35tac

It looks like my sources for reproduced items will be either OPG, Fusick and Year One. Anyone care to critique my choices with civility only please. Just trying to weigh strengths and weaknesses to share my business with for my 66 Cutlass vert. Looking forward to honest and valuable comments.
Thanks
Wayne

oldcutlass

You can find parts on here in the classifieds also. Any of those are good sources for body/interior/trim. Some things your better off going directly to the manufacturer, legendary interiors and one of the 3 main weather stripping companies. Most mechanical parts can be had at your local auto parts store, rockauto, or some of the performance places.

chip-powell

OPGI - Prices are higher here, but the fit has been absolutely perfect on everything that I have bought from them.
Fusick - Prices are better. Seems to have more selection on some items. They gouge you on the shipping though.
Year One - Never bought from them.
Rockauto - Surprisingly good quality on the parts. Don't buy here if you are trying to do a "perfect" restoration. But if you are looking for normal wear and tear type parts for a driver, they are pretty good.

davebw31

I would only deal with Fusick , In-line Tube, or The Parts Place. Even though OPG has dropped their prices recently they are still high. Year One is way to expensive and some parts they offer are replacement parts you can get at Auto Zone, NAPA, Rock Auto, or Carquest, and therefore are not the exact part.

costpenn

X1000 on this. Also, avoid Brothers Automotive at all costs!!

Indy_68_S

Don't forget Supercars Unlimited.

Great products. Great people.

http://www.supercarsunlimited.com/

davebw31

yep, forgot them. Supercars Unlimited engine paint is the best and so is their argent wheel paint. Also a good supplier of "Type O" parts!

Allan R

Wayne, you aren't the first one to have questions about where to buy. Gradually there are getting to be more available Olds reproduction parts that have good to very good quality. Click this link to a thread that discusses the question you have.

pogo69

I like inline tube. parts are accurate even fasteners, screws clips etc with correct head markings . Fusicks is ok but fasteners for example like inner fender well bolts are just generic just like at home depot.

Fusicks reproduction body/trim parts are pretty good

not much of a difference in mechanical parts between everybody that I have observed... (a starter is a starter from each)

opgi has quite a big inventory of stuff for all cars

Fusicks is pricey when it comes to shipping but quick

overall I like Inline tube for accuracy

I like supercars for all mechanical stuff

35tac

Allan and all. Thanks for the input. Didn't realize there are so many suppliers. I have already dealt with some including Fusick. Fusick is great but shipping is high.
Thanks
Wayne

costpenn

Be careful about Fusick's freight costs. If you are placing a large order that does not have truck freight items or things like molded underhood insulation pads, they are actually a pretty good deal. If you place an order with them larger than 500.00. the freight is a fixed price (I think 40.00 or 50.00) which percentage wise is way lower than what the other houses will charge.

Indy_68_S

Another fastener vendor is AMK Products.

https://www.amkproducts.com/

They have tons of correct style/finish/marking hardware.

They do have a min ($30 IIRC) order and the don't have Olds stuff listed, but I used a ton of their stuff for my chassis using the Chevelle parts lists as a starting point and then their catalog.

35tac

Shipping charge via FEDEX for 1.1 lb, 2X4X26 inch box to 44256 was $16.00. I thought was a bit much. Not complaining just saying.

Thanks
Wayne

jaunty75

Your sources of restoration items will be dozens, maybe hundreds, of vendors before it's all over. The one thing I've learned is SHOP AROUND. You can save big money on the identical item sold by different vendors.

Regarding Fusick, they're the bible in the old Oldsmobile hobby. Been around since the '70s, I think, and always, in my experience, provide excellent parts.

BUT, they're the company I love to hate. Their shipping costs and policies are, in my opinion, abominable. For two reasons.

1. They have a minimum order of $25.00. If you just want to buy, say, a "Rocket 350" air cleaner decal that costs $8.00, no dice. Get that order up to $25 or they won't look at you. Minimum shipping cost is $12, plus a mandatory $3.00 "Processing and Insurance Charge." So to get that Rocket 350 decal will require you to find another $17 in items to buy plus $15 in shipping/insurance. That's a lot of money for an $8 decal that weighs barely an ounce soaking wet.

