I guarantee whoever packaged this didn’t know what it was used for, or they would have red-flagged it. It’s dangerous. The casting is so bad you can hardly recognize the company logo. Lucky for them.
However, most of the junk I have was either bought with an intended use that it wasn’t good enough for or included with better parts because someone was cleaning out their shed. I have a 350 Chevy four-bolt main block that is so corroded in the cylinders and lifter bores that I don’t think you could hone or bore it back to life. It came with a pair of power-pack cylinder heads that the valves are rusted solid in, and it’s become the perfect mock-up block. Sure, those plastic blocks are nice, but they cost money, where this junk was free with the purchase of two decent engines. Lately, I’ve been searching more for older, American made stuff that I can fix myself, rather than giving control and profit margin to China all the time. “Made in the USA”, it’s still written on some things, but it used to be written on a lot of things. Recently, I’ve been re-building old carburetors that I’ve had stored away in a greasy, smelly cardboard box for the better part of a decade. Most are early 1960’s vintage, all are made in the USA, and as many parts as I can purchase for them are made in North America as well. I only cut one corner on the entire project.
I got a really good deal on it, at first. I was doing an order for parts off of a company that I’ve dealt with before and also had trouble with before. I found that out afterwards, as they’ve changed their name twice, but the parent company remains the same. The parts were cast aluminum, no moving parts, and I’m talking cheap—Twenty-five percent of their closest competitor. My time is fairly affordable, so I figured I could save the seventy-five percent and just cut and polish the parts to show quality myself. There were two ignition coil covers and one fuel block. First impression: The coil covers don’t even look like they’re from the same mould. The fins are off, the bolt holes aren’t the same, and the same coil fits into each one at a different depth. Not a huge deal. I can fix that. What I needed for this project was the fuel distribution block. It is a chunk of aluminum that takes fuel from the pump and distributes it to multiple carburetors. All it has to do is hold gasoline at roughly seven psi. I first noticed it wasn’t square, wasn’t flat, and wasn’t threaded well. The inside was plugged with sandy black ash of some sort, and the finish was incredibly crude. I started sanding it flat, next thing I knew, more sand was coming out of the casting, pitted in deep. Only one side will be seen, so I switched to the other side. In under ten seconds, it started coming apart. Holes formed, and existing holes began surfacing on the bottom. I fished an LED inside, and the thing lit up like a starry night. I paid twenty-five percent of what I should have, and what I ended up with was a part that is useful for zero-percent of its intended use. It holds pens now. I reached out to both the vendor and the brand, which are one-in-the-same as far as I can tell, and neither got back to me. I also reached out to three companies with foundries in the USA, who all got back to me right away. Luckily they did not drown their pride in the Pacific Ocean like the other guys, and I will be getting the part I should have got in the first place, a part that can and will hold fuel pressure, not a part that will end up being a desk decoration.
Have a question or comment for Kelly? Post it at lmtimes.ca/kirk
