Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines Made in the USA with pride?

I don´t want to offend anybody but today I recived an other "Made in America with pride" product.

My first experiance with this kind of quality was Offenhauser.

The side cover took 1 hour on a mill to make it square enough to seal.

The valve cover had the mounting holes to far appart.

The intake also was more than lousy machined.

Next where the Fentons :rolleyes:
aaahhh... ya al know the what I mean - the board is full of them.

Clifford Intake and adapterplate - holes not matching - up to 1 milimeter. The other holes do not match the carb pattern to. Nothing I can`t fix but for $45 they could employ someone that can handle a ruler and a drill.

Today the stainless steel headers from Norco arrived and raised my bloodpreassure to unhealthy levels.

Flanges are bend up to 3 milimeters they welded the flanges from the gasket side only but left a 2-3 millimeter welding seam standing there. Happy grinding and hope they don`t fall appart

Some Clown even mangaged it to weld the name plate with the Norco logo upside down on the headers.

Is that normal or am I just a painstaking picky meticulous German?

What happens to Made in the USA?

I mean all this stuff is`n cheap for what it is - rather raw aluminum and iron cast. When it comes out of the box it looks more like India or China made.

How about Quality Control? Products like this would never even leave the factory over here.

Sorry I yust had to vent this off.

Frank

Every Header I have seen are all welded On the Head side. I to weld mine on the same side. THIS insures a 100% seal around each Header tube to the head flange.

nothing is more frustrating than having to fix something you bought brand new. i guess that is where it pays for me to be such a cheap skate, when i get something used i have noone to be mad at but myself when i have to modify it. especially when my "fixing" it costs almost as much as the new one. well as far away as you are i can see why you don't send it back. it seems like all quality has gone down in order to stay competitive with cheaper locations. it makes me wonder where this will all end up. most of the stuff we buy has such a short lifespan and nobody cares because we can buy a new one cheaper anyway. a lot of companys would rather sell someone elses product than make a quality one. some good companys left though, and who am i to grip like i said i'm a cheapskate.

Fellow Inliners: We have done so much, for so long, with so little, we are now qualified to do anything, with nothing!!!

Dear Frank;

Sorry to hear you are having bad luck.

The logo (Made in USA) used to mean something world wide.

Today many in our "work force" have the Bart Simpson mentality. FYI he is someone that has NO respect for anyone, anything, himself or his work and what you got was/is the end result. His type feels there due monies for attendance not production.

Dan summed it up & good luck.

This, my fellow Inliners, is why I shop eBay and Hemmings hard for what I want. I use the old stuff. It's all over my truck and IT FITS!
I have friends who tease me and make fun of my vintage equipment, but it sure works good! :p

Joe

I like that one John "Bart Simpson mentality" boy aint that the truth. Its sad very sad and I don't see it getting any better in my lifetime.

vince

Hum I sadly have to agree with everyone. I guess this is why I started Making my own stuff. And to buy what machines I could afford to do so with. And I'm not sure which took longger getting the machines or making some of this stuff LOL.
But i will have to admit one I no longger have to deal with Leaky Oil Huffing L cheapO chrome covers again.

Everyone seems to be in a Rush for the all Mighty
Buck That nobody seems to care about Quality
and that is a real Shame. And if one wants something different Or Nice They either have to
find some who can do it OR just do it them
self,like many of US here have and no dout always will.
now that I vented my2cents I should Hush now LOL

boy, is the Bart Simpson statement on the money! I think it is a sign of our society today. First of all, I believe our federal, state and local govenments build barriers instead of bridges with our business comunity. Secondly, there aren't enough people who want real quality - most want it cheap. I believe there are some people who want quality and are willing to pay for it, just not enough of those people anymore. And lastly, our work ethic here is not what it used to be - thanks to the Bart Simpson mentality. And unfortunately the consumer pays.

Frank,
just because it was bought from the USA, doesn't mean it was made here. A huge amount of stuff is being made over in India, Taiwan, Mexico and China these days. If you wan't to know, ask the companies where the stuff was made. Alot has changed in the last couple years.

As for the Fentons hitting the bottom of an Offy intake, that's not really an issue of quality, but two different companies making parts that aren't designed to go together. Do you really think Offy and Fenton were comparing notes back then to decide what to do? Fenton had its own line of intakes, so why would it care about Offy??

In and during the 50s & 60s everything usually fit just fine.

The Clifford manifold, which came along sometime later fits "tight" when running the Fentons.

A lot of "off shore" counterfiet parts have found their way into the marketplace too, as Brian points out. The 'tube headers' for the early engines are a Tiawang off spring and a copy of the Clark headers sold in the 50s. An 'extra' weld like Larry mentions is good "insurance" there also.

Happy trails.

Hoggy & Twisted6, I'm with you both. I'm a cheapskate, and I would rather spend 10 hours and $20 worth of materials making a $10 part that looks and fits exactly the way I want it to.
I guess i'm not the kinda guy your website advertisers like.

Here at my job there is a guy who deals with the machine shops who make our parts. He has a poster in his cube that says:

FAST
ACCURATE
CHEAP
(pick two and only two)

You can't get all three is the message.

Or like ones i have seen, Prices are due to change with your attitude. another was if your in a hurry prices may go up.

I think were all fortuate that most involved with these engines care and that a large portion of our (aftermarket) parts are made here or come from 'old time' outlets as mentioned.

It's mainly the import stuff that has problems.

This 'Bart' attitude is everywhere in retail and has "trickeled down" now, to the Hot Rod industry.

We all can hope that the next generation will have a better outlook on things and this BS program is temporary.