2. Their shipping costs are based on value of the order, which has very little bearing on actual shipping costs. Shipping costs are primarily a function of weight and distance, not the value of the item shipped. Value can affect the cost of insurance on the item, but it's a small effect, and Fusick already tacks on a separate charge for insurance.


Remember, too, that many items, such as weatherstripping, are made by only a handful of manufacturers, so you'll find the exact same item at, for example, Rockauto, Fusick, NAPA, and Autozone, sometimes with the exact same part number, at widely different prices.

As an example, when I was looking to buy a bunch of parts for my '67 Delta 88 a couple of years ago, I kept a record of the prices from each of several vendors for the same item. For a door weatherstrip kit (two weatherstrips, one for each door), I found the following prices:

Fusick: $89.50
Autozone: $94.71
Metro Molded Parts: $107.20
Steele Rubber: $119.60
Rubber the Right Way: $97.98
Rockauto: $64.79
USA Parts Supply: $95.49
Carparts.com: $80.44


The thing that was interesting is that the part number was identical, "LM 21-I" for Autozone, Metro Molded, Rockauto, and Carparts.com, which says that all four are selling the exact same thing and that it's made by Metro Molded. Of course, I bought the weatherstrip from Rockauto, it came in Metro Molded packaging, so, yes, it was made by Metro Molded, and it fit and works fine.


Same thing for trunk weatherstripping:

Fusick: did not have one
Autozone: $23.29
Metro Molded: $23.80
Steele: $41.00
Rubber the Right Way: $20.24
Rockauto: $11.97
USA Parts Supply: $29.28
Carparts.com: $10.55

As was the case with the door weatherstrip, the trunk weatherstrip from Autozone, Metro Molded, Rockauto, and Carparts.com all had the exact same part number, "TK 46-18." I ended up buying from Rockauto even though Carparts.com was slightly cheaper because I was already buying several other items from Rockauto and could save money by combining shipping. Again the weatherstrip came in Metro Molded packaging and fit just fine. If I had looked only at the Steele Rubber website, I would have paid four times as much as I ended paying at Rockauto.


One other quick example is a hood insulation pad, and the experience provided another lesson in why it pays to shop around. I found it at three places:

Fusick: $49.50
Rubber the Right Way: $24.50
USA Parts Supply: $32.55

Different part number in each case, so who knows who the actual manufacturer is. But I went with Rubber the Right Way because it was the cheapest (half of Fusick's cost). The pad fit just fine, looks just fine, and Rubber the Right Way was the only one of the three that also included, at no extra charge, five clips to hold the pad in place. For the other two vendors, I would have had to pay an additional $1.50 or something like that per clip, so add another $7.50 on to the cost for each of them.


As I said, and I can't say it enough, look around, shop around, and pay attention to part numbers at the different vendors. They're often all selling the exact same thing at prices that can be very different.

tmaleck

My comment would be check the fasteners from Inline tube and Fusick. I think Inline is the actual vendor, but I bought three bolt kits for my engine/EFI project from Fusick and had some bad stuff. The lock washers for the motor mount bolts crushed and failed. Had I not needed to remove the mounts to get the engine in, I would not have known and probably had engine mount bolts fall out down the road.
I emailed Fusick to let them know and did not hear back. Other than that I have used Fusick and Parts Place quite a bit.
Tim

anthonyP

Year One used to be one of the best for restorations, but lately it seems they have been more interested in catering to those building a resto mod, pro touring, or pro street car.

zeeke

Things I order from Fusick seem to fit without modification and quality seems better.
Turned off by Brothers customer service. I get the impression there is no staff and he works out of his garage. I try not to order from them at all. Years ago I was able to get OEM parts from them but lately not so good. On one occasion I was charged double for a part I could have gotten down the block from my house. I assumed I was getting a better part but it was the same part made in India as AutoZone.
The Parts Place is the same. Send you parts that do not fit and them talk down to you when you question them. Plus they clog up ebay with all there generic junk which makes it undesirable to go that route.

