Poor Quality reproducion tail light housings

[Accelo]

I just received my reproduction tail light for my C10. All from the same vendor. CJ Pony Parts. The lens have a tab so they can't be installed upside down.
The housing is missing the hole for the tab. The only way the lens can be installed is if I cut off the tab from the lens. Decent parts otherwise. Just one small detail from being correct!
The housings were not that expensive but when it all said and done I don't have the screws to attach the lens either. All the parts had to be ordered separately as best as I could tell.
Poor gasket fit as you can see. There is a screw hole under the gasket.
Possibly it was my fault but a kit with both sides and all the parts would make life easier for everyone.

CJ Pony Parts.Customer service is none existent with 1.5 hour wait times. Last order ever for them.

[mr.mud1]

copy that.i tryed to buy some parts for my Mustang convertible from those people at CJ Pony parts,a Magnaflow resonator.i got nowhere with them and the attitude was terrible,buy it or move along type of thing,so i went elsewhere,to all the other guys who sell Mustang stuff,even to Magnaflow to buy it since CJ advertizes it as a Magnaflow piece.it is but evidently it's an exclusive part to CJ??nobody else can or does sell it,that i ever found,so i waited for a sale and hauled my horns in and had to buy it from them,but never again.it's a shame.

[ChevyRacefan]

The other side of this.
THE American Consumer ARE cheap.
If Vendors had a full staff to answer emails and phone calls, you would not buy from them, We as a Group have shown that we WILL buy from the vendor with the lowest price.
Then to top it off, the vendors that have to cut cost to be able to sell at that low price point, get put on blast on forums and social media.
You can claim otherwise all you want, but the same reason the mom/pop auto parts store with help that knew parts books inside and out, are no more, and why speed shops are long gone and summit/jegs are where 95% of those parts are sold through.
We have proven time and time again, that all we look at is price. Then if we need to get in contact with the vendor because of an issue, We are shocked , I tell ya, shocked that they don't have a full staff just waiting for our call. We caused this as a whole. To add staff that job was just answering emails and the phone, and Know the product, would require the parts prices go up 20%-40%. Vendors that undersell the vendor that has the staff, lose sales to the vendors that sell it cheaper, but have no staff to help you if need be. Putting the vendor that has the staff in a ruff spot. Either keep it the same way, and go under, or follow suit. and remove staff/payroll to be able to sell at the same lower price as the other vendor. As WE as a group, only see the price. nothing more.
We cause the problem, then complain about it. The AMERICAN way.

[DeadheadNM]

Vendors should want to know and be accountable for poorly designed, poorly fitting reproduction parts. Cheap imo is not supporting the efforts of this forum as a premium member while benefitting from the resources herein.

My suggestion to the OP would be to patronize the member vendors here and bump your subscription to support the community efforts of the board. Wes Hepp of Classic Heartbeat runs his business AND he answers the phone. Emails sent to GMC Paul are promptly answered. Mom and pop operations such as theirs and the customer service they provide are still to be had. The ability to post WTB ads on the parts board may get you good fitting, good quality OEM replacement pieces.

[mr.mud1]

hi,just a thought after reading what ChevyRaceFan had to say,he's right about folks buying what's cheap.i used to sell Chevy restoration and Performance stuff here and people would always cry about the price.there was a time, years ago,when i'd price stuff and in some cases,you still had a choice between repro and n.o.s on what there was left,99% of the time,the customer would go the cheapest way possible.i always bought the n.o.s for my projects,if i could find it and if you'd explain to a customer that it might be smarter to buy the factory stuff while you still could,they'd,in most cases,still buy repro,thinking i was only interested in making more money.that was not the case.i knew from experience that the factory parts were better.it's not cheap and it's alot of work hunting for the parts but much better in the end.so,he's right,we've bought cheap,the stuff that used to made in the states and canada,is gone in alot of cases.it's our fault.
however poor service is poor service.stick with the guys who do it right.

[custom10nut]

Buying parts is much like buying a vehicle, as “The salesman and price” will get you to buy the first one, but the Customer Service department will bring you back for the next.
Same goes for Parts Vendors.
We all agree that the quality of the Repro Parts are getting to be abysmal, which is why NOS and “Cleaned Up” original parts are so desirable.
One thing that irritates me is the “Hoarders” of these increasingly hard to find parts, only to put outlandish prices on them. They’re driving potential younger kids away, because it’s too expensive for their budget.

[MAC71Cheyenne]

Preference would be the local parts and shops but "we" have let most of them down. On the other side of that what most of us are needing to replace or repair is on a 50+ year old vehicle and the kid with purple hair scrolling his Facebook page doesn't know a horn ring from a doughnut.
Cheaper is usually just that...personally I have no problem paying more for a good product. The aggravation isn't worth it. You get what you pay for, most of the time...no matter who you deal with if you are reasonable with your request or question there is no excuse for poor customer service.
Jmho

[OL SKOOL]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Vendors should want to know and be accountable for poorly designed, poorly fitting reproduction parts. Cheap imo is not supporting the efforts of this forum as a premium member while benefitting from the resources herein.

