Parts Quality May Not Be Job One

The issue that appears to be increasing surrounds the quality of the parts we receive for our cars. Whether it's a Stag, Spitfire, TR6 etc., we need to be vigilant about examining the replacement parts we use. This doesn't just mean engine and other mechanical parts, but body components as well. The only way we know if something is not right is to communicate the information to everyone. This "communication" can be during our monthly meetings, during our tech clinics, social events and of course the newsletter. Sometimes parts problems are rumor and really don't exist and other times they are substantiated by a lot of research, expert analysis and facts surrounding actual failures.

As you will see later on in this newsletter there was some extensive work done to try to get to the bottom of the failure of my newly rebuilt Stag motor. I certainly wasn't going to go through the expense of making it a habit to do this yearly. Because I have low self esteem, I thought that the failure may have been something I did wrong during the rebuild. If this was the case, then the burden is on me to fix things and the case to create another item to reinforce my low esteem. As it turned out, my confidence was increased and being an over achiever, allowed me to collect some extremely useful information that will only yield benefits for those affected (or afflicted).

Lets go back a couple of months to the fall body clinic. Many of you who attended had experienced marginal parts quality but may not have known it. While the parts in question were repair panels, it illustrates the point. Jack had purchased a couple of lower patch panels for his TR3 front fender. Now these panels were received from a large, well known and respected distributor. As you all saw, one of them was an 1/8" shorter (narrower) than the other, which required additional modifications to make it work. Certainly with a little welding and some additional time, we made it right but sometimes you don't have that luxury.

In a following article we see all these different timing chain variations. Do you have the ability to make your own chains? To modify them? To fix them? Go simpler than that. If there was a rash of bad condensers for your ignition. Do you have the ability to make your own? To modify them to make it work? To fix them? At that point we are at the mercy of what the distributor gives us, to a certain point. Since its electrical, you can't return it. We are fortunate in some cases that there is a wide variety of suppliers for many of these components. It may be a matter of finding who makes the best parts and who distributes them. The lucky ones would be the Spitfire and TR6 owners having a huge selection. In the case of some of the more rare models such as the Stag and others, we have a limited selection of both parts and who we can source them from.

Owning Triumphs for many years, I have purchased parts from numerous vendors. I can say that depending on what I need for the cars, I know what vendors I would get certain parts from and others I would steer clear from. Because of cheap quality of the repair panels (sheet metal) and fit that one vendor provides, I would never purchase those components from them. However most of there mechanical components are of reasonable quality and in stock so they would be sourced from there. There are other vendors who will stand by the parts they sell and will work with the customer on making sure what they are selling is right and will work with your car. Many offering warranty and free technical advice. Since we have a limited source of parts for the Stag, I was encouraged by a U.S. British parts supplier in working with myself and several other Stag gurus about the right parts and the quality of parts for the Stag. They were willing to ship us components for inspection and work with us to make sure the parts are good. Other vendors will tell you that there is nothing wrong with their parts, they've sold thousands and blame you for installing them wrong.

Price is an important consideration when purchasing parts but it should not be the sole factor in the decision. Whenever anything becomes a critical component in your car, going cheap is not the way to go. Your price comparisons should be made with components from the same manufacturer via different distributors. Just because Crappy British Parts Inc. has oil filters for $2 and Snappy British Parts has different ones for $4. Are they the same or is one correctly built or a piece of crap knockoff that wouldn't block a dirt clod.

This is where being a part of a club like ISOA and part of larger organizations like VTR (Vintage Triumph Register), 6-Pack, TSR (Triumph Stag Register) and others is important. Collectively there is a lot of information and technical know-how among literally thousands of members. Recommended vendors are suppliers we actually trust. The club does get the word out about who's doing good and who's not doing so good. We've been doing that with local places such as machine shops, upholstery, electrical rebuilds etc. So take heed when replacing parts and who you buy them from, you may be supporting the very hand that may slap you up side the head someday when a catastrophic failure occurs.

Joe "Stagmeister" Pawlak
February 12, 2000

ISOA and Snic-Braaapp is fortunate to have the newsletter be self-sustaining by your dues alone. We do not take ads (except classifieds) to supplement the costs of the publication. It would be awkward to be taking money from Crappy British Parts Inc. with their junkie oil filters or others with their substandard timing chains and tensioners. Editor.