Parts
usually made by someone other than Nissan's known
suppliers; and usually not sold through Nissan's
system. Such parts were many times sold while the
parts were still available through Nissan for the
purpose of competing with Nissan. The company making
the part MAY have been an "OEM" supplier to Nissan.
The part may or may not meet the same specifications
as the part they made or was made for Nissan. Quality
wise it may be worse, the same or better than the
original "Nissan" part. I have seen bearings that are
"sort of" the same; but NOT the same.
Some
parts made by "OEMs" are still available through
Japanese suppliers and other international suppliers.
We include them in what we refer to as "AFTERMARKET"
parts.
The
aftermarket company may be a major automotive parts
manufacturer; or just a guy in his garage making up
parts. Neither the former or the latter has
necessarily any advantage over the other quality wise.
I have seen parts of superb quality coming out of the
smallest lowest key shop or individuals out there. I
have also seen complete garbage shipped from major
automotive suppliers that know better. There was a
great documentary shown on PBS about the many small
manufacturers in Japan in the day. Small "normal"
house; but a lathe or other tools in the basement with
the family turning out parts for MAJOR auto
manufacturers. Same thing goes for country of origin.
I've seen excellent parts from China and I also
watched a large vise from China break in half like a
wax candle in front of my eyes while a friend just
twirled the handle to close the vise with the vise
empty. Supposedly the current state of the art bearing
plant is in Turkey. Who would figure?
It
is extremely rare that I see an aftermarket part that
appears to exceed the Nissan part's quality; and many
times they do not even MATCH the original part's
quality. We have to look at each one individually to
see if it something we would use in our own car. An
aftermarket part may solve a cost problem; may solve
an availability problem; or it may be from a company
that just didn't manage to get the original contract
for the part; was an excellent manufacturer; and
CONTINUES to be so... Some of this we see in other
areas of manufacturing as well.
I
think it comes down to attention to detail, individual
work ethic, company morals, caliber of people doing
the work and capabilities of the plant. All of these
can change at any time; so it is a constant concern no
matter who the company is. It is the "global" economy
and hardly any "rules" these days resemble what my
memories of the late 1960s and auto parts were. When
the Japanese automotive industry exploded in 1973 and
again in 1979 it quickly made everything "better"
while in many aspects made the parts side of it
"worse". You just cannot say a part made in a small
village in Pakistan is by location better or worse
than one made in Texas. I tend to like OLD parts; as
these days you have to scratch around to find actual
"made in Japan" parts. A lot of Japanese companies
have also gone out of their own country like we do
here. Most of this applies to newer cars than the
roadster. Many of the European countries seem to be
holding much of their manufacturing in-country; or
maybe that was LAST WEEK!
...:-)
REPRODUCTION
"Reproduction"
or "Repro"
are parts which are typically made usually after the
original supplies (both Nissan and aftermarket) are
gone. They also may be produced to take advantage of
more modern less expensive production methods, or
because the "original" design or materials can be
improved in quality or economics of manufacture.
The
lines can be somewhat blurred. At times Nissan will
have a different manufacturer reproduce the part, in a
different format than it originally used. Is that a
"Nissan part" or an"OEM part" or an "Aftermarket Part"
if Nissan itself contracts for the new production? If
a repro part is manufactured while the originals are
still available is it a "repro" or an "aftermarket"
part?
So
none of this is cut and dried; we are just trying to
be as clear as possible with you as to what's what
with parts even if it all can seem a bit
confusing.
Some
reproduction parts are fantastic; as sometimes much
more effort along with current material and design
abilities go into the part. Some fall short of the
mark.
How
We Store and Ship Parts
Regardless
of source; once parts come into our active warehouse;
where parts are ready to be pulled for shipment; they
are typically stored under our own part numbers. These
shortened versions of Nissan's part numbers date back
to when our first computer system struggled to deal
with more than a 6 character number in the early 80s.
We started out using Nissan part numbers in the 70s
but soon realized their propensity to change part
numbers for no apparent reason was an extreme hassle
to deal with. We list them by our number; you order
them by our number and we pull them from the shelves
by our number. The Nissan number is irrelevant to us
as is the part number the manufacturer for Nissan
used. We examine each part before we tag it, bin it,
bag it or box it with our own part number and examine
it again before sale.
Current
gray Nissan boxes are manufactured from a cardboard
that appears to be from compressed dry sawdust; as
some boxes you cannot even pickup without them tearing
apart in your hands. The part may or may not still
come in a "Nissan" box; depending on the part and its
box's condition; that is the "Nissan" box holding the
Hitachi, Koito, Aampco, Niles, Nippondenso,
Mitsubishi, Tsubaki, KantoSeiki, Nachi, NSK, Koyo,
Hashimoto, NihonRadCo, Teikoku, Nabco, Tokico,
Nichira, Kyosan, Everwing, Torrington etc etc part
inside. :-) More often than not we toss the garbage
boxes.