My suggestion to the OP would be to patronize the member vendors here and bump your subscription to support the community efforts of the board. Wes Hepp of Classic Heartbeat runs his business AND he answers the phone. Emails sent to GMC Paul are promptly answered. Mom and pop operations such as theirs and the customer service they provide are still to be had. The ability to post WTB ads on the parts board may get you good fitting, good quality OEM replacement pieces.

Perfect! A lot of the parts are mfg by the same companies. The distributors have their say in what they sell and how they handle problems and complaints. Both Heartbeat and Gmc Pauls i have bought from and very happy with.The vendors board is a great place to start.

[Andy4639]

Well I been buying parts for over 40 years and it's a whole lot better now than back in the late 80's & 90's. I'm laughing here with my coffee in hand at this. Most of you have no idea what it took to build a truck 30 years ago. It's our fault the aftermarket is so sorry and expensive.

All of you are right and nothing is going to change it.

By the way the gasket has to be formed to the housing to fit when you put it together. If you have the old tail lights you should have the screws. It's not the vendor fault you didn't order them!

Oh and just to make it even worse you bought Chevy parts from a FORD parts place! CJ Pony Parts



Thanks for my laugh of the day guy's!

[Accelo]

Thanks for all the replies.
Some of the customer service comments were disheartening. I have gotten great service from some. Remember it also took over an hour to call in an order. That's just bad business. I plan on using Wes Hepp of Classic Heartbeat. Thanks for the information. I tend to spread business around and pick out the good ones. Hope the thread keeps someone from purchasing from them.
I plan on checking out the online feed back by searching Google first. Will save some frustration.

[Lee H]

And lets not forget there are varying degrees of quality being put out. Before I buy something I try to figure out who the manufactuer is, I'll always skip on counterpa** and jump on OER as an example. I'll gladly spend the extra $$ for better quality.

[Davidf]

Hmm. Over the weekend, I finished repainting the bed of my truck. I also starting cleaning/restoring the parts that attach to the bed (tool box door being hardest...and I mean hard). Anyway, I was cleaning what I assume are my original taillight buckets. I can definativly say that the Guide bucket does not have a slot for the tab. It was my assumption that the tab prevented over compressing the gasket and uniform seating of the lens to the bucket. I know I have aftermarket lenses because I replaced them years ago.

So, the "guide" buckets do not have a slot.

[sick472]

Originally Posted by Davidf

....I can definativly say that the Guide bucket does not have a slot for the tab. It was my assumption that the tab prevented over compressing the gasket and uniform seating of the leans to the bucket. I know I have aftermarket lenses because I replaced them years ago.

So, the "guide" buckets do not have a slot.

Agreed! The aftermarket gaskets are a very thin wanna-be and do not work well with the original or after market lens'. I put about a 3/16 to 1/4" diameter string of rope caulk in the bucket first where the gasket would be sitting, then added the thin after market gasket, then the lens. The gasket had to be stretched some to work it around the screw holes. This allows for a tight seal and the after market gasket keeps the lens from sticking to the rope caulk.

Or you could just grind the tab off...then the lens will sit a bit further back in the bucket.

EDIT: BTW, I stopped using CJ Pony during a F@rd project several years ago due to all the above. GMC Pauls gets most of my money for my C10 project. You ever wonder why GMC Pauls does not carry ALL the parts LMC does? It's because many of those parts are junk. If your family owned outfits don't want to deal with the headache of bad parts...they don't sell them. The larger conglomerates sell them, but just don't make it east to return or get the money back.

[Rich72C10]

ditto on GMC Paul's. Is everything they sell perfect, nope - it is not like they are making this stuff. Though if a problem arises they are quick to respond and make good on whatever the problem was. They also 100% feedback to the vendor and get word back if corrections will be made (though it can take some time for re-stamping to occur). Paul Jr. will also reply here on the forums - I assume he gets wind of negative feedback and pops in with a reply.

I just wished I found them a lot sooner but live, learn, and adjust!

[MAC71Cheyenne]

The real deal. Still needs some cleaning.

[67ChevyRedneck]

I didn't know CJ's sells truck parts now (they were Mustang only for a long time.)

I have a 65 mustang and somewhat a regular on a vintage mustang forum, CJ's rep has gone down hill fast over the last couple of years. Their customer service is horrible.

One of the awesome things they did was for a lot of the Mustang parts they sell, they had a short youtube video on how to install that part (or a series of parts, like the guts of a door).

