Parts: Belatedly Discovered Junk

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asiab3
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Re: Parts: Belatedly Discovered Junk

Post by asiab3 » Mon Dec 07, 2015 3:32 am

kreemoweet wrote:A) -- Why We Are Here --
We actually see in this thread a VW parts vendor (and one commonly viewed as being in the top tier) who expresses a disinclination to do business with anyone who would dare to promulgate a factual review of merchandise received without first consulting with them. I know of no other market where such an attitude would not be considered pathological.
No we do not. There is no evidence of loss of enthusiasm to do business with anyone here. There could bea lack of enthusiasm from ANY business where, if a mistake was made, their reputation was publicly slandered before given notification, time to respond, and a consideration that every step of the process involves human beings who you are not considering. There are no rules for markets, only ethics which really just show our character.

If you can answer "why" you did not contact Bus Depot first, we might get over the personal issues we have with this case. There is nothing positive to be gained from NOT informing a vendor of a problem immediately.

C) -- A Few More Actual Facts -- The "rebuilt" distributor I received had numerous little dabs of yellow paint applied to it. The hollow at the top of the shaft was packed with a large blob of some sort of bright blue "grease". Seems rather unlikely a core return would have any such things, so evidence points to this dist. being the actual finished product of good old "Mexican VW Expertise".
Do you have pictures? Documentation? Examples of what it SHOULD look like? I'd like to see what you have on your hands.

Robbie
1969 bus, "Buddy."
145k miles with me.
322k miles on Earth.

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Re: Parts: Belatedly Discovered Junk

Post by busdepot » Mon Dec 07, 2015 1:10 pm

Ron, in a long-ago phone call, I said that I would happily pay twice as much for a part that lasts four times as long. I begged you to send my criticism of those horrid front side reflectors that lost all of their orange within a year up to the manufacturing decision makers, I said that they could *make more money* by spending the extra dollar for excellent non-fading orange dye, and charge $12.00 instead of $8.00, so long as we knew these things were guaranteed to maintain their color.
You told me at the time that you had no means to communicate with the manufacturers, that you were at the stone cold mercy of cargo shippers and that we were lucky that they even bothered to make our low volume parts.
At the time, I retired from our conversation somewhat wiser to the constraints that you have to battle under but all the more despairing of our new world's cynicism and indifference to quality.
Not necessarily the cargo shippers, Colin, so much as the manufacturers. For many of them these parts are merely an afterthought that they haven't bothered to discontinue yet but almost certainly will as soon as the molds or tooling break. The Indian side marker lenses are such an example. Another example is faucets for late Westy Buses with city water hookups. Over time the manufacturer's tolerances had slipped, causing them to be a tad too tall so that they would not always clear the cabinet lid without modification. I bugged and bugged the manufacturer to improve on the issue. Eventually he said that it had barely been worth bothering to churn them out at all given the dwindling demand over the years, and now knowing that they were no longer quite right he had decided to stop making them entirely rather than to put any further effort into them. From now on he would only make them if we ordered thousands at a time - an impossible number to sell. So my efforts backfired and now they're permanently gone. Now there are other cases where manufacturers are much more responsive (such as Koni, who now makes long-discontinued Bus shocks just for us), or I can find other sourcing (such as late Bus front turn signal lenses; found the OEM supplier in Brazil, much nicer than the Indian knockoff) or there are other solutions (such as Vanagon faucets, which we now own the tooling for so we control our own quality). And I also work closely with several European suppliers who have close ties with Volkswagen and/or Westfalia and can sometimes exert influence that nobody Stateside can do. So it is not always the case that nothing can be done - it varies tremendously from vendor to vendor. My point is, don't assume that when better quality can't be had it isn't for lack of caring or trying. (As an aside, one thing that may change this situation over the long haul is 3D printing. Over time that may make it possible to produce better quality parts in low volume. The day isn't here yet but there is promise for the future. )
The "rebuilt" distributor I received had numerous little dabs of yellow paint applied to it... Seems rather unlikely a core return would have any such things
Kreemoweet, you were the one who said in your previous post that "maybe they sent someone's core return by mistake." Now you contradict yourself. (Not that I'm saying that's what happened; I don't know.)
Brand new distributors of similar or identical design can readily be had today for $75.00 up. There is no evidence I'm aware of that these are of inadequte quality. The last new distributor I bought 6 years ago was a Mexican Bosch, of excellent quality, for $160.
Please point me to a $75 brand new SVDA distributor that isn't no-name Chinese crap. I will be first in line to buy it! And the Mexican Bosch's have not been made in years. If they were, I'd be selling them.

