American OEM vs Chinese Reproductions

[toobroketoretire]

My new TRICO windshield washer pump arrived this morning and when I went to install it I ran into trouble. I was running a Chinese reproduction pump and the new TRICO pump was VERY different. Note these differences:

1. The threaded inlet of the Chinese pump was 90 degrees mis-positioned

2. The outlet of the Chinese pump was also 90 degrees mis-positioned

3. The two electrical spade terminals of the Chinese pump were oriented in a different way and also 90 degrees mis-positioned.

4. The Chinese pump had an opposite rotation of the TRICO pump so I had to install the HOT and GROUND wires backwards.

Both times I ordered a "1982 Corvette Windshield Washer Pump" and although they are similar in appearance they are also very different. The OEM pumps used a plugin for the electrical terminals but that plugin would have never been correct for the Chinese pump which required separate wires and terminals. In every instance where I installed a Chinese reproduction I had to heavily modify it to be able to use it.

I bought a AC Delco "rebuilt" power brake booster two years ago and found it was a NEW Chinese reproduction that came unpainted and sloppy wet with oil all over it. Everything about it was wrong and it took me 10 hours of my time to make it usable. As I am very skilled at modification and fabrication I was able to do what was required to make it work but Joe Average would have had to send it back for a refund.

 

[vett boy]

Your only hope is to vote Trump .

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

As I am very skilled at modification and fabrication I was able to do what was required to make it work but Joe Average would have had to send it back for a refund.

You sure are a legend in your own mind.

Joe Average would have not accepted a clearly incorrect part in the first place, irrespective of their skills with bodging something together that would soon fail. Joke's on you it seems.

 

[toobroketoretire]

You sure are a legend in your own mind.

Joe Average would have not accepted a clearly incorrect part in the first place, irrespective of their skills with bodging something together that would soon fail. Joke's on you it seems.

As my '71 is my daily driver and my only mode of transportation I have to make things fit one way or another.

 

[GTR1999]

I understand the frustration with imported parts today, the sad fact is it is not going to come back to the USA like we once had. I had to throw out 8 good screw machines with custom enclosures because all the work was sent to China. 100 people lost their job because assembly work was shipped to Mexico. The only ones making profits on manufacturing are the owners of the business who shipped the work away, regardless of quality.

Apply this to the small world of old corvettes and we see the same thing. What's even worse but possibly not as know, the rebuilders in the USA. Some are very good and put out quality parts, others knowingly build and sell junk. I have confronted some with their products only to be told they were aware of what they have been selling and couldn't care less.

I have in a steering box that was sold to the customer under the impression it was professionally rebuilt, the place is a well known FL vendor. The box is junk, a core with lousy paint. The lash was so loose I barely could measure drag. This wasn't a Chinese built part but rather a direct rip off of the consumer. I could fill up an old LA phone book with similar stories I have experienced over the years working on these cars.

So if you got your car in order, be thankful many would not.

 

[kpic]

Toobroke...
I did a search and none of the hits matched your OE pump.

http://www.partsgeek.com/jypgg1v-chevrolet-corvette-washer-pump.html?utm_source=nextag&utm_medium=pf&utm_content=dcs&utm_campaign=PartsGeek+Nextag&fp=pp&utm_term=Chevrolet+Washer+Pump

One place offered an wiring adapter which means the terminal connections would be different.

 

[toobroketoretire]

Toobroke...
I did a search and none of the hits matched your OE pump.

http://www.partsgeek.com/jypgg1v-chevrolet-corvette-washer-pump.html?utm_source=nextag&utm_medium=pf&utm_content=dcs&utm_campaign=PartsGeek+Nextag&fp=pp&utm_term=Chevrolet+Washer+Pump

One place offered an wiring adapter which means the terminal connections would be different.

Were there early and late washer pumps? If so maybe my first pump was a reproduction of the early style and that's why it was so different from the one I just got.

 

[kpic]

Were there early and late washer pumps? If so maybe my first pump was a reproduction of the early style and that's why it was so different from the one I just got.

As all I did was search, I have no clue.

I did see adapters at one site; perhaps they were to adapt the stock connectors to the new style. As there weren't any images; I can't say.

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

Were there early and late washer pumps? If so maybe my first pump was a reproduction of the early style and that's why it was so different from the one I just got.

No 1971 Corvette came from the factory with an electric washer pump so the question is moot.

 

[toobroketoretire]

No 1971 Corvette came from the factory with an electric washer pump so the question is moot.

No, the question was why are the two pumps so different; not whether a '71 came with them.

 

[KANE]

I've seen a lot of sub-par parts over the years that come from the all over the world. US, Germany, China, Japan- and lots of other places.

I've also seen some really nice stuff come from China and everywhere else.




I think it depends on the price point and the market.

When supply is tight, competition slim, and people will keep buying them... there's little to stop people from peddling sub par parts.

 

[LLC5]

I've seen a lot of sub-par parts over the years that come from the all over the world. US, Germany, China, Japan- and lots of other places.

I've also seen some really nice stuff come from China and everywhere else.




I think it depends on the price point and the market.