[Tomchev]

Andy your right I did mine 32 years ago no other parts available than a few from GM. Did a lot of hunting in the junk yard

[custom10nut]

28 years ago, when I bought my truck, I couldn’t afford to order from the Vendors. The one thing that I did was order catalog, and a few small parts from LMC. I used that catalog as a guide for what to look for in the Salvage yards.
It was a great help, and it was euphoric to find a sought after part in the back corner of an overgrown yard. Today, I look through catalogs like we all used to look at the JC Penney Christmas catalog, but I’ll more satisfaction going out and spending hours in a yard, only bring home a couple pieces of trim, or knobs, or good handles. I miss the huge old yards of 30 years ago.

[ChevyRacefan]

Originally Posted by Tomchev

Andy your right I did mine 32 years ago no other parts available than a few from GM. Did a lot of hunting in the junk yard

Owners of many different vehicles would kill to have 1/10th the parts availblity We enjoy.
Go price a late model vehicle tail light lens from the oem, then look at what the repopped venders get. No one would spend the cash
A late model hood is 1000+ , the 68 truck hood. 299-349
Some need a reality check. When they complain about quality and customer service or lack of it.
You need to remember before the housing bubble popping, much of this hobby was ,people taking out loans on their houses value to have or build their dream ride. Those days are gone, and many vendors can not afford the staff needed.
They make money to keep the lights on, moving product out the door, So that is job #1, replying to emails and phone calls take a backseat. A vendor with a small product line has it allot easier than vendors that have huge ones when they have to work around a smaller staff to get the work done.
Has no one here ever worked at a job, that they had to lay off part of the dept, and those left had to take on the work load?
Seems like it.

[DeadheadNM]

Last month I ordered a single decal from Classic Industries (Dec 3, 2020 https://www.classicindustries.com) a CA emissions window decal for a 350 motor (pn DC1228). Turned out the decal wasn’t manufactured to affix inside the glass like the OEM product. I called customer service and did not experience a lengthy wait. The customer rep I spoke with promptly refunded my credit card when I explained the issue and did not need to have the decal returned.

It’s a false narrative that larger suppliers can’t deliver good service.

[ChevyRacefan]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Last month I ordered a single decal from Classic Industries (Dec 3, 2020 https://www.classicindustries.com) a CA emissions window decal for a 350 motor (pn DC1228). Turned out the decal wasn’t manufactured to affix inside the glass like the OEM product. I called customer service and did not experience a lengthy wait. The customer rep I spoke with promptly refunded my credit card when I explained the issue and did not need to have the decal returned.

It’s a false narrative that larger suppliers can’t deliver good service.

Unlike the government, most businesses can't run in the red.
Well , any business that wants to stay in business.
You don't have to agree, but fact is, the income has to be more than the money going out. First thing to get cut is payroll.

[Davidf]

Seems this thread is getting hijacked somewhat. Back to the OP comments. The taillights lenses have tabs on top and bottom. Original comments makes it seem like there was only one tab to guide orientation. That is false. As stated, the tabs are to let the lens bottom out on the bucket so the gasket is not over compressed. It seems obvious which way is up, but if you need to know, two half circle notches shown in the photo above (post #1) are drain holes, so obviously they would be on the bottom.

[Accelo]

Davidf; You nailed it.

What I thought was incorrect. there are two tabs both top and bottom and they have nothing to do with alignment. I dug out my originals and this proved to me they indeed do not have matching holes. The issue is the gasket I was provided for the tail lights is about half the thickness it needs to be. I have added pictures of two gaskets. I admit one if for the front light but I believe the thickness is what matters and is backed up by a visual inspection of the old gasket. No way this works unless maybe one purchased two sets and glued them together. Pictures show the two different gaskets from two different companies. Also show up against the lens tab to highlight the discrepancies.
Just crap parts that would never keep water out per the original design.
However I stand by my suggestion, don't purchase from Pony parts!

[Old_Truck_Fan]

I had issues with the tail light gaskets I received from LMC. They were thin and didn't match the housing profile at all. It was almost like the hole gasket was offset inboard from the correct seal path. I ended up finding a much better seal from United Pacific.

https://upcarparts.com/lighting-head...et-truck-10480

They are thick and match the tail light housing (reproduction shown) perfectly. I'd suggest giving them a try.

[Andy4639]

Originally Posted by Old_Truck_Fan

I had issues with the tail light gaskets I received from LMC. They were thin and didn't match the housing profile at all. It was almost like the hole gasket was offset inboard from the correct seal path. I ended up finding a much better seal from United Pacific.

https://upcarparts.com/lighting-head...et-truck-10480

They are thick and match the tail light housing (reproduction shown) perfectly. I'd suggest giving them a try.

Those look much better sir!