Many
items we store in new clear plastic bags; over a
thousand different small parts are stored in plastic
bin drawers; and bagged upon sale. I'm not a big fan
of the poor excuse for boxes Nissan now uses; that
crumple or tear upon the slightest force. I don't feel
taping crappy boxes together a good use of my time.
The grey is ugly as well. I have a far greater
affinity for nice new heavy duty clear plastic. We
also pack the part for economical, safe travel to
you.
Gum
on my Shoe...
In
response to some questions a customer
asked...
I
laid out all the "how we store and ship parts" stuff
above as I've heard that an individual is insinuating
that we have shipped parts "described as Nissan"; but
because we may ship a part that doesn't have a crappy
Nissan box or Nissan bag that it is somehow no longer
a "Nissan" part. Does this mean that when Nissan
removes the Hitachi or Niles box the part came to them
in (which they usually do) the part is no longer a
quality part from Niles or Hitachi?
If
we list something as FROM Nissan it is FROM Nissan;
whether it comes in a nice old Nissan box; an ugly new
Nissan box; or clear plastic; or wrapped in lace and
cabbage leaves. In reality it is almost irrelevant; as
Nissan or any other car manufacturer make VERY few of
the parts that go into their vehicles. It is a
full-time job just designing; assembling; distributing
and selling their vehicles.
Nissan
specified parts are for the most part fantastic parts;
but we have seen Nissan parts that have to be reworked
to be even operational. It depends on how closely they
are watching their many thousand suppliers. If we can
get the genuine Nissan part we generally do; except in
some cases when we know that NO ONE is going to pay
the price. Sometimes we will offer an option; or
multiple options on a part; and it does not bother me
a bit to put "AFT"
or
"REPRO"
or
an extra bit of description so you know what's what.
This business has been going full tilt with hardly any
slowdowns for 42 years.
We
started this business because the "hobby" we started
in 1972 was out of control. We started it because we
liked the cars and the people and it sounded like fun
to go at it full time. We didn't start it to make
money or because we couldn't find any other job. Most
but not all of the people you will find in long time
car businesses were car enthusiasts long before their
business began and genuinely like people. We have been
playing with these cars for over forty years; we don't
have now and have never in the past had the time or
inclination for finding fault with other's work; I
wasn't raised that way. Ditto with misrepresenting
something; I wasn't taught that way and have never
understood the concept of doing such a thing and what
benefits you could derive from it. We all end up with
or own kind of ethics and once you lose
those...
Most
of the fellows I have met with; at Japanese, European
or American car businesses are really nice, open,
honest guys. Unfortunately there are always
exceptions; and I felt the need to answer the above
mentioned foolishness; no matter how baseless, moronic
and self serving the comments directed at me are. Life
is too short for such idiocy.
I
have also seen a few good decent fellows turn the
other direction after decades of running a business;
usually from sheer fatigue or the amount of hits their
armor has had to deflect from the less than nice
folks. This group is growing along with the internet;
(even with roadsterites) as people will put things in
an email and/or act in a way they never would on the
phone or in person. I'm getting better at turning a
deaf ear at them or rather a blind eye.
In
some respects I plan my eventual retirement around the
principle that if I'm still laughing; let's keep
going! I have a lot of nice contacts with people so
that allows me to patch any weak spots that are
showing in my "armor".
Up
until I began modifying the website to show EVERY new
part's source I only had a few things listed as from
Nissan; usually when I was ALSO selling an aftermarket
item; to distinguish each from the other. As time
allows we will be converting more pages to show this.
It's probably still close to 95% Nissan.
I
wish there WERE more quality sources of parts for
these cars. The automotive aftermarket as a whole has
pretty much ignored the car. When we find aftermarket
parts that meet our quality standards we will continue
to try to acquire and list them. One of the earliest
"OEM" purchases we made was buying the "obsolete"
stock of WorldParts before they were sold. We found
what we thought was our "lifetime" supply of Tokiko
shocks and Nichira exhaust components. That "lifetime"
supply evaporated in a couple of years as in the 70s
we were growing so fast. At another warehouse that was
on the verge of collapse or merging they had created
their inventory by acquiring about 300 fuel pumps for
EACH model of car. By the time we made a connection
with them they had about 30 510 and 240Z pumps; and
about 290 roadster pumps; the nice original
Kyosan-Denki pumps we were getting from Nissan. And
who that was working in the 70s can forget "Jap City"
in California where NISSAN BOXED PARTS WERE SOLD.
Nobody could figure how they were able to acquire them
and sell them for at least 50% less than Nissan
was.
I
guess you just have to look at the ethics and honesty
and motivations of the person or company selling the
parts.
Oh,
and in case anyone wants those junky Nissan boxes;
we'll be happy to throw the scraps or the flattened
boxes and put them in the same box if we can find some
in the building(s) still. May make the shipping box
bigger (which can means added shipping costs since the
carriers are now charging by size as well as weight)
and may delay the order. I like the new boxes as they
are great for starting up the woodstove.
Or
we can just do what we have done for over 42 years;
stock the parts you need and send the best quality
parts we can as quick as we can.
......tthanks;
Dann
