Anyone have experience with this stuff? Is this a decent line or is it just offshore junk cashing in on the restoration hobby?
Most everything that is sold by Federal Mogul / Sealed Power these days is manufactured in India. Personally I would never use any of it intentionally.
Somewhere out there may be all the weird oversize-by-odd-amounts Genuine Ford Parts that we saw listed as “service with” items. Ring sets for .020 over, service replacement valves with oversize stems…
You’ve given me a kick in the pants to ask who sells real USA stuff. Manley may; India doesn’t bother me for some things (ring and pinions), but it’s important to many of us.
Everything that I use to rebuild engines is made in the USA. Mahle / Clevite makes the best bearings. Pistons come from Ross, Wiseco, Venolia, and scores of other USA based companies. Camshafts from Comp Cams, timing sets from Cloyes. Gaskets from Fel Pro. I can’t think of anything that I use that comes from outside US borders.
Re: Hard core drivetrain parts. Call the manufacturer and ask where the parts are made and the material is sourced from. The person on the other end of the line will tell you. If the answer is “overseas” you can bet it means China. If you don’t buy the part the next caller will.Bear in mind in this day and age parts are made all over the world.The person on the phone is going to get paid regardless.
A lot of inferior counterfeit parts have flooded the market for years. I’m not going to blame the Chinese and Indians for my problems or the world’s problems.It’s not a perfect world but you stand a better chance with parts from America, western Europe and the like. Again, bear in mind, just because something’s new in the box doesn’t mean it’s right.
Cougar is a Ford product, so underneath the nut and bolts are the same.It’s getting tough to find the good stuff.
“Made in USA” can be a misleading statement and it depends on what you consider in the production of a product to be considered “made in the USA”.
That aftermarket part might get final machining or assembly in the USA. But the materials and raw assemblies might come from another country. How many steel mills are actually left in the USA to produce the material needed? And offer that material cheap enough to produce an aftermarket product that you will purchase based on a competitive price. If 100% of the parts you use to rebuild a motor were 100% raw sourced and produced in the USA it would double the cost of an engine rebuild. Wish it wasn’t so… but that is the reality.
I agree with what you’re saying, but if you don’t have a healthy mistrust of offshore manufacturers you aren’t paying attention. I don’t really care that Bill had his repop opera lenses made in China, in fact I bought some. But when it comes to critical engine components, I’ll take made in USA. Could I still experience a failure? Sure, but it’s a lot less likely. The same reason I don’t buy my tools at Harbor Freight. And if the cost was that big an issue this is not the right hobby.
The reason many parts are made in China and elsewhere is because the US has become so unfriendly to manufacturing that you simply can’t make those parts here any more. When you do use an offshore factory you can go for the lowest price or you can pay for quality. Iphones are made in China and no one thinks they are poor quailty. Most companies go for the lowest cost and it ends there.
Nobody has asked me.
Yes Bill agree 100% Some engine valves have to go thru special processes for certain applications that can no longer be performed in the USA. Some engine valves we can make at a higher quality in another country. What I see at foreign manufacturing plants for quality depends a lot on the company and how they pay and retain the workers at the facility. if you have high worker turn over rate the quality will not be good. That goes for the USA as well.
The question was about Sealed Power engine parts. I would not want to insert any Chinesium or India made parts in any engine that I cared about. It’s a risk versus reward decision, not a cultural or geographical or political or emotional decision. If that piece of poo goes bad inside my engine I can’t justify all the hard work, money, and time that it would require to replace it.
It’s a totally different amount of labor, time and cost if a light lens has peeling chrome and gets replaced by a shiny one made in China that looks better.
Yes that was my point exactly.
Interesting points of view. Buy American if you can is my take on things.
Steven
The Indian parts I referred to are some Motive Gear ring and pinion sets. They’re serving me well, as have their Italian ones. But I’m with you, Royce, to be clear.
Used a Sealed Power Cam/Lifters and Springs when I rebuilt the FE in my F100, every thing was clean, used assembly lube when putting the motor together, primed the oiling system until I had oil flowing from all of the rocker arms, Lucas 10-40 with zinc plus Comp Cams break in lube with zinc.
Started the motor, had great oil pressure, ran it up to about 1500 rpm, after about 30 minutes started hearing a popping through the exhaust, shut it off let it cool down, started it again, heard a loud whack from the drivers side, shut it off, pulled the valve cover and cranked it over, the #6 exhaust was only opening 1/2 of what the others were. Cam was flat and lifter was destroyed.
Pulled the motor, stripped it, new re ring kit and a new comp cam 272H, new comp lifters and springs, same break in procedure, have had any issues since (with the cam/lifters), did fight a rear main leak for awhile, got that whipped.
I guess my message is stay away from Sealed Power components.