From distributor to intake manifolds, your muscle car performance products are being made overseas. Should it matter to you?
Global economy, off-shoring, and free trade are all terms generating intense debate these days. While they seem to be the headaches of big auto manufacturers, dot-coms, and software companies, you might be surprised to learn that businesses in our own hobby are right in the mix of this economic evolution.
You need look no further than your own project car. More and more performance, restoration, and replacement parts are being produced in places like China, Mexico and the Phillipines. From bumpers to cylinder heads your project could contain just as many parts manufactured by foreign labor as those built by American workers. Is that necessarily a problem?
Bill Ford Jr. recently commented that is simply not realistic to manufacturer a new vehicle entirely in the United States. Various parts, from electronics to interior fabrics, must be sourced from overseas in order to take advantage of cheaper labor and materials pricing. This is often the only way a domestic company can produce the product the market wants at the price it is willing to bear.
The fact that American companies can source goods and services from all over the world is arguably the very definition of America’s free market economy. While we may dislike the idea of products once sourced within our own borders that are now being purchased overseas, we have to respect that this is indeed what capitalism is all about. In the short term the loss of American blue collar jobs seems to be a problem, however, many economists and sociologists surmise that in the long run the net impact on American jobs will be nill. Factory workers who are displaced will be inclined to learn new skills. Today’s iron worker may be tomorrow’s CAD designer. Clearly a new breed of “blue collar” worker will evolve.
Read the entire Editor’s Corner story Port Job and come back and tell us where you stand on this issue.
I can confirm as a former retailer of big name parts that there wasn’t any money in it. You guys did it to yourself. Just sell all the parts yourself if you don’t want anyone but Jegs and Summit to make money.
By Anananamouse. July 14th, 2008 at 9:10 pmi almost fell victim,yes victim,to the over seas performance products.i was interested in a distributor and a set of aluminon heads.when i saw the prices my jaw dropped and i got my credit card out.but i am not that easily sold, so i got on the high performance forums i am loyal to and got the real truth from the hundreds of people who bought these products and when i was finished reading the horror stories i knew there are two sides to every story.i will pay the extra dollars for the companies who have been around since cars were being raced and you all know who they are,they are household names.please do your home work,dont fall victim to these cheap imitations,it will end up costing you much more in the long run.it took decades of development to get to where the american companies can arguably say their products are the best,and will back them up.the overseas companies are trying to get rich overnight,the are praying on the uneducated people who dont do their research or they jump at the foolishly low price as i almost did.pay the extra few dollars and buy from the real pros,buy american,you will save big in the long run.
By jim gorman. January 1st, 2008 at 5:23 pmAs a consumer, show me why I should buy your product. Depends on what it is…If the ports are off on a set of heads, then screw the savings.But if they are functionally the same, then price is an issue. But don’t wave the flag at me if you laid off your American customer support staff to save you money, and your new tech support guy is Habib, from Pakistan.I have no sympathy for you.
By Butch. August 18th, 2007 at 10:52 amI read the whole article and just have to say that I bought a set of Pro Comp heads. I help out a local engine builder at night, where I also get my parts. We sat down and went through some catalogs and found these new heads, intakes and so on. He ordered 2 sets of heads 1 set complete and the other bare, 2 of each intake, and some new gaskets. At the time I was porting a set of victor jr. heads for a customer. When my heads came in, other than the casting was a bit rough in the bowl area, they looked almost same. The intakes where the same way. After I ported the new heads to match the Jr.s I had just done, they did look the same. I told you that to tell you this, if your looking for performance out of the box than over seas is not the place to look. If your going to be modifying the part your ordering as I was, give them a shot. I didn’t see any point in waisting my money to just hack up a good set of heads. I did however go with the performer rpm air gap intake instead of the Knock off.
By David Watts. April 26th, 2007 at 7:03 ami’m so glad i found this article.i almost ordered pro-craps heads off racingjunk.com.i really would love the cost savings but i really understand the whole cost of medical and other benefits of being an american worker.i feel i really need to support our companies that are willing to bare the cost of doing buisness here in this great country.My biggest issue now is that our country is run by people that have huge financial stakes in these other countries and they are legislating the american middle class worker out of excistance.my feeling is that their plan is to just own the stock in these foreign companies and sit back and relax in this country and collect the dividends.they know when the only thing left to purchase is foreign cheapies,the poor will still spend their money on this stuff.they can’t lose,no pensions to contribute to,no medical plans to pay for other than their own and all the other costs incured by having a working middle class.we are doomed
By mike c.. February 2nd, 2007 at 2:09 pmI can only say one thing guys ……THINK GLOBAL
Where is the shirt coming from you ‘re wearing
Their will always be cheaper countries for labour if its not
China …its India ……and Africa will come some day
My point is we can all be very patrioitic but the solution is to merge not to fight, because ostrich behaviour is the most stupid one can do and the buy american crap is exactly that attitude.
