Rant--Why I get pissed!

I know this isn't anything new--I've been doing this crap for 35 years--BUT---
Tonight ,after work, I get my new 56 Chevy battery hold-down kit from Eckler's.Great,I figure--nothing really going on tonight,besides--bolting this thing on is a 5 minute job.
Not exactly. First thing I notice is--it's a repackage from Danchuk. That's OK--good stuff.I set the hold-down on the battery and it's a little big--not bad,but still---big.I grab the hold-down bolts and put em in place--these things are WAY too long--I measured em:both bolts = 8 inchs long.And--they sent me 4-not just 2--and charged me. The biggest problem is:the threads don't go far enough down the bolt to tighten up!
So--get out the tap & die set--run threads furter down the bolts,then cut em down.I should tell you now--left and right bolts are different !
Now,I don't mind fabricating parts--do it all the time and home and at work. But something as simple as a couple of hold-down bolts shouldn't be too hard to repop--or is it just me?
The 5 minute job ended up being 1/2 hour with all the bullshit fitting / pissing / walking to the car(outside car--inside tools).And --I don't think the hold-down looks that great,but maybe It's just the mood I'm in right now.

 

Maybe your battery is the wrong size as the original..

 

maybe should have just gone to Vato-zone....

 

Battery sizes have been tweaked over the years here and there. A 1/4" here, an 1/8" there and ...

It is sad to see a mfgr. of note like Danchuk selling such merchandise.

 

I'm glad it takes more than this to piss me off.

JH

 

welcome to the wonderful world of aftermarket parts, i take into account that i have to modify them in some way....ALWAYS. that's why i try to use original parts (even chrome).

with aftermarket stuff there is no such thing as a 5 minute job .

 

The scariest thing ever is "no tools required for assembly"...Thats just code for get the big tool box and frustration level HIGH.

 

I have not bought one hold down kit that worked. I've had so much fun with the Dennis Carpenter reproduction parts for '49-51 Ford it's hard to contain myself. I'll keep it to 3, there are dozens. I usually just LOL when I see '49-51 Ford and "Made in China" on the same package. I own a '49 and have owned a '50. There are many, many differences between the two years. Few parts interchange.

- $40 Indian made repop hood pull cable snapped after about 10 pulls. That was 1.5 hours of quality time to get the mechanism to release. - had to jack up the front end.

- $80 '49-51 Vent window seal was a joke. It had to be extensively modified and still doesn't fit properly. '49s are very different from 50-51.

- Chinese headlight rings are so flimsy and too short they don't even cover the gasket on the bucket. I put these back in the bag and put my old ones on until I can find good originals.

It least I know now why a couple of friends of mine part out cars and restore the clips, fasteners, brackets and all the little pieces from an original car. Other than the rubber pieces and a few select parts, the reproduction parts are are never as good as the original. I'm no restorer, but they're not even close.

I'm willing to bet they know they don't fit. When I complained about my vent windows, they admitted they might need to be "tweaked". Bullshit, I had to cut and fit them and they still don't fit right.

 

First time i've heard it called that. Of course i'm not too far south either.

 

Whenever you see things like "no tools required", or "easy to assemble", "it's simple and easy", you might as well go into it knowing you're fucked lol. Cus plain and simple, it is by far NOT easy at all, and you end up using all of your tools on it lol.

1shot

 

i thought that was "hot rodding".......taking a part that doesnt fit and adapting it to make it all beter.

 

Don't get me started on Dennis Carpenter. Adjusting fingers welded up on POS pressure plate. Never Again. Learned my lesson on after marker parts.

 

I put on a new set of rear springs from danchuk. The rearend locating pins were 1/2" further forward than the originals.

 

I hear where you're coming from. I recently ordered a dual master cylinder conversion kit for my '62 Biscayne that was a bit on the pricey side but I figured it was a well known "early Chevy Big Car" supplier and it'd be a nice kit. Man, was that a stretch from the truth! A shitty-looking, absolute gargantuan, Chinese master cylinder, STRAIGHT lengths of brake line (thanks for that one, really), and everything else in the box just reeked of poor quality. They won't get me again, that's a promise. I just ended up going to O'Reilly's and pieced together my own kit.

 

I never knew 56 chevy's used allen head bolts.

 

There's a lot of street rod parts companies out there selling over seas crap and they don't care if it fits or not because if you want to send it back they are going to hit you with a "restock" fee and you gotta pay for the shipping to get it back to them..what's up with that? I have bought stuff from a lot of vendors, I know who I can get good parts from and who sends you shit in a box and calls them parts.....lets just say that the feller in SC is full of shit and I will never buy anything from him again as long as I live!!!!

 

I used to work for Classic Chevy back in 89 and 90,it was great,like a kid in a candy store,most all of the parts that they sold for the Tri. 5s were made in the U.S.,good stuff,well they sold the business to Ecklers Corvette in Titusville Fla.and sadly like so many others there parts quality has suffered,not all of them ,but you have to watch what you buy,i,m fed up with Chink crap,Indian crap,etc.I either buy new old stock,refurbish what i have,or whatever i have to do to buy U.S.Its damn near impossible,but thats just me.Gerry

 

I've decided to get the gas tank out of the cab, and move the battery (non-venting type) in its place. I never liked the battery on the firewall idea.

 

Well said.

 

There is a saying " You may have to modify to fit your pertictular application" That seems to hold true for all after market parts. I think it's even printed on the packages they come in. I have not bought a part in the last 15 years I didn't have to fit my application. Getting pretty good at fitin the junk.

 

It's the same thing with aftermarket Harley stuff.......bolt on means your socket / wrench set needs to include at least a hack saw, drill, and a fairly good tap and die set.....maybe a grinder and hammer too.


It happens, and that's why we have tools.

 

In the end, its just a battery hold down. If anyone looks into your engine bay and says "man, that's one shitty battery hold down you have there" I think somehow it would be okay to punch them right in the neck or at least give them a titty twister. If you are really worried about it, take all the zany stickers of your battery. It will be less likely to attract eyes to your shitty battery hold down.

 

love the funn
i saw some pritty ugly ones like cyote ugly in my day but they all seemed to work i know we all have some pride in ower craft,s man ship so dont worry what others think

 

Ha Ha. That's the raddest shit I've heard in awhile. Good one.

 

Yep it's just you !! Cause I would have relocated the battery to the trunk and hand made a battery mount and hold down and never ordered that generic cheap repop shit in the first place. Then I would have got out my lawn chair along with a 12 pack and just sat and admired my crafty work for awhile !!! But that's just me >>>>.

 

I just use some old gum to hold mine down- can't even see it.

 

In my experience...bolt on parts...don't...

I'm all about the lawn chair, beer and admiration of crafty work.

 

I love the chinese parts they never fit hell I have half in wrench made in china wont fit a half inch bolt or a 13mm but I modified it and now you can at least open a beer with it now .

 

You have the optional side post/top post 56 Chevy battery. That was a pretty rare 1956 option. They should have known that you had the rare optional battery. Some suppliers just don't have the ESP that they should have.

 

I have that hold-down as well. The owner bought it along with a bunch of other shit. I never used it, it is still in the package. I didn't bother to delude myself that putting lipstick on a pig would make it nicer and put the battery elsewhere.