If there is one thing that doing my first,,,

[Bill Rose]

I am well into the frame off resto of a 69 El Camino. It's been 3 years since I finished my Chevelle, and I've found that a lot of the restoration parts have been getting better. I think you have to know which parts would have the potential to be made poorly, when you start looking. Here's a few of the repro parts I've found to be well made. Most of the chassis parts, like brake/fuel lines, control arm bushings, body mounts, most of the bolts, brake parts (front/rear) All the front end parts like ball joints, springs, tie rods, tires etc, are well made. All the engine parts were fine, like pistons, rods, cams, bearings, valves, etc. Then the interior parts from legendary are good. I but new springs in the seats and they were great.

The parts you have to stay away from are things like fenders, quarters, door skins, moldings, bumpers, etc. For these types of things, I found NOS parts. I drove 12 hours to get an nos door and door skin, just because I wouldn't use repro steel. Bottom line, I think a lot of the repro parts that I bought were good. You just have to know what is good and what is bad, and RETURN the crap thats no good, till the start to make it right. I also found the the US made parts are good and the Chinese stuff like fenders bumpers are junk.

Another big problem with the used/nos parts, is that some guys refuse to ship larger items. Too lazy to crate and ship? They shouldn't advertize them on the net. They may as well stick the ad in a local paper. I have no patience for them, and I won't deal with them. I only did the drive to get the door parts because I needed them to install the nos quarter.

[Nova Jed]

I'm sure a couple of other body men and do-it-yourselfers can chime in on this one as well. I have done a 69 Camaro, a 55 Bel-Air, a 71 Chevelle, and of course, a couple of Nova's. I don't think that there wasn't one panel that fit just right and I know a lot of people gripe about "bondo", but that's how you have to "make them fit". 80% of my 69 Camaro is repop sheetmetal and the doors were a full inch shorter then the originals. Now how does that happen if the supplier to Goodmark is using the right tooling? Didn't they ever check them against originals? And yes I had the quarters mated with the doors on in the original position. Atleast that is how I was taught to put quarters on. When I took the old door off and put the new one on, there was more then a half inch gap on the quarter side and the same at the fender.

The only stuff the fit well, on the repop side, was the stuff for the 55 and I bought all of that metal from CARS Inc. I have been finding out that the stuff for the Novas isn't all that bad. The Chevelle stuff, for me, had fit rather nicely! Go figure?

[kwhizz]

I bought a Repro Front Bumper for my 66 Chevelle Convert and when Installing it found out that the Bumper Bolt holes were not centered and the Bumper ....Ended up cutting and welding a set of repro bumper brackets with an offset to get the Bumper closer to center.........I have since found a GM Bumper which is now out for Chrome Plating ........Remember......It's the Hobbie's and "Our" Problem because we "Allow" this to happen.......Like James said.......A certification system to Rate this "Junk" would be great........As it is now, we can't even mention who makes and sells this Crap for Fear of Litigation (Lawyers)....They have us "Trained" well..........

Ken