By Remco. January 6th, 2007 at 2:17 pmI work for a multi-million dollar manufacturing plant; Non Union; middle management. Take a wild guess how the company keeps costs down enough to stay competitive? We shop for less expensive materials that still meet quality needs & develope a product quickly & bring to market via very experienced employees. Unfortunately, the largest cost to a buisness is the labor & that is where the cuts often are made…. Remember when a man could single handedly buy a house, support a family with the wife, bought American made goods, & lived comfortably? We’re loosing the medium income jobs. Soon America will be just like Brazil…. The ultra wealthy, no middle class, & poor…… Keep buying more of that “off shore goods” people…..
Lastly, Tax broke gearhead is a dip stick.
By anthony dalrymple. October 24th, 2006 at 9:07 pmI took a chance and purchased parts that were made in China. They were ALL inferior parts and casting. I wasted my time and money on returned freight charges.
By Charles. October 24th, 2006 at 9:27 amI should have waited and bought the part I really wanted,which was American made. I will be Very Cautious in the future. It would be best and purchase the part that is credible. Beware of of the Imitator.
All i can say is although i live in Canada my money will be spent on USA products i recently had a prof products manifold brought in to our local speed shop to compare to the edelbrock airgap told the speed shop owner that i would be happy to pay extra for them to restock the pro prod offshore piece of junk the casting was terrible the whole piece looked like junk i happily reordered the edelbrock airgap and was more then ok paying the extra for a quality piece ….guess if you dont mind wearing fake junk on your or wifes fingers you might not mind WEARING fake crap on your car keep it real keep it from this side of the pond the job you save may be your own thanks for letting me vent R. White
By Rock White. October 23rd, 2006 at 2:39 pmWell,To tell you the truth from a true gearhead standpoit.I am very happy this is happining!And for good reason,Not but a few moments ago I was shopping for some used Edelbrock heads and came across the Procomp copies,I bought a set,I even knew that they were made in China When the website says made in australia.I Don’t really care,They will be going off to my machinist who will work them anyway.The funny thing is, He says that the Edelbrock heads are not very good as far as quality goes anyways, comparitivly speaking.Oh’ Don’t get me Wrong!If your Government was not so greedy with the taxes they charge me I would have bought a set of Canfield or better heads a long time age…So thank your greedy government! Well one more thing..I have been telling people for years that IT”S TIME TO THROUGH THE TEA OVERBOARD AGAIN!But sadly no one either cares or has the balls in the good Old U.S…..As Metallica says sad but true!…One if by land and a two aluminum heads by sea for me….LOL!!!!
By Tax broke gearhead!. April 18th, 2006 at 12:33 amyou can thank greedy corporate america and oil hungry bush for this mess!!! and that includes holley,edlbrook and so on. oh and don’t forget the greedy stock holders. everyday the so called american dream becomes a joke!!! sad. corporate america is helping other countries pick us apart. all because of greed!!!!
By PaulieB. April 9th, 2006 at 6:25 pmI believe it is up to the buyer to decide what to buy, provided the stuff he is buying is not forged or counterfit.. to give an example, I can either go for Panasonic or Pamasonic, Sony or Sunny, Rolex or Romex.. but the danger comes up when I buy A’pexi stamped AFR controller from eBay at half the price when it has absolutely no relationship with the original company A’pexi. On the other hand, most of the OEM parts we see in our cars are made in different countries like Canada, Mexico, Germany, (EU), Japan, Taiwan, China and perhaps more.. all in a single car. What’s the problem with that? None!
By Zak. March 17th, 2006 at 5:14 amWell all I have to say about this is NAFTA they all wanted it now they have it and nowthey are paying the price. They all wan’t their cake and to eat it to. If they wan’t to stop this they need to first stop this free trade B.S!!!. Just look at who’s doing most of the work now days it’s NOT the 10-20 dollar AMERICAN worker’s it’s the 5-7 dollar, NON ENGLISH SPEAKING workers, this has to stop or we all will be makeing less than the 20 dollar wage.
By Bill. March 15th, 2006 at 12:10 pmThere are several MAJOR problems with “offshore”
goods, PARTICULARLY from Communist China.
1) Quality Ranges from Poor to outright JUNK!
2) Trade imbalance. The US has a very hard time getting
the Red Chinese to purchase anything we export
(mostly grain)
3) GREED of big American Corporations.
Their SHORT-SIGHTED greed is DESTROYING
the American Economy. All that nonsense about
factory workers getting jobs in Computer high tech
is what it is,… NONSENSE!! Because greedy corporate big-wigs have also shipped the high tech computer jobs overseas also! (to India and eastern Europe)
I BUY ONLY American made products!
