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I think we just have to recognize that not everything made in China is junk. As long as there is some quality control, and as long as a company like ACDelco is putting their brand on it and thus staking their reputation on it, it will be a quality item. What else can we do? We need the parts, and if the only place they're made is China, we have to buy Chinese-made. Unless we find NOS, but we can't count on that.
I think that, for many parts, no matter what brand you buy, they'll all be made in China.
In the 1970s GM started to prosecute parts makers who were making knock-off parts in GM packaging.
They found that a few firms (all in Taiwan) were making the parts with better tolerance than their own plants. They licensed these manufacturers instead of prosecuting them.
Taiwan became too expensive and, unfortunately, mainland China doesn't have the quality (or ethical) traditions of Taiwan. GM parts from China can have major risk attached.
FYI - 5 years ago I purchased AC Delco brake drums and they are stamped MADE IN CHINA. I checked the runout and thickness, etc and they were dead on.
Therefore it's my "assumption" that major brands such as AC Delco maintain tight specs and quality control in order to protect their brand, so as far as quality, only, I'm not opposed to using them. As for non U.S. labor - I am of course opposed but what's a guy to do?
Almost every major brand is made in China, otherwise they could not compete. It's just so hard to tell whether the item is well made and worth the extra you pay for it or not.
When you check a Rockauto for brake pads there are more choices than I'm prepared to deal with. I still go with a well known brand even though it's made in a China. Like everything else I believe the AC Delco name brand was sold some years ago.
Jaunty, I assumed you posted this as "not favorable?" Whatever happens in china it can stay there. I don't want it on my vintage car, in my tool box, in my fridge, on my back or on my property if at all possible. Bring it back over here. We need to go back to work making things. Manufacturing is our backbone. The more we DONT buy the better. It will eventually send that message, though likely not in my lifetime. I'm all for global as long as I can have quality, longevity, and a few other choices. Nothing chinese says quality. I cant get a GD brake rotor to go a year before its junk. I will restore, re-core, re-line, re-chrome re... whatever to keep USA USA. Hopefully, the brake linings on the re-lines aren't china junk, lol...The glut of cheap chineasium in this country with no other choice turns my stomach. I'm anti-china for many reasons, political and economical...just in case, I was subtitle? I ferret out USA or Canada....when the option exists. Just sayin...
AC Delco oil filters and other parts have been manufactured outside the US for at least a decade now. This is when I switched to NAPA Gold/Wix filters - the "new" AC Delco filters had clearly degraded in quality with the switch. Had a similar wakeup call with the heater control valve on my 84 Custom Cruiser about that time. I had gone through three aftermarket valves that all went out after about 30-45 days. Paid dearly at the dealership for a factory replacement valve. Imagine my disappointment when the AC Delco box also said "Made in Mexico".
Jaunty, I assumed you posted this as "not favorable?" Whatever happens in china it can stay there. I don't want it on my vintage car, in my tool box, in my fridge, on my back or on my property if at all possible. Bring it back over here. We need to go back to work making things. Manufacturing is our backbone. The more we DONT buy the better. It will eventually send that message, though likely not in my lifetime. I'm all for global as long as I can have quality, longevity, and a few other choices. Nothing chinese says quality. I cant get a GD brake rotor to go a year before its junk. I will restore, re-core, re-line, re-chrome re... whatever to keep USA USA. Hopefully, the brake linings on the re-lines aren't china junk, lol...The glut of cheap chineasium in this country with no other choice turns my stomach. I'm anti-china for many reasons, political and economical...just in case, I was subtitle? I ferret out USA or Canada....when the option exists. Just sayin...
I totally agree with you. My point is once a major manufacturers decided to have his product made in China to save money, the damn broke. You will be hard pressed to find anything not made in China. At this point, I'm really trying to at least avoid food that's made in China. A friend of mine who used to investigate fraud sent me this:
ALWAYS READ THE LABELS ON THE FOODS YOU BUY--NO MATTER WHAT THE FRONT OF THE BOX OR PACKAGE SAYS,
TURN IT OVER AND READ THE BACK---CAREFULLY!
With all the food and pet products now coming from China , it is best to make sure you read label at the grocery store
and especially Walmart when buying food products.
Many products no longer show where they were made, only give where the distributor is loc ated.
It is important to read the bar code to track it's origin.
How to read Bar Codes .... interesting!
This may be useful to know when grocery shopping, if it's a concern to you.
GREAT WAY TO "BUY USA & CANADA " AND NOT FROM CHINA!!