When supply is tight, competition slim, and people will keep buying them... there's little to stop people from peddling sub par parts.

Exactly, it's not about where it is manufactured, it's all about to what standards set forth by the business having it made. For decades the best ski wear has come from China manufacturing, Helly Hanson, Spider, Mammut, etc, etc. Excellent (and in this case expensive) products that last forever.......I know from first hand experience.

 

[toobroketoretire]

Back in the early 1990's I began buying all of my reproduction parts from Mid America. Everything I got was garbage so I quit doing business with them. A lot of time has passed since then and they might sell quality parts now but after that bad experience I'll never buy anything from them again. Has any of you folks bought from Mid America and what is your opinion of the parts they sell?

 

[xkeots]

My new TRICO windshield washer pump arrived this morning and when I went to install it I ran into trouble. I was running a Chinese reproduction pump and the new TRICO pump was VERY different. Note these differences:

1. The threaded inlet of the Chinese pump was 90 degrees mis-positioned

2. The outlet of the Chinese pump was also 90 degrees mis-positioned

3. The two electrical spade terminals of the Chinese pump were oriented in a different way and also 90 degrees mis-positioned.

4. The Chinese pump had an opposite rotation of the TRICO pump so I had to install the HOT and GROUND wires backwards.

Both times I ordered a "1982 Corvette Windshield Washer Pump" and although they are similar in appearance they are also very different. The OEM pumps used a plugin for the electrical terminals but that plugin would have never been correct for the Chinese pump which required separate wires and terminals. In every instance where I installed a Chinese reproduction I had to heavily modify it to be able to use it.

I bought a AC Delco "rebuilt" power brake booster two years ago and found it was a NEW Chinese reproduction that came unpainted and sloppy wet with oil all over it. Everything about it was wrong and it took me 10 hours of my time to make it usable. As I am very skilled at modification and fabrication I was able to do what was required to make it work but Joe Average would have had to send it back for a refund.

Made in China translated to English is Made To Fail
There were many OEM parts made and still many around. The problem is you have to search and find them. Searching is also part of being a car collector. Back in the day, in the 60's and 70's when I needed parts (for 1930's -50's cars) I didn't have a computer, no Ebay to find Factory service manuals or parts. I had to go to central Libraries and copy from micro film, page by page of a service manual. Parts I got from junkyards and clubs. Also some dealers had old parts in their back rooms. OEM prices have gone sky high but out there (especially not to bad for C3's) and I found people have been copying Old OEM boxes and putting non OEM parts inside those "Computer generated boxes" and the same with fake parts into original boxes, double check as soon as you receive them and before you use them. Just passing on my experiences with bad parts as the first body off car I did was a 1962 Jaguar XKE or E-Type back in 1965. It was only 3 years old but was in a crash and sitting in a yard uncovered for 2 years. I had to take the whole car apart and build it. After that I was hooked.I was able to buy factory parts then. My friends in the U.K. now have the same problems that we do here. They all hate Chinese parts as nobody pays for their time to re do customers jobs because the parts failed. Shops are loosing money over this. In (about, don't quote me as I was told this by a Me/Be service manager years ago) 2006-2007 Mercedes was using Chinese chips and electrics in their cars to run off the computer etc. Me/Be never had so many breakdowns in the history of the Marque in those years that customers stared buying BMW, Audi, etc. It took them years to get some of the customers back. Mercedes started making their own electronics after again. They pay cheap labor to bang out lots of parts with little to no quality control and we have to eat it. Just telling you all as It happened to me many times. I ain't a kid no more and I don't want anyone being pissed off doing a long removal and re install of parts that fail next week on their pride and joy thinking it was your fault.
Check part twice, install once.
Jax

1931 Ford Model A
1961 Cadillac Convertible
1962 Corvette
1963 Corvette SWC
1977 Corvette L-82
1967 Pontiac GTO Convertible
1999 Jaguar XK8 Convertible
2014 Dodge Challenger

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

Back in the early 1990's I began buying all of my reproduction parts from Mid America. Everything I got was garbage so I quit doing business with them. A lot of time has passed since then and they might sell quality parts now but after that bad experience I'll never buy anything from them again. Has any of you folks bought from Mid America and what is your opinion of the parts they sell?

With very few exception there are only 1 or 2 companies that make the reproduction parts which then get retailed by almost all the Corvette part houses. It doesn't matter much except by luck of the draw who you buy your parts from, same junk. The trick is not to settle for junk, like with your w/wiper pump.

Do your research and find out who is retailing a good quality piece. Whomever that turns out to be is no guarantee that they will also have good quality stuff next time.

 

[toobroketoretire]

I was discussing windshield wiper switches with Rik's one day and they told me they are only being made in China by three different manufacturers. Now days there's no telling where a part is made until you get it. I bought a new windshield washer pump several years ago that was an AC Delco made in Mexico. It only worked TWO TIMES and then began sucking in air. It turned out it was made using the same OEM tooling but with sub standard materials that warped really bad. That's why I ended up installing the later electric pump (that failed recently). The new TRICO pump should last a lot longer (if it's not made in China).