(Crower, Bary Grant, Trick-Flow to name a few )
Yes it costs more ..but think about it.. the dollars are
staying in this country. NOT going overseas to help
fund a two ocean Red Chinese Nuclear navy!
(They’ve got two Nimitz Class nuclear Aircraft carriers
now and they’ve laid the keel for two more. oh yea
they do buy a lot of scrap iron from the U.S. )
Lee Iococca once said …American workers need a decent wage. …People working at MacDonald’s can’t
afford to buy new cars !!
It’s the same with the aftermarket performance
industry… People earning mimimum wage or a few dollars abovce it really can’t afford to purchase high
quality parts.
The aftermarket industry must take steps to save itsself
from becoming import agents for the Red Chinese.
The industry must foster training programs for people
interested in becoming machinists, and manufacturing
“technicians”
The industry MUST get congress to introduce protective
tariff’s until the Red Chinese start paying their workers
salarys in line with American Workers.
The industry MUST insist on standards of Quality and
patent/copyright infringments.
Enthusiasts Magazines should do more basic do it yourself articles…not just buy a crate-motor and drop it
in. Perhaps sponser a seminar tour series on how to frabicate your own headers… How to improve suspension and handling..How to swap a motor… e.g. fabricate your own motor/transmission mounts.
Nothing wrong with the classic type rebuilds…
but how about more articles on converting a Ford
Taurus to rwd and drop in a 302 …. There’s a $h!t load
of Tauruses in the bone yard that can be had for little or
nothing. The same for 80’s vintage Merc’s, T’Birds
and Crown Vics… The same can be said for similar
GM & Chrysler vehicles.
C’mon all you folks in the trade and magazine business
can strart a trend. (You can create markets and demand thru innovative advertising)
I’ve rambled on enough …
Guy Rich
By Guy Rich. March 11th, 2006 at 11:22 amUntil the majority of consumers in America can bring home a paycheck to afford a comfortable life; they will be frugal in shopping for anything. If for example I only have $150 a month to play with involving a project vehicle build, the car is in terrible shape since it was in my price range, & I’m wanting to put an intake\carb combo on it. Am I going to wait 4 months & buy China manufacured goods or wait a year to afford American made goods? Im sorry, but the current situation will only get worse. I do not see it ever getting better until labor rates & raw material costs are equalized between all industrialized countries……
By Tony D.. March 8th, 2006 at 2:49 pmThanks for a most excellent unbiased article. You presented both sides and as a result you bring quiet a few out of the closet. The bottom line is the bottom line and the larger the bottom line the better. Right??? That seems to be the mindset of American capitalism. Should I buy the MSD box that contains ‘foreign manufactured components’? Or should I buy the foreign manufactured box which contains the ‘foreign manufactured components’ for half the cost if it functions the same?
By Retyler. March 7th, 2006 at 6:52 pmI guess the bottom line is the bottom line and my bottom line is just as important to me. I’ll try to shop for the level of quality I need at the price I can afford. Hopefully some of this new competion will benefit us all especially as more ‘feedback’ comes into play. “I’ll try it if Mikey will”.
Does anyone know if World Products casts their own blocks or are they Chinese or?
By OldTim. March 7th, 2006 at 11:14 amI thought I was buying American when I bought my FRPP Cobra intake only to find out that it was made in China. I got lucky in that my casting was pretty decent fit and finish wise but I’ve heard others have had problems with them. Overall quality seems to be better than the Typhoons I’ve seen. At any rate if I had known that I was purchacing a Chinese intake I might have reconcidered my choise… Although I do still shop at Walmart, heheh….
By Scott. March 4th, 2006 at 5:28 pmThis is a tough one =/.
My Mustangs going to cost me almost $30k to build. Unfortunately, we’re a one income family. I make decent money, but to give my family the lifestyle I think they deserve, takes a BIG chunk of it lol. Since I was a kid, I’ve been involved with old cars in one way or another, and the rebuilding of them. My builds have always been performance oriented…as in, the fastest I could possibly make them performance. That leaves me with a pretty large dilema. Build the Mustang, affordably, sourcing many of these Chinese parts, or add $10,000, and buy the parts I actually want =/. It’s hard to say what I’ll actually do. Probably a blend of the two. But when you can’t really afford a hobby that’s actually a real part of who you are…and someone provides a way for you to do so…well there you are. That’s not to mention high school and college kids, who are working on a tighter budget than even I am. We know what they’re going to buy (if they’re even building an American Car!). I enjoy my cars, both building them and driving them. This just adds another difficult decision, where before the only really difficult decision was which really really really expensive part to buy =/.
By Cris Anderson. March 2nd, 2006 at 12:15 pmMost rodders patriotism will vanish if they have to $1000 for an intake manifold. Buying American is a noble idea, but China is going to win the economic tug-o-war because they can do it cheaper and without the environmental concerns a U.S. company would have to deal with. Unfortunately, China will probably have a hell of a mess on its hand in the next 20-30 years as a result of their lax environmental policies.