The whole world is concerned about China-made "black hearted goods".
Can you differentiate which one is made in Taiwan or China ?
If the first 3 digits of the barcode are 690 691 or 692, the product is MADE IN CHINA.
471 is Made in Taiwan .
This is our right to know, but the government and related departments never educate the
public, therefore we have to RESCUE ourselves.
Nowadays, Chinese businessmen know that consumers do not prefer products "MADE IN CHINA",
so they don't show from which country it is made.
However, you may now refer to the barcode - remember if the first 3 digits are:
690-692 ... then it is MADE IN CHINA
00 - 09 ... USA & CANADA
30 - 37 FRANCE
40 - 44 GERMANY
471 ... Taiwan
49 ... JAPAN
50 ... UK
BUY USA & CANADIAN MADE by watching for "0" at the beginning of the number.
We need every boost we can get! Pass this on to everybody on your E-Mail Contact List!!
If the government won't help us, we MUST help ourselves.
Jaunty, I assumed you posted this as "not favorable?" Whatever happens in china it can stay there. I don't want it on my vintage car, in my tool box, in my fridge, on my back or on my property if at all possible. Bring it back over here. We need to go back to work making things. Manufacturing is our backbone. The more we DONT buy the better. It will eventually send that message, though likely not in my lifetime. I'm all for global as long as I can have quality, longevity, and a few other choices. Nothing chinese says quality. I cant get a GD brake rotor to go a year before its junk. I will restore, re-core, re-line, re-chrome re... whatever to keep USA USA. Hopefully, the brake linings on the re-lines aren't china junk, lol...The glut of cheap chineasium in this country with no other choice turns my stomach. I'm anti-china for many reasons, political and economical...just in case, I was subtitle? I ferret out USA or Canada....when the option exists. Just sayin...
This is why this forum needs a LIKE button! Well put.
And here I thought ac Delco was the best, politically I still don't get how we do business with countries that hate us and mock us like China. Thanks for this informative post.
I've shied away from AC Delco over the years and have had good luck with Raybestos for brake parts.
It so happens that I bought Raybestos brand brake drums for this car. They're made in....China. The main label doesn't indicate this, but the back side of the box does.
Originally Posted by joe_padavano
Raybestos, Wagner, and EIS (when you can find them) are all good quality brake parts. Not sure even those are all US-made anymore, unfortunately.
Funny you should mention Wanger. The brake shoes I ordered are Wagner. Made in China, and says so in three languages.
Originally Posted by RROLDSX
Bendix was a good brand at one time as well. I've been buying Centric but the jury is still out. So far so good.
Made in China, too. At least, the front brake rotors I just bought are made there. I ordered these from rockauto, and the site said Centric. What came is this CTek, which I presume is Centric.
Jaunty, I assumed you posted this as "not favorable?" Whatever happens in china it can stay there.
I'm not sure what you're getting all steamed at me for. I want to buy American made as much as anyone. But I'm also a realist, and I want to drive my car today, not at some nebulous, undefined point in the future when everything is manufactured in the U.S. again. My remaining life expectancy is not long enough for that to happen.
As I think my various label images have shown, it is pretty much impossible to avoid buying Chinese-made, commodity auto parts, especially for vintage cars. As was noted above by RROLDSX, the economics dictate this. There's not enough market for there to be too many manufacturers of these old parts, and those manufacturers that do exist can only stay in business by finding the cheapest labor. We don't like it, but there it is.
Originally Posted by RocketRonnie
And here I thought ac Delco was the best
There's no reason to assume that it isn't still the best. I'm no fan of China, but as I said at the beginning, just because something is made there doesn't automatically mean it's junk. And I presume that these brands like Raybestos and ACDelco want to protect the value of their brand name. Therefore, they're not likely to attach it to junk. So I don't think it's unreasonable to trust parts from these brands no matter where they're made. We all do it all the time, anyway, and we probably don't realize it.
I challenge anyone to find me a major brake part, front or rear, for my '78 Toronado that is not made in China. If you do, I'll go straight to that source and buy it.
Last edited by jaunty75; March 23rd, 2017 at 07:15 PM.