Like I said, I can't speak directly to what Kreemoweet received at this late date. Maybe there are quality issues but if so they have not been reflected in return rate (which has so far been zero). I am not an engineer, I am a parts specialist. As such, my concern is not so much WHY a part fails as WHETHER it fails. I look at failure rates (both short and long term), as well as feedback from both customers and overseas retail partners. If a part uses mismatched washers or some such thing but it has no disernible impact on performance or failure rates, I don't much care (unless the item has cosmetic value, or is so pricey that you'd expect it to be nothing less than a work of art). But if it is unreliable or doesn't fit, then I don't want to sell it even if it looks perfect and costs a nickel. At that point I have to look at my options. Will the manufacturer be responsive or do they not care? Is there a better product available that I can simply switch to instead of working with the existing supplier? Was this a bad run or is it a long-term issue? These distributors are on my radar and if I learn of issues I will take them up with the manufacturer. In fact if Kreemoweet had sent us an email 7 months ago they'd have been on my radar for 7 months already.
- Ron Salmon
The Bus Depot, Inc.
www.busdepot.com

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hambone
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Re: Parts: Belatedly Discovered Junk

Post by hambone » Mon Dec 07, 2015 5:39 pm

He didn't file the paperwork in time, but in the end the part is junk. If a food critic eats a roach, he writes about it. It could have ended better, "I called them and they sent me a new one", but in the end that part shouldn't have been sent out to begin with.
I too work with vintage VWs as my livelihood, and the parts failure/non-fit rate is astounding. We are getting gun-shy out here in VW land, please have pity on our poor diminishing VW souls.
http://greencascadia.blogspot.com
http://pdxvolksfolks.blogspot.com
it balances on your head just like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine
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Amskeptic
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Re: Parts: Belatedly Discovered Junk

Post by Amskeptic » Sun Apr 17, 2016 2:16 pm

This is not a "junk" report, but a Buyer Beware.

Wanna congeal the wiring harness into a burnt blob and possibly burn up your beloved VW?

The type of fuses used in our air-cooled VWs were also used in BMW and Mercedes cars. Our VWs used only white 8amp and red 16amp fuses.

Today, on the Bus Depot website, I see a photograph of blue 25amp fuses being listed in the applicability drop-down menu for all VWs back to 1950. Why are they listed? Those 25amp fuses were for running big old a/c condensor fans.

Never but never exceed the allowable amperage fuses in stock wiring.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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hambone
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Re: Parts: Belatedly Discovered Junk

Post by hambone » Mon Apr 25, 2016 5:44 pm

Taiwan junk I'm sorry to say:
https://www.airheadparts.com/vintage-vw ... 1953513-gg
$83 and it doesn't work!
http://greencascadia.blogspot.com
http://pdxvolksfolks.blogspot.com
it balances on your head just like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine
your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat

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Amskeptic
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Re: Parts: Belatedly Discovered Junk

Post by Amskeptic » Mon Apr 25, 2016 7:25 pm

hambone wrote:Taiwan junk I'm sorry to say:
https://www.airheadparts.com/vintage-vw ... 1953513-gg
$83 and it doesn't work!
Can you tell us how it does not work,
was the failure discernible to the eye,
has the vendor been responsive, etc?
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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hambone
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Re: Parts: Belatedly Discovered Junk

Post by hambone » Tue Apr 26, 2016 10:49 am

Shoddy, high beam contacts misaligned, not assembled squarely at lever so fiberboard doesn't engage with copper contacts. Unable to bend it due to flimsy construction.
Vendor is taking the part back. "Lifetime warranty"....
http://greencascadia.blogspot.com
http://pdxvolksfolks.blogspot.com
it balances on your head just like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine
your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat

