Pattern parts rant (split from MGB b8 thread)

[TerryG]

Quick admin tidy up.

It could be worse, you could have a land rover and be lumbered with britpart who even with an original pattern as well as hundreds of thousands of customers telling their parts don't fit and are lousy quality, they STILL get it wrong 9/10 times.

[3xpendable]

Yeah, its so frustrating. The question is how is someone in Britpart still in business? If 9/10 things are wrong is there no choice to buy from others?

[TerryG]

to be fair, if you are running a car on a really tight budget and don't mind some "adaptation" work, they are passable. Personally, I won't use their stuff any more as it is so poor (last lot of oil cooler hoses I purchased from them had the wrong thread on the unions, the set before that although "the same" were too short, fuel filter that split within 1 minute of turning the key, oil filters without thread cut, suspension bushes that lasted less than a year, headlamps bowels too small for the headlamps supplied with them (I cut the back off and they were fine), I could go on but won't spoil your thread with my rant.
There are several good alternatives if you don't mind spending a bit more

[Richard Moss]

Hunting around usually turns up OEM or even genuine parts in alternative packaging at much reduced prices. People like David Manners for jag etc.

[SirTainleyBarking]

Quick admin tidy up.

It could be worse, you could have a land rover and be lumbered with britpart who even with an original pattern as well as hundreds of thousands of customers telling their parts don't fit and are lousy quality, they STILL get it wrong 9/10 times.

You spelt that company wrong, but I suspect you were trying to be polite.
I avoid their products unless I have no other option

[TerryG]

I have to at least try to be polite and replacing the br with the more traditional sh would mean I would have had to ban myself...... I'm not sure how that would work.

[tractorman]

The problem is working out who makes the part when you are buying online (via that auction site or from a respected Land Rover firm's website). OK some do show the wrappers in the photo or list the manufacturer somewhere in the description, but I have a number of not-too-critical parts that turned out to be from Britpart. I had to sandblast a pair of lower seatbelt mounts on Sunday - they were brand new and plated, but were left in a plastic tub (from my Christmas "sweet fest") in the shed (reasonably dry) and were covered in surface rust when I got them out last week!

I try to buy good used stuff where I can - but that can be dangerous: a surprising number of people don't know what they are selling (or what machine it was made to fit!)

[JPB]

One item from Britpart that continues to provide a very good price vs reliability comparison is their electronic ignition system at around a tenner. Designed for 43 & 45 D distributors, these versatile units - the exact same ones as sold by S***n B*C at three times the price - can easily be adapted and modified successfully to work in 23/25Ds, in pairs in V8 distributors that you find in certain Rovers and Rolls-Royces, in place of the magneto in old bikes and in pretty much everything else.
I've dealt with over forty of these now and the only ones I ever see with faults are those fitted in the hot, cramped engine bay of a Reliant Robin. In those three cases, MM replaced the units by return of post and didn't want the old ones back. In anything more conventional with its engine up front rather than slap bang in the middle, the Britpart brand ignition systems last better and are more stable under test than anything else that's cheaper than a 123 distributor.
These devices cost 60p each from the factory in China and some car clubs have ordered the minimum quantity required to get that price.

My apologies for posting something that wasn't a rant.

[3xpendable]

Shame on you JPB!

Yes its very dificult, and as I'm at the stage of buying pipes and hoses etc I'm going to have to do some more research as to where I get them from. It certainly out of principle won't be MGB Hive

[mr rusty]

I had one fail a few weeks ago- it was on the metro, it went intermittent for some reason, traced by waggling the leads, probably a dry joint inside the unit. The old points set went back on and will probably stay on....more reliable!