I'v been out of the loop for some years and back in the day...around 96-97 I had a 94 LT1. And with ownership, I had all the catalogs. Back then it was Ecklers, Zip and Mid America ......for the most part. So I wonder which if any (including others) have parts made in America? Or has the hobby went the way of Chinese replicas? It's not like I need much stuff, just the typical hard parts, brakes and the like. a couple other odds and ends. But I'd like to think American parts are still available.. Any direction to be pointed?

 

What does this have to do with the question?

You might want to look at Willcox or Paragon. I personally am a big fan of Willcox. Great prices and great customer service. They stand behind their products.

 

Hi D,
The vendor doesn't matter as much as the manufacturer or supplier.
The larger vendors may make, or have made, SOME parts, but for the main part are just distributors of other people's parts.
I guess the best way to proceed is to ask the vendor you're considering where the part is coming from. Lots of parts, both reproduction, and GM over the counter, are now made overseas.
You can often get a hint about a part's quality from the price. A good example is exterior door handles. You can find them for about $15, $40, and $65 each.
There are some good parts available but lots of really poor stuff too.
Regards,
Alan

 

Call them and ask.

 

I think it is a mix of all of them and none of them.

I do not believe that any one vendor rules out all foreign made parts. I believe they all sell foreign parts in one category or another. I also think that many of them make their own parts fiberglass i.e J&D corvette makes all their own fiberglass panels. I think they all sell a hand full of American made parts as well i.e brake pads that are US made can be found by almost any one of the vendors. So you have to take the good with the bad an accept that no one is makin or selling 100% US made parts. You can always ask before your purchase an most vendors if they do not have the US manufactured part in question can tell you where to find it.

I do agree with you that US made parts are the way to go for a number of reasons but when we want them we have to pay more for them and that is why we find sooo many parts cheaper from outside countries. I personally am a hypocrit b/c I save money where I can but believe the US parts are bar far the best way to go

 

At Paragon, we produce over 5000 parts, most of which are USA made. If a part that we have listed in our catalog is produced over seas, we label it as an "import" as this page of our catalog illustrates. https://www.paragoncorvette.com/corv...c3/#/33/zoomed
This is the case whether we produce it our another manufacture. Hope this helps!

 

Asking what ever vendor your buying from is a good start. But if a part is available from a good quality parts house locally i would do that regardless of a few dollars more. You can see the part in hand today before buying it and taking it home!

 

We don't manufacture 5000 parts but the parts we do make are made in the USA. All our carpets, door panels, seat covers, weatherstrip and so on are USA Made. But in contrast to that, many vendors do import parts and there is not an alternative.

I do like what Paragon has done with their website and should follow the lead on this.

Sometimes you don't know a part is imported... With GM sending switches to Mexico, Japan, India and other parts to other countries it is getting harder and harder to verify which part is imported and which isn't. Order a GM switch and find out it’s made overseas… so where do we draw the line?

For us, it’s become so difficult to stay away from the imported parts... there are items imported that you can not get from any other vendor. In the old days this wasn’t any issue and there were days when we would demand all inventory be 100 percent US made. This can’t be done in today’s market.

The key is stay away from the junk imported stuff and there is plenty of it in the field to be purchased. (Case and point would be the imported weatherstrips with the wrong ends or extruded and not molded). Whenever an issue from a part is discovered we will note the issue on the part if there is not an alternative. If there is an alternative then we will usually pull the part from the site.

IMHO,

Willcox

 

I've had only positive buying experiences from Paragon.

Ernie, you are tops in my book. From personal experience, Willcox offers the best customer service. I'm a proud , but I have nothing against well made foreign parts. I just hate poorly made, ill-fitting parts, whether American or foreign. You know what is junk. I like on your web page how you list different quality levels. You know I'm particular. I appreciated how you e-mailed me back a couple of times before shipping some poor parts so I could cancel.

All vendors, please don't sell junk without full disclosure. High returns. Disappointed customers. Only UPS ends up ahead with shipping both ways.

 

Nice topic!

DeWitt's makes all radiators, 100% USA made in Michigan.

www.dewitts.com
www.michiganbrazing.com

Thanks,
John

 

Thank you guys. I will certainly look forward to business with both of you. I suppose in the current labor climate, you just can't get away from offshore parts. But it's encouraging to know that the Lion's share are made right here.

 

Hmmm, it makes me wonder what vendor, when deciding that cast aluminum wheels can no longer be made in the USA, stipulated that 'MADE IN CHINA' be cast into their repo wheels instead of just placing on an adhesive label?

 

That would be Uncle Sam.