I have purchased three or four items as repros.

They all stink.The castings are not sharp, the paint stinks, the piece for the small gauge bezel for the seatbealt light is mickey mouse. The rear quarter interior panels are not vinyl covered yet they charge top dollar for these parts.

Now I am out the money for the repros and I will be shelling out more money for original parts. Do not mind the money so much but we really need to start rating repros. The catalogs say excellent or GM authorized. Bunk!

What is your experience with repros?

I just needed to vent!

I don't know for sure what repro parts you've bought or from where, but my experience with them has been good. In fact, I believe many are better than the originals, particularly vinyl parts and how they're trimmed. In my '78 I saw many original interior parts suffer from the typical quality control of the period...sloppy. The new stuff is much better.

I have made sure I've bought from reputable suppliers like Corvette Central, Eckler's, Mid-America and Corvette America.

I understand how you need to vent, but if you're experiencing such poor quality reproduction parts, the rest of us need to know what parts and what suppliers so everyone can avoid them. If they can't sell their shoddy merchandise, that is a way of getting the trash off the market.

Okay, let me offer some details that may help everyone.

The parts were purchased by my supplier from Ecklers and Paragon!

1. The first part is the rear storage compartment.
a. The trim around the doors has the screws in the
wrong place, the screws are a smaller diameter
and the screws are shorter.

b. The hole for the courtesy light switch is not
there and must be drilled out.
c. The hinge is stainless steel not the same color
as the interior as it should be.

d. The rivets that hold the hinge on are incorrect.

2. The small gauge bezel

a. The detail of the casting around the tuning and
volume letters is terrible and there is a lot
of flashing arond the letters making them
noticeably lacking in detail and depth.
b. The paint applcation shows lots of dirt on the
smooth lower portion around the radio opening.
c. The paint application on the inner sides looked
more like black primer than a finish coat. The
coverage was at best 25%
d. The seatbeat light and button provision is
unique for 69 - 71. Rather than mold in that
detail they epoxyed the metal piece that splits
the window in two. There is a noticeable gap
between the castng and metal bar glued in. There
is noticeable pitting in the metal bar glued in.
The metal bar was glued in crooked.

3. The rear quarter filler pieces

a. The pieces through at least 1972 were vinyl
over ABS plastic just like all the dash pieces.
The piece I have has no vinyl it is just a
molded plastic piece. I do not know about the
fit.

I guess what I would like to see is either better quality control or full disclosure. Meaning that the catalog should make it very clear where the repros differ from the originals so that we can all make a fully informed decisions.

All that having been said. I know I can be a bit picky, but I thought the sum of the problems was much greater that it should be.

I will be thinking twice and asking a lot more questions before I but repros over more expensive originals.

This site has been an incredible help in finding original pieces.

I hope this helps everyone!

You have a right to be picky...you paid good bucks for merchandise you expect to be right. You didn't buy from some fly-by-night vendor peddling flea market trash.

You should certainly let the vendors know you're unhappy and why. They have suppliers as well and if they know customers are unhappy, they should have recourse against their suppliers as well. If they won't make good on what you purchased from them in good faith, don't do business with them again. There are other suppliers willing to do business with you.

If no one complains about shoddy products, the vendors have no reason to stop selling them.

I would especially talk to Paragon, they hold themselves out as very correct and usually disclose parts that differ from original and how so.

I have found Paragon and Dr. Rebuild to have the best repro parts. Many others have replacement parts that differ significantly from the originals.

I usually try to find used original parts that can be refurbished but when I can't try the above 2 with reasonable success. I too have had problems with some other vendors especially with interior parts.

Beware the vendor who has 68-82 parts they are usually replacement rather than repro. During that 14 year period there were usually many changes in suppliers and materials. Look for the vendors who recognize the difference and so state in their catalogs.

Hello all,

I have to agree on repro parts. I have complained about the small gauge bezel to my supplier, and have tried others as well. They all come from the same manufacturer, I know this because I purchase 5-10 a month.

There are a number of things to watch for when you purchase the repro parts. If there are several available from the same source, choose the more expensive item. Most likely these are from Trim Parts, or are GM. The less expensive, and quite honestly more popular items are generally made in Asia or China. They are half the price and suitable for most customers.

If you are looking for NCRS/Bloomington standard items your best bet is to develop a relationship with a smaller parts company and let them know what you are looking for in quality. If you are shopping for the lowest price, especially on these older cars, you will get what you pay for.

Alex
Vette Specialties
http://www.vettespecialties.com

I just sent back 2 window cranks I purchased from Ecklers. The back spacing was no where near stock and the cranks wobbled when raising or lowering the window. I sent them back and am waiting to see how they respond. Rick