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Amskeptic
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Re: Parts: Belatedly Discovered Junk

Post by Amskeptic » Tue Apr 26, 2016 8:31 pm

hambone wrote:Shoddy, high beam contacts misaligned, not assembled squarely at lever so fiberboard doesn't engage with copper contacts. Unable to bend it due to flimsy construction.
Vendor is taking the part back. "Lifetime warranty"....
Are you now in need of a switch? Get the used ones where and when you can.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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hambone
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Re: Parts: Belatedly Discovered Junk

Post by hambone » Wed Apr 27, 2016 11:39 am

I did find a used one, already installed.
http://greencascadia.blogspot.com
http://pdxvolksfolks.blogspot.com
it balances on your head just like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine
your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat

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hambone
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Re: Parts: Belatedly Discovered Junk

Post by hambone » Tue Jun 21, 2016 1:43 pm

Fast Fab billet aluminum distributor clamp.
1. the rock-hard anodizing must be removed at contact points. Had to use a grinder!
2. the clamp itself does not fit my type1 single port dual-relief Brazil case. It is too tall for the drive pinion to engage.
From Aircooled.net, I hope they take it back after all my grinding. But the instructions on the website say to do so.
http://vwparts.aircooled.net/Fast-Fab-D ... tclamp.htm
I fought this thing for 2 hours, and said screw it and installed the old one.
http://greencascadia.blogspot.com
http://pdxvolksfolks.blogspot.com
it balances on your head just like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine
your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat

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Amskeptic
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Re: Parts: Belatedly Discovered Junk

Post by Amskeptic » Wed Jun 22, 2016 6:56 am

hambone wrote:Fast Fab billet aluminum distributor clamp.
1. the rock-hard anodizing must be removed at contact points. Had to use a grinder!
2. the clamp itself does not fit my type1 single port dual-relief Brazil case. It is too tall for the drive pinion to engage.
From Aircooled.net, I hope they take it back after all my grinding. But the instructions on the website say to do so.
http://vwparts.aircooled.net/Fast-Fab-D ... tclamp.htm
I fought this thing for 2 hours, and said screw it and installed the old one.
Lawdy lawdy, billet fabricators have all opportunity to test-fit and do it right.
Colin :pukeright:
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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hambone
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Re: Parts: Belatedly Discovered Junk

Post by hambone » Wed Jun 22, 2016 3:06 pm

You could modify the distributor, file off those little tabs but that ain't right...
There is a drawing of a Beetle on the package too!
Those clamps are all over the place, and kinda expensive. What do they fit?
http://greencascadia.blogspot.com
http://pdxvolksfolks.blogspot.com
it balances on your head just like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine
your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat

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zabo
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Re: Parts: Belatedly Discovered Junk

Post by zabo » Tue Jul 31, 2018 11:00 am

Year and a half year old fog lights from bus depot.
Yellow film has peeled away from lenses- rust has appeared.
IMG_5568.JPG
IMG_5567.JPG
IMG_5566.JPG
60 beetle
78 bus

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Amskeptic
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Re: Parts: Belatedly Discovered Junk

Post by Amskeptic » Thu Aug 02, 2018 7:24 am

zabo wrote:
Tue Jul 31, 2018 11:00 am
Year and a half year old fog lights from bus depot.
Yellow film has peeled away from lenses- rust has appeared.

Ouch! yuck! What did Bus Depot say when you called them?
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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zabo
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Re: Parts: Belatedly Discovered Junk

Post by zabo » Tue Aug 07, 2018 8:46 am

Amskeptic wrote:
Thu Aug 02, 2018 7:24 am
zabo wrote:
Tue Jul 31, 2018 11:00 am
Year and a half year old fog lights from bus depot.
Yellow film has peeled away from lenses- rust has appeared.

Ouch! yuck! What did Bus Depot say when you called them?
Colin
I emailed - no response
60 beetle
78 bus

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