel instead of tapered which means most centre caps won't fit. so new I've got to take them off and machine them myself