Well good for the Chinese people that our companies are giving them jobs. The cheap ba$$tards are probably paying them crap for wages and using cheap parts, metals, etc.,but the workers are making money. So the cheap ba$tards then bring it back here and sell it for premium prices, and who knows what quality it is... or isnt. Its not the Chinese people, its our cheap a$$ companies that dont want to pay American wages. Thus people her suffer for it. But if its all thats available, then thats what we must buy, or not drive our cars.
it's not really the cheap turds running the companies over here.it's the shareholders.they want to make money on their investments so the companies have to cut costs to raise profits.i have always said when a company goes public they turn to crap.
it's not really the cheap turds running the companies over here.it's the shareholders.they want to make money on their investments so the companies have to cut costs to raise profits.i have always said when a company goes public they turn to crap.
I call BS on that. It is the cheap turds that run the companies. these companies were public long before everything went to commie land. And they went there to exploit cheap labor, At one point in time the U.S. would not trade with a commie country, Now it's take the money and run and the hell with every thing else. It's a sorry state of affairs.
Jaunty75 your right in that "good" companys do prize their reputation. I'm a realist too. Chinese products to me and the people around me just goes synonymous with cheap. And cheap in a bad way. Ive heard in the past that their is two types of China. A part of China that gets regulated, and another part of China that is underground working with "bad" people using "bad material" (toxic ,weak, etc.) to make quick product to make a quick cheap buck. that so much shipping containers coming from China its easy.. I heard this on some documentary on youtube. My thought on it was that these "regulators" must suck or are in for the take..it sad.
shoot now I feel like that old commercial when they found out the sauce way made in Nuuu York Cityyy!!!!!!!
Last edited by RocketRonnie; March 23rd, 2017 at 11:26 PM.
I just ordered 8 new AC Delco R45S spark plugs from Jegs. I didn't think about where they were made, I just knew I didn't want to run NGKs, Nippendensos or Bosch. I suppose I could have bought Autolites. I learned that AC Delco manufactured aftermarket GM parts while Autolite manufactured aftermarket Ford parts. Anyways...
Sometimes I wish this site had upvoting and downvoting like Reddit, so the community-voted best posts are towards the top, but it's so much more interesting and informative to read everything that I'm glad it works the way it does.
Speaking of products not made in USA (or Canada), I about to the stage of body work (filler, etc). The filler that eveybody raves about is the Evercoat brand. But from what I find, it's made in China. Something about that just bugs me so much that I'm looking into other products.
Anyone here have a can they can physically look and verify or care to share thoughts?
Ordered a new master cylinder from Amazon, and it arrived today, Sunday, with still no shipping charge for Prime members. It's ACDelco brand, and guess where it was made.
The filler that eveybody raves about is the Evercoat brand. But from what I find, it's made in China. Something about that just bugs me so much that I'm looking into other products.
I wouldn't cut off my nose to spite my face. There must be a reason everyone raves about the brand. If it's a quality product producing quality results, use it.
Here's the "About Us" section from their website. Like many companies today, they're part of a large conglomerate, in this case one consisting of over 300 companies around the world. It is truly a global economy.
I think another reason for the overseas mfg. is release of liability for industrial waste. Have you seen some of the pictures of the polluted rivers and air over there? EPA regulations have strangled most businesses to death. Except oil companies they seem to have legislators in-check at all times. We've definitely been sold out.
I just ordered 8 new AC Delco R45S spark plugs from Jegs. I didn't think about where they were made, I just knew I didn't want to run NGKs, Nippendensos or Bosch. I suppose I could have bought Autolites. I learned that AC Delco manufactured aftermarket GM parts while Autolite manufactured aftermarket Ford parts. Anyways...
Pretty sure they are now both made in China. OK but not quite as good as a few years ago. I like NGK, the best for the Olds V8 in my books. And yes no rules for labor or the environment goes a long way with companies these days.
Last edited by olds 307 and 403; March 26th, 2017 at 05:04 PM.
I think another reason for the overseas mfg. is release of liability for industrial waste.
Definitely true. Didn't China tell citizens to stop driving a few weeks before the Beijing Olympics in 2008 so the industrial pollution wouldn't be as bad?
Sort of. They restricted driving to odd-even days of the calendar based on license plate digits. They also closed factories, stopped construction, and more. Beijing has lots of environmental problems due largely to their rapid modernization and huge population (20 million).
Speaking of industrial pollution. If you watch the specials on Arnold Schwarzenegger's Total Recall, you'll learn that some folks on the crew were treated for breathing problems when filming in Mexico City.
[QUOTE=jaunty75;1001817]I'm not sure what you're getting all steamed at me for.
