Ignition: Standard Motor Products quality

[christophe]

Hi folks,
I did some routine maintenance on the Hawk last sunday.
Checking the Autolite Distributor, I noticed very fine (almost dust) aluminium shavings on the inside of the cap. They obviously came from the terminals.
I thought there might be a problem with the rotor and discovered that it has been assembled incorrectly. The brass segment is badly riveted as there is a tiny piece of plastic tucked under it. Therefore, it is not horizontal. Besides, the edges of the rotor look like if they were finished with a coarse grate.
These parts are less than a year old and have only seen a few hundred kilometers of use. To me, they are just of poor quality, but I'd like to get any opinions or any expériences about this. Is this the best we can hope from brand new parts nowadays?
Of course, if you have any ignition brand recommandations, I'd be glad to read them.
Nice day to all.

[kfnut]

I have found that NEW OLD STOCK parts are a better quality than the Chinese junk at the auto parts stores . I try to find parts at swap meets . There is usually a good supply of NOS ignition stuff available at swap meets . When you find them , stock up for future needs .

[jclary]

I have had similar experience with new sets of points. In the past, when buying a new set of points, your main concern was to install them and get the gap adjusted correctly. Now, you need to install them, and first make sure that they meet squarely when closed. If not, you have to bend them to close together before you can set the gap. As these parts get further out from newer electronic systems, I believe quality will continue to be suspect until the parts become unavailable. Looks like we are going to have to begin opening the boxes and make a thorough inspection before leaving the store.

[Bud]

Years ago, the top quality electrical parts came from either NAPA Echlin or Standard Motor Parts. Sadly, their quality in recent years has dropped as the parts are being made somewhere other than the United States, usually China or Mexico. I've been scrounging swap meets and Ebay years looking for decent NOS or NORS replacement electrical and ignition parts. Bud

[jackb]

Stock up @ York ! You may want to check your distributor for worn bushings and shaft "wobble". Best seen on a guage, but just wiggle it some: any real movement and your rotor will wobble off center and create pre-mature wear...

[christophe]

Thanks for all your comments. That's what I was thinking. From now on, I'll try to get only NOS or NORS parts.
John, I also discovered recently that a new set of points could need a little tweaking before use. It was the first time I did this in +30 years.
Jack, my distributor has already been refurbished, thanks to Dave Thibeault. I'd love to go to York, especially as this is the last year, but this would be a very long trip.
I sincerely miss the old times, when fitting a new part meant fitting a good one.

[jnormanh]

Standard Motor Products has been in business since 1919 and manufactures it's parts under many brand names.

http://www.smpcorp.com/en/

I believe all their products were made in the USA until 1995 when they began some manufacturing some parts in China. They still do much manufacturing in the USA and employ abt 3500 people.

Their largest plant is just down the road from me in Greenville, SC.

The Greenville plant is ISO certified and produces top quality products. The Chinese stuff...I dunno'.

[karterfred88]

I'm surprised you had a problem with their parts. I have several sets of points etc. from them that are obviously of better quality than the NOS items they replaced by a large margin. Of course when and where it came from may be different, as you are in Europe, not the US.

[Warren Webb]

Years ago (15+) a good friend locally that's also a master mechanic with his own shop referred to them as "Stranded Motor Parts"

[TWChamp]

I bought a condenser recently because it was the Standard brand, but when it came I was also disappointed by the poor quality.

Like most parts, they used to be good until they moved overseas.

[christophe]

I'm surprised you had a problem with their parts. I have several sets of points etc. from them that are obviously of better quality than the NOS items they replaced by a large margin. Of course when and where it came from may be different, as you are in Europe, not the US.

I ordered these parts from Rockauto's, so they came from the USA. So far, no luck to find these in Europe. As for the points, I got in my last shipment two AL5486P and was pleased to discover an integrated oïl wick (not shown on the picture) and ventilated contacts. Moreover, they required no alignement procedure. I still have to test them though.

[jclary]

Before we wander too far afield into the weeds on this topic, perhaps someone with appropriate communication skills should contact Standard Motor Parts and pass our concerns on to them. I don't have their e-mail or web site addresses, but most corporations have them. When I first got into the industrial supply business, I once penned a handwritten note to the owner of my company regarding a particular brand of tools we represented. He had his secretary clean up my spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors and passed it on to that corporation. This was before everybody had a computer or sell phone.

Within a week, there was a national recall, and a visit from our regional manufacturer's representative. That guy must have been subjected to a major hot seat for not alerting his bosses himself. He was very nice to me, but begged me to never write another letter like that without notifying him first.

Bottom line is...our little forum is kind of obscure in the scheme of the automotive world, but we need parts, and companies making them are generally wanting their customers to keep buying. If we mainly talk among ourselves and not the folks that need to know, things will stay the same or get worse.

[christophe]

Before we wander too far afield into the weeds on this topic, perhaps someone with appropriate communication skills should contact Standard Motor Parts and pass our concerns on to them. I don't have their e-mail or web site addresses, but most corporations have them. When I first got into the industrial supply business, I once penned a handwritten note to the owner of my company regarding a particular brand of tools we represented. He had his secretary clean up my spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors and passed it on to that corporation. This was before everybody had a computer or sell phone.

Within a week, there was a national recall, and a visit from our regional manufacturer's representative. That guy must have been subjected to a major hot seat for not alerting his bosses himself. He was very nice to me, but begged me to never write another letter like that without notifying him first.

Bottom line is...our little forum is kind of obscure in the scheme of the automotive world, but we need parts, and companies making them are generally wanting their customers to keep buying. If we mainly talk among ourselves and not the folks that need to know, things will stay the same or get worse.

Well said, John. I might do just that. But, before this, I wanted to know if I had just a case of bad luck or if my feelings were shared. Five years ago, I had a problem with a flexible brake line also ordered @ Rockauto's. They reimbursed me on the spot. But it's manufacturing date was 1997...

[JoeHall]

I agree with all the above regarding Standard brand ignition repro repair parts made outside CONUS versus NOS. Not only Standard but many manufacturers have their stuff made outside CONUS, then shipped back here for sale; usually there is a major difference in quality. It is even true for 1980s-1990s vintage stuff, i.e. GM parts for TBI. Most of the time, the box will say right on it, where it is manufactured, and usually not USA. When possible, I use NOS on everything Stude, and everything TBI too.

Another example, I can buy FelPro rear main seal for Stude at FLAPS, but it says right on the box, made in China. Not a good idea to use NOS rubber stuff though, as I found out the hard way recently.

[Skip Lackie]

Don't wish to pile on with criticism of Standard Motor Products, but I recently had problems with installing one of their Throttle Position Sensors on an 89 Camaro. I couldn't get the voltage to set within range, and mentioned it to a friend of mine who owns his own repair shop. He said he has had problems with Standard parts fitting correctly on GM vehicles, and recommended that I stick with Delco, which is what I usually use anyway. The Delco TPS (made in USA) fixed the problem.