MGB Register Forum

May I please use this forum to have a rant, out of sheer frustration and exasperation...........
Why, oh why, do suppliers who claim to be 'the best' insist on supplying such poor quality parts for our cars yet charge such high prices for their 'service?
I decided that as the restoration of my car was 20 years ago and that there were some problems becoming evident I would do something about it. The main one was a continual drop in water level, so I bought a new radiator just over 1 year ago. Today I ran the car up and found - lo and behold - water leaking in the main core. The supplier was one of the main ones available to us - what do you think there answer is when they know it is JUST over 1 year old.........
The same thing happened just before that with a water pump. This failed just after a year had passed, when it started dripping from the main seal. Was anybody interested? I give you one guess....
Finally, I now have another problem. The brake master cylinder on my car started to lose fluid, so I renewed it last season. Today I have discovered that a 'sticking' on of the brakes is being caused by this component - which is just over 1 year old.
Unfortunately this is not a new problem, and I am sure many others will have suffered as I have. Some years ago I went mad and bought new seat coverings from a major supplier, which didn't fit..... To their credit, I returned them with my seats and they assembled/modified them to fit free of charge, but why did this have to happen?
I spent my working life supplying raw materials to car manufacturers and O.E. equipment suppliers. I took part in their drive for quality which results in the high reliability levels expected of new cars today. WHY do we have to buy inferior products when some proper statistical control by end suppliers could ultimately be used to bring about enhanced customer satisfaction from people such as us?

Jim, I understand your rant. I to have had many problems with faulty parts, especially when I had new engine installed supplied by a well know engine rebuilder, the coreplugs weeped and one blew out and I nearly lost the engine, and then it also had an oil leak from the front crank seal, and not just a minor drip as a lot of Bs have, but spraying out over the inner wings to the outer wings. I got the repairs done under warranty, but still have a small drip when I shut off, no it shouldn't happen!
I also had problems with oil cooler hoses and electronic distributor, with the engine problem, which was quite stressful time.
Have also had problem with starter motor, intermttant fault with solenoid on a unit just over a year old, but luckily my local MG shop replaced it foc. But I now always wonder what the quality is like when I buy a part and how long it may last, and tend to ask around which is the best recommended.

Your problems sound worse in some ways than mine.... They really shouldn't happen.
In effect I will now have had 3 radiators, 3 water pumps and 3 brake servo units in just over 3 years, and I doubt if I have covered 1,000 miles.
For good measure the thermostat on my electric fan also broke, but the replacement seems to be working o.k. at the moment
What an indictment on some of our suppliers.

I also thought I'd replaced the 15 year old ignition coil with a gold sports coil to compliment the new electronic distributor.
So I ordered one online, it came with no obvious damage to packing, but when opened found the coil casing to be dented, so told the supplier, and he sent me another foc and said not to bother sending the damaged one back, fair enough, but when that replacement came, on opening the packing, it to was dent damaged, so again contacted the supplier and he also replaced that foc and not to bother sending the damaged one back again. Fair enough, what a great service! I like this, although could have done without the small hassle, I think I'll go here for a new engine.
lol..
Why don't the suppliers check the condition of their stock? Anyway, I now have, including the old one, 3 spare coils, and they all work, having fired the car up with the damaged one's. At this rate I could open up a spares shop of my own!

Final straw - when I ordered the latest radiator I also asked for a new cap, to suit. It came, but when I happened to read the MG Workshop manual and I noticed that the stated pressure was 7 psi for my model.

What had I been sent - 10 psi, and yes, water poured out over the garage floor when I ran the engine up before | discovered it.

Fun and games - at least the car seems to be running o.k. when I took it for a run in the sun today.

Unfortunately this is not a new problem and it affects classic cars across all types, and models and it's not only mechanical parts but things like door seals, gaiters, bushes etc., etc. I think the problem is that most classic car owners also think they can get parts at 1950s, or 60s etc. prices, so the market is very price conscious. The manufacturers/suppliers then are under pressure to produce parts at a price the market is prepared to pay. Ignition parts are a great problem, and coils, points, condensers fail at around 2000 miles. A lot of owners though only do a couple of hundred miles a year so a failure once in 10 years is acceptable. But I (as I've mentioned elsewhere on this forum) done some long distance tours with a 1967 Mini Cooper, and covered almost 3000 miles in a week, so carrying spare ignition parts was essential. Out of 30 - 40 cars on the tour, 10 - 12 would have ignition failures. Some more than once!!!

You also need to be very careful when buying off our favourite auction site. You see for example a nice looking new old stock Lucas Sports Coil, standing next to a slightly dusty Lucas box, complete with an address 'Joseph Lucas Ltd, Great King Street, Birmingham.' But in the advert it states 'Box not included'! Now I wonder what they want with an old Lucas box? Incidentally, modern Lucas parts don't have the Birmingham address on the box, just simply 'Lucas Industries'.

Pete
You are quite correct aboutthe parts suppliers approach to the market for spares for 60s and 70s cars. It may have been the right approach 10 years ago but I feel it is no longer.

A good number of people want to fix the probelm (on their car) and fix it once and are quite prepared to pay for a decent product.

Take points for example, the cheap incorrectly made examples offered today to replace the the originals are not fit for purpose which is why many - me included - have opted for electronic ignition.

By the way the stuff seen everywhere today with Lucas packing is not made by Lucas - just someone who has brought the rights to use the Lucas packing - the Lucas we used to know just does not exist today.

A word of warning.........
As previously posted I have been experiencing problems with coolant retention in my MGB, so I went through a logical process of what I thought would be a good 'belt and braces' cure. This included a good flushing of the block, new radiator, cap, thermostat and new hoses as well as 2 water pumps (don't ask.........).
However, the radiator began to leak - just over 1 year old and past the warranty - so I tried a strong mix of RADWELD, and this seems to be holding it. However, the system continued to 'dump' water from the overflow hose despite the engine seeming to run perfectly, but nothing I could do would solve it.
Following the timeless tradition of "If all else fails, read the instructions" I read every book I could find, one of which showed a factory recommendation of a 7 p.s.i. radiator cap. My local factor has been around for years, and very kindly found an original Quinton Hazell unit which fitted perfectly, even though it was a different spring length to the 'new' 10 p.s.i. cap supplied with the replacement radiator just over 1 year ago. This had the effect of slowing but not stopping the loss, so I eventually swallowed my pride and spoke to a man who runs a workshop dealing in MG's. His answer was simple - apparently there has been a glut of defective radiators and caps on the market, noted for the fact that the dimensions of both the radiator neck and the cap itself are wrong, thus no effective seal is made to hold the water in place under normal working conditions.
Needless to say, I had one of these.............
To check this problem it has to be recognised that the rubber seal at the bottom of the cap spring must make full contact with the base of the radiator 'neck' before it is turned into the locked position. Mine simply didn't, hence water was just being pumped out like a waterfall, Simply holding the cap which came with the radiator against a correct original unit showed the difference - something I had never considered and would not have known unless my friend had told me.
I will give you one guess where my radiator and the offending cap came from in the first place.............

Why don't we name the bad (and good) suppliers? Then they would be more concerned for their reputations. We must be too polite, it certainly isn't libellous. One thing in e-bays favor is that you can rate the supplier (and buyer) although one must question the validity of some of the reviews.