Not steamed at you J, steamed a human greed. I'd buy the crap if it had some resemblance of quality. I'm steamed at the glut of cheap junk from a communist country filling our big and small box stores, online shopping companies even our food chain. Steamed that the USA has allowed this to happen. Steamed that our stupid population pays zero attention to what is happening nor cares...Steamed that I can't find high-quality anything anymore. Steamed that I have to replace consumable parts on my F250 and Jeep at an alarmingly short duration of time cuz I can't find quality parts anymore, and I'm willing to pay for it. Steamed that I can't get a GD TV, refrigerator, clothes washer or dehumidifier to last more than 5 years, no matter how much I pay for each, none of which are cheap to replace. Take the word durable out of durable goods. It has zero meaning and no longer applies. Let's call it consumable-disposable goods instead. I compare everything now to a Bic disposable razor. Meanwhile, the china coffers are filling to the point of bursting while we're out of work living under bridges. I'm all for the global economy. German, Swiss, Dutch, Canadian, Italian even japan etc... which all equates to quality. What happens once chinas coffers are full enough that they set their sights on world dominance (already happening)....history repeats its self as it has for melinium and were helping their cause. Not I, if at all humanly possible. Ya, so no, no chineasium junk will adorn my muscle cars. I digress and will continue to, though likely in vein...lol
Similar situation. Large city (over 20 million in the metro area), rapid industrialization, and it's made worse by the geography as Mexico City sits in a valley at high elevation (over 7000 feet) surrounded by mountains. So pollutants get trapped in the basin.
According to Wikipedia, though, things have changed a great deal in recent years. Total Recall was made in 1990, almost 30 years ago nw. Not that I'd call it a model of healthy air, but things are much better in Mexico City now than they were in 1990.
Ya, so no, no chineasium junk will adorn my muscle cars.
You wish.
I'd love it if I'm wrong, but I'll bet every person who frequents this website, including you, has at least one part on their old Oldsmobile that was made in China. It's simply unavoidable if we want to keep our cars on the road.
Last edited by jaunty75; March 27th, 2017 at 07:26 AM.
Pretty sure they are now both made in China. OK but not quite as good as a few years ago. I like NGK, the best for the Olds V8 in my books. And yes no rules for labor or the environment goes a long way with companies these days.
ngk?? I thought this was only for Japanese cars??
I dont have a problem with Mexico, they have been building chevy crate engines for years with success, and I guess China is winning me over by force. Looks like we have no choice.
Last edited by RocketRonnie; March 27th, 2017 at 08:29 AM.
I call BS on that. It is the cheap turds that run the companies. these companies were public long before everything went to commie land. And they went there to exploit cheap labor, At one point in time the U.S. would not trade with a commie country, Now it's take the money and run and the hell with every thing else. It's a sorry state of affairs.
Back in the day the companies were run on cheap labor, but it was home grown cheap labor.
Then standards of living rose and labor became more expensive, until it reached a point where it was cheaper to move the factories abroad than import cheap labor or pay high wages.
How many big corporations have anyone in a senior position passionate about the products it makes and not the bottom line?.
I'm not sure what you're getting all steamed at me for.
Not steamed at you J, steamed a human greed. I'd buy the crap if it had some resemblance of quality. I'm steamed at the glut of cheap junk from a communist country filling our big and small box stores, online shopping companies even our food chain. Steamed that the USA has allowed this to happen. Steamed that our stupid population pays zero attention to what is happening nor cares...Steamed that I can't find high-quality anything anymore. Steamed that I have to replace consumable parts on my F250 and Jeep at an alarmingly short duration of time cuz I can't find quality parts anymore, and I'm willing to pay for it. Steamed that I can't get a GD TV, refrigerator, clothes washer or dehumidifier to last more than 5 years, no matter how much I pay for each, none of which are cheap to replace. Take the word durable out of durable goods. It has zero meaning and no longer applies. Let's call it consumable-disposable goods instead. I compare everything now to a Bic disposable razor. Meanwhile, the china coffers are filling to the point of bursting while we're out of work living under bridges. I'm all for the global economy. German, Swiss, Dutch, Canadian, Italian even japan etc... which all equates to quality. What happens once chinas coffers are full enough that they set their sights on world dominance (already happening)....history repeats its self as it has for melinium and were helping their cause. Not I, if at all humanly possible. Ya, so no, no chineasium junk will adorn my muscle cars. I digress and will continue to, though likely in vein...lol
JUNK! Older is better. Mexico and Canada I don't have a problem with, well maybe a little with Mexico. But Chineasium turns my large intestine.
March 23rd, 2017, 02:38 PM
