junkyard/o.e.m parts...or..aftermarket???

ive been building cars/hotrods/customs and retros,,for sum years,,,i in no way clame to know everything...but in my years ive come to love oem parts,,,and doner cars,,,,,doing the research to find the one that best fits is the hardst part sometimz,,,,, ive had and heard the horror stories about the fatman susp...and others,,,just a pole to see other opinions....

could be a cool thread and could help the diy builder,,,,,,and my next is weather to keep my stock 51merc susp. or clip it,,,

 

seeing some of the horror stories on here regarding some of the aftermarket parts has just reinforced my desire to use oem parts even further. I like the fact that the factory spent development time and money on something for both safety, and so they wouldn't have to warranty it out.

 

I used to think everything aftermarket was an "Upgrade"... Not so much anymore.
I like OEM stuff. If you do your homework you can get some great stuff. Junkyards are the best.

 

my high school auto mechanics teacher who was and old hot rodder and ex drag racer all ways said that manufacture parts were engineer much better than most after market.i all ways carried that with me 80% off what i use come from junk yards.when it comes to suspensions kits are my last resort,when possible subframe is my preference.my 2 cents

 

The more I work on cars, the more I like old parts.

 

I feel that a lot of the aftermarket stuff is not so much "engineered", but just designed by guys like us. And then built cheaply. There are exceptions, although rare.
When I built my Cadillac vitually everything came from a wrecking yard.
I also attempt to emulate the way things are done by the car manufacturers. A lot of questions on this board concern shakey builds where people don't follow the example of the manufacturer.
A lot of the aftermarket stuff seems to be of the "flavor of the month", where people just have to have a certain brand.
The neat thing about using wrecking yard parts is that there is a great deal of interchangeability over a large span of years and even if the part is not a direct "bolt on" a lot of the elements are the same.
I trust the OEM parts to not leave me stranded and if they do fail are more readily available.

~Alden

 

OEM...it's lasted a loooong time.... how long you been unning that aftermarket?.....metal was alot better back when....just ask a bodyman...

 

I use OEM parts because they were designed by engineers to last for years. My experience with aftermarket parts is ill-fitting, under/no engineering, no/little tech support. No one is going to convince me that some billet engine bracket will outlast or perform better than any OEM part plus I can find a part in a day not wait a week for it to arrive . my opinion.

 

Good thread, nice to know others think like i do. I remember a TV car show on ESPN, host Ted Jones. He said this car made his top ten pick, "because it had all the RIGHT stuff!" then he started to name all the aftermarket parts and manufactures. didn't say any thing about the car

 

You have to remember ,some, if not a great deal, of the parts we use ,are not made in the OEM world. A great many ,such as adapter motor mounts and trans. adapters have no direct replacement from OEM suppliers. When you really think about it's a much bigger list.

...............Jack

 

OEM parts all the way unless you can't find them
then you make them your self
and if all else fails, then & only then
buy aftermarket
just my 3.5 cents

 

True. Add to that they're not making any more of the OEM parts we want: they're not a renewable resource, to use the current term.

A lot of the OEM parts were designed with the OEMs' level of plant capitalization in mind, and with reason. It keeps the competition out. A direct copy made on a simpler, smaller basis is likely to be of inferior quality for that reason. I'm all for the aftermarket, and truth be told no friend of the OEMs; but the aftermarket should be designing with the techniques of manufacture it can use best in mind, not cut-price versions of large-scale methods.

 

I am a junkyard scrounger by necessity. I live by the adage that there is a relatively cheap and plentiful junkyard solution to most of the problems that I will ever encounter.

 

Junkyard for sure. Pretty much anything new is junk these days, even the brands that used to stand for quality are mostly just shit now.

 

just look for the D.O.T number.... if it says "for off road use only" RUN!!!!,,,lol

 

I have never even had a set of aftermarket valve covers the wouldn't leak. Makes me prety leary of the rest of the crap they churn out.

 

Ive just about quit using aftermarket and repop parts, 90% of the time they dont fit and sometimes you cant even modify them to fit... I love junk yard parts and NOS... but NOS is so darn expensive I typically stick to junkyards

 

For me its OEM or nothing. Most after market stuff is from China made by small children. The parts are inferior quality and don't fit. Once ordered Chicom 56 Chevy tail lights that were 1/4 inch shorter then the originals. Used a set of OEM's instead.

 

By the way I forgot to mention my favorite saying about aftermarket and repop parts...

Confucius say, Man who take '56 rick shaw to work knows nothing of a '56 chevy...

 

I subscribe to cadzook philosophy.thats where the true hotrodder roots are at.

 

A friend of mine,who has built lots of cars over the years,always using OEM or used parts decided to purchase aftermarket parts for his latest build.He bought all the brake and suspension parts from a well known vendor at a national event. He has been working for months trying to get the brakes to work properly.numerous calls to tech support,parts sent back and replaced etc.etc.. He is now planning on replacing the aftermarket parts with used junkyard stuff so he can get the car on the road this summer.

 

I used to work in an auto parts store and the stuff we sold for replacement even for the simplest items was so inferior to OEM that you would think they went out of their way to re-engineer it to be thinner and softer and lots of times made of plastic resin when the original was steel. Some things were just close enough to the right specifications so that you could make them work, but then, they would not last.
So yeah, original from a junkyard if you can find it. Much better quality steel.

 

I like using junkyard parts too. I like seeing cool parts mixed together in unique ways. Aftermarket parts have their place to be sure, and many are safer than ill fitted OEM parts.

One of my favorite aftermarket parts is the water pump riser for the SBC that uses the 6 cyp pump and allows the use of a mechanical fan centered on the radiator.

 

The "Fatman horror stories" were a long time ago. I am not aware that anything like that has happened in a VERY long time.

 

i do not use junk yard parts for my cars . every thing i put on my cars is previously loved auto parts

 

I use parts on my builds from all the sources mention here in this thread. You take a car part make it fit your application no matter if it's OEM, junkyard or after market. Most of the time you'll need to tweak the after market to fit, it's no different then making some OEM parts work or junkyard parts work. I've used Fatman's cross member in the past and they make quality parts. So, I see no validity in thread whatsoever.
CRUISER

 

x2.

 

My dad used to say if it's universal it wont fit anything quite like it should . But when it comes to building a hot rod how often is anything a simple bolt in swap.

 

What a waste of time. There are good and bad and everything in between OEM and aftermarket parts.You cant generalize anything on this earth.

 

A.)They were driven to the wreck.
B.)The Chinaman making that replacement part "can't see it from my house."
C.)One of my "neighbors/countryman" might've made the original?
Hard to beat factory parts?