Counterfeit speed parts.......

I just received the latest issue of Hot Rod Magazine. There is a pretty good article in it about counterfeit speed equipment. Some of the fakes are very convincing. If a person were not real familiar with a particular item it is very easy to see how you could be duped.

As the article states buy from a reputable source. If it's too good (cheap) to be true it probably is.

 

Just sat down and was gonna read that issue

 

Use traditional pre-owned vintage speed equipment and you won't run that risk....

 

I couldn't agree with you more but some of the things that are being counterfeited are amazing. ARP bolts and studs for instance.

 

I can remember when Isky was running full page counterfeit ads in most the automotive mags.

 

High grade fasteners have always been a problem...easy stuff to run off overseas with junk steel and easy to stamp whatever you want. Aviation has been plagued with bad fasteners labeled as aerospace super duper, and allegedly some were traced and detected once on a space shuttle, before launch.
As Weasel points out, living in the past gives you a bunch of insurance, and on vintage stuff most of the things that are being reproduced now under the old names are visibly different so you can tell a 2002 Edelbrock from a 1952...

 

I am not sure you would call it counterfeit but Premier Fastener company sold the Supertanium name for fasteners to Lawson products a few years ago and Lawson is selling "Supertanium " fasteners .
Considering Lawson products were always mostly cheap junk, when I worked for Premier and the real Supertanium was top notch when produced by Premier one would wonder. Glad I still have a cabinet pretty well stocked with the "real Supertanium"!

 

So order direct from ARP....

 

What I took away from the article was to buy from known sources, not unknown internet sites. You get what you pay for certainly applies here. I was amazed how "real" the knock-offs looked.

 

I read the article too, Al tho it is up to the purchaser to REALLY check out the part (if its a great cheap deal it is most likely a fake) a lot was said about saving jobs here in the US,
Many of the speed part companies are out sourcing the manufacturing of their parts to save on labor costs.
If they made their parts HERE, and put MADE in AMERICA on them. Wouldn't that save
and create jobs here? and also help to keep the quality up?
The cost of new speed parts would be up some,BUT at least some jobs would be created here, and the QC would be better.
with all the "only buy AMERICAN" that shows up on here, shouldn't that mean off shore sourced too?

 

Did the article name what copied speed parts to look out for?

 

Lot of your cranks and rods are made in China and sold here under various labels by companies that boast "MADE IN AMERICA" for the parts they sell but it usually only pertains to some of what they sell and their ads are misleading.

 

MSD 6AL, Autometer shift-light tachometer and guages, and others that I can't recall. I'd suggest buying the magazine. It's an important article for racers and hot-rodders.

 

I buy my stuff at a local speed shop who is a WD or big name distributors , so I have no worries . I quit dealing with racing stuff on e pay after getting shafted on a parts some years ago . for safety related stuff I deal with someone that will back me up . if you cut costs your supplier is cutting corners . and ussually their the ones who distribute them types of goods
. the way I look at it if your cheap you deserved to get burned . there is a reason why racing products cost a lot , they design and test them to hold up to the abuse thats dished out at them and expected to hold up by the consumer . if you want name brand stuff expect name brand prices , if the price is cheap then something is up . manufacteurs often have a list of of there distributors and stores were to buy the stuff .

if you want cheap buy used stuff theres lots of it around , but like buying counterfeit stuff it might not work.

and just because it looks like it doesn't mean its the real thing .lots of stuff is made to look like the good stuff with a BULL seller saying its manufactuered as a side line .( heard that from a seller at a swap about procomp electrics and MSD which is Bullshit) MSD only sells MSD .

 

when it comes to cranks & rods, the price is the giveaway. I think you will spend at least 1k min for a US made crank, and around $700 for the cheap US rods

 

Back when I had a job selling heavy duty truck parts we often competed against parts that said "made in America" that were manufactured in South America and some said "Made in USA" Union of South Africa."

 

I thought that was made in Kenya.


Made in China doesn't always mean crap either, but it's super hit or miss with what you get even from one batch run to the next.

 

Yes, and I'm sure there are more that we are unaware of. Sure would be nice to have a reference of some sort to check out where something comes from and who manufacturers it. Wishful thinking I guess.

 

http://www.norcal1320.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1191201349

 

http://thecounterfeitreport.com/product/244/

 

you are correct sir, M.S.D. Only sells M.S.D. Products.

 

Yeah, that's when they started putting the I.D. "bracelets" on their camshafts. I've got a N.O.S. Cadillac 331 Isky cam with one.

 

i read that article. it amazes me that its profitable to counterfeit items that aren't super popular to most of the public. i always knew of the knockoff stuff like handbags, sneakers and the northface stuff, but i would imagine about 90 percent of the public has no idea what an msd box is.

 

I was selling some parts at a swap meet space at Spring Carlisle a few years ago. The folks in the stall next to me were selling Costa Del Mar sunglasses for ten bucks a pop. I knew they had to be knock-offs. Got to talking to one of the guys in the stall and he offers me a pair for two bucks! Anyway later in the day some plain-clothes types show and start flashing badges. Turns out they had three or four booths scattered about the grounds. Cops arrested them all, confiscated the sunglasses and hauled them away. Don't know if they were Feds or State Police or what.

 

I read that article and was amazed at the almost identical looks of the equipment. As they stated in the article (buy from a known reputable supplier). Fee Bay and Craigslist is a good way to be scammed. Cheap is not always cheap the damage an inferior roller rocker can cause will surely offset the money saved!

 

Where do you get the information that Lawson products were "cheapie junk" I used them for years and their bolts were the best I could find without going to aircraft specialty bolts.

I went back and did some research and it looks like Lawson bought the "supertitainium" name in about 1964/65 from what I read and those bolts evolved into the Lawson True Torque bolts that I used for years when I had them in the school shop where I taught.

I've never heard of Premier fasteners or the "Supertainium" bolts by the way.


One thing a guy can do to find the "good parts" is to call the manufacture and ask who sells their parts in your area. I did that all the time on industrial parts and quite often the trail led right back to one of my regular vendors.

 

Fwiw--- I talked to a very reputable reproduction importer at Pate a year ago. He told me that he imported large quantities of repo pieces and then graded/fit checked/ QC them. He said he then boxed the good stuff under his label and wholesaled the culls to other WD'S. I suspect lot's of things are manufactured with vendor owned tooling ,designs patents and trade marks then backdoored to wholesalers and importers. Just my paranoid thinking but I bet some of the counterfeits aren't.

 

I thought that Bowman carried the Supertainium.

 

China can make good stuff it's just that when American manufactures go to China they don't ask how good can you make it? They ask, How CHEAP can you make it? The don't give a shit about what goes in the landfill they're still making $$$!

 

I too have used Lawson Products, have their bolt bins in my shop,never had a problem with them, now the outfit that supplies ACE hardware I believe is Hildrabrand and they sell the lowest line of garbage they have at the local Ace's here.