Inline tube is spot on. It's as close to original I've seen.

Gardener Exhaust is also good.

Super Cars is OK.

Not much of a fan of year one or opgi

Very satisfied with Steele Rubber.

MDchanic

I would just note that there is a jerk in Oklahoma selling parts under the name "Millions and Billions" or some such thing, who has been written up for being very dishonest.

If you search this forum, there is a whole thread about him - watch out.

- Eric

Inline

I have so far dealt only with The Parts Place, since theyve had everything ive needed. Shipping prices have been fair to Finland, and fast.

Recently i received parts that werent correct even they list so ( door pull-strap end-caps), and provided them with pictures comparing what they sell to originals. They told me to send them back so they will refund them from me. And today Morning when paying bills i happily noticed that they indeed had refunded the parts i send back.
I give them 10/10.

Indy_68_S

ILT & TPP are both vendors for AMK. That doesn't mean ALL fasteners sold by ILT or TPP are AMK, but AMK lists these as 'dealers'. Don't know about Fusick. Although I have received parts from Fusick with ILT labels (& IIRC, vice-versa). There's a fair amount of cross-pollination with these companies.

I saved a good amount by compiling a list/order of fasteners & going direct thru AMK. I'm sure I'd have spent $100's more if I'd piecemealed it thru ILT/TPP/Fusick/whatever. All items looked high quality & correct. Example: Steering Gear Box to Frame bolt kit (3 bolt+3 washer): ILT = $19 / AMK = $12 / TPP = $24.

The only drawback was the research time for AMK. They have known Chevelle stuff kitted & listed. A lot of the chassis & Fisher body stuff translates to Olds, but Olds has subtle, and sometimes not so subtle, differences. I started working on an Olds specific list of AMK stuff, but discovered that scope of Chevy/Olds differences and yearly changes, combined with the fact that my '68 is NOT a good reference due to the odd-ness of the '68s, made it not worthwhile.

ignachuck

^^^ Jaunty's response nailed this discussion. I printed it for future reference.

DewChugr

I was surprised to see that rockauto sells body panels, Sherman and Goodmark. They also have clearance items for example 71 Cutlass. I think I posted on here a while back on how to find clearance items for different vehicles.

DewChugr

If you need frame repair washers don't buy the ones that are fifty bucks from opgi. Go to Fastenal or similar. These are the ones I bought for my 71. They show on the site for 90 cents, but I paid a little over 60 cents. I bought 14 not knowing how many I needed. They say 1-3/8" because that is the bolt size they fit. The ID is 1-1/2". In the back where there are two layers of frame that overlap we only ground out the top layer and these fit flush with the top layer when we sat them in the hole.

1-3/8" x 2.750" OD Low Carbon Plain Finish Steel SAE General Purpose Flat Washer.

Fastenal Part No. (SKU): 33101
UNSPSC : 31161807

ronskal

In the 5 short months of owning my 442 I have used in order I think: Oreilly's, Supercars Unlimited, Rock Auto, OPGI, Fusicks, for my car which I am not concerned about a 100% correct every little thing.

Point is cast a wide net and I can say good and some negative about all of them, but I will not trash any of them.

I needed and alternator when I got it home, Oreilly's tested it and said it was weak and had one on the shelf!- OK common GM stuff.
Then I went to Oreilly's made the guy guess what fuel pump I had and he said GM but not Chevy- had one in stock- about peed myself!

OPGI has great catalog you can hold in your hand but only buy stuff when they are doing specials.
Fusicks sent me the prettiest set of grills for my car, still needed some fitting to work but that's the hobby.
RA.com, great for what you don't want to go to Oreilly's for and beyond. Just got 4 KYB's in 2 days at a decent price.
Supercars- sent me good products, real good guy who is like us but making a living at it!

35tac

Thank you all for your input. It is appreciated. Part of an education.
Thanks
Wayne

deadeyejedi

ive used all three but had the best luck with fusick . i live within driving distance so i would go over and pick up the big stuff ,the small stuff i would order and have it in most cases the next day.theyre nice guys and they know oldsmobiles .