As for quality of parts and manufacturing procedures, China is taking big steps toward dramatically improving their factories, as in the case of their latest pursuit…
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/02/17/asia/auto.php
By Ted. March 1st, 2006 at 7:33 pmwe’re losing good paying jobs by the thousands.communist china is the largest manufacturer in the world now.at some point,we won’t have jobs to buy their products.i urge all americans to buy american,support u.s. jobs and pay into our tax base.pay more and be proud and confident of a quality product.your children and grandchildren will be able to have a prosperous life too!
By a. warfel. March 1st, 2006 at 5:26 pmThe problem here is Corporate America and the Government enables this, they could care less about America’s blue collar Workers —Speed parts, almost anything is up for grabs– The new CEO training course goes like this — Develop it where people have brains to think out side the box, then manufacture it where they can work humans like robots, pay them as little as possible , make it their until they want a better life, and want pay increases, move again, leaving a gutted building and a hazordous waste dump behind. Where do we go from here when the average Chinese worker makes 100-300 dollars per month for 240-360 per month you do the math — In Vietnam they are working for 17 cents per hour, These are facts you can find on the internet –thats what free trade does for you. Free doesn’t mean Fair –
By Woody. February 28th, 2006 at 3:02 pmI always try to buy American. Sometimes that is not possible but mostly it is, at least with performance products for my Ford. The only exception is Scatt cranks which I believe are cast/forged in China or Taiwan and machined in the US, so at least some Americans are working. It is beyond economics, it is enlightend self interest. Unemployed Americans and a weak industrial base are not good for America and therefor not good for me.
By OldTim. February 28th, 2006 at 9:09 amHow about developing a compiled list of these knock of manufacturers/products and what to look for from those that are familiar with the items. I think that would help in the long run. So perhaps there could be an addition to the site where people can add their knowledge to share with others who are concerned with getting bad parts so they can double check and keep an eye out. If it starts at the consumer level there and grows there wouldn’t be a demand for those products any more.
By Cletus. February 27th, 2006 at 8:09 pmA few corrections regarding Jim’s post and Dyna-Batt -
The link to the site below has some unsubstantiated information, as the author indicates himself.
The Performance Distributors battery is $110, and they warranty it not the OEM. This is not unusual for any OE product that is labeled/branded by a reseller. This relabeling is also done with agreement from the OE manufacturer of the battery. Similar to Kragan or Sears battery’s being made by an OE like Interstate.
This isn’t really an ethical issue, nor is it related to the points in the “Port Job” article. We’re talking about remanufacturing a product without consent from the OEM.
Relabeling and rebranding are a different subject all together. Sure there is a profit motive, but consider that by doing this a company can also integrate the product into their product line. Performance Distributors, for instance, sells a battery bracket and cables for getting the Dyna-Batt in to your car…. the OEM could care less that you even want to put this in a race car. Hawker is also not marketing their battery to automotive enthusiasts, and may even prefer that other companies take this task on so that they are the front line for support and tech issues.
By Chirag. February 27th, 2006 at 11:02 amOne quick point about Performance Distributors. They sell a dry-cell battery labeled “Dyna-Batt”. It is 13 pounds and a great choice for light weight in a race car. They do not manufacture it. It is probably a Hawker Genesis G16EP that has been re-labeled. By removing the manufacturer’s label, the warranty is voided. And it is half the cost when bought under the original label. Summit is also relabeling these type of batteries and charging big markups. Many companies make decisions like this everyday that are all about the bottom line with no regard to ethics.
Read more about this issue-
http://www.stealth316.com/2-dynabatt.htm
Jim.
By Langley. February 27th, 2006 at 10:29 amThe company I work for manufactures ceramic brake
By Lawrence Devereux. February 27th, 2006 at 8:23 ampads. Although we didn’t invent the ceramic friction
concept, we did bring it to market in disc pad format
in the 1970’s. We spend considerable sums of money
in the R&D area to assure that we remain the industry
leader in both the OE and the Aftermarket sectors. We
own the 50+ brake dynos used to test our product.
We have a hugh staff of engineers committed to the
task at hand, from the initial design process all the
way to coming up with various friction formulas- which
are application specific. Our aftermarket competitors
in general don’t go to these lengths to bring product
to market. Overseas competitors definitely don’t go
through this effort, preferring not even to reverse-
engineer a product as complex as a disc pad. As long
as the box has the right look and says something
appropriate like “ceramic” pad, that’s about it. And
we’re our own worst enemy in the US because there
are no specifications of what constitutes a ceramic
pad- so the door is left wide open to the offshore.
Not really a comforting thought, when your’re talking
about something so critically safety-related as a disc
brake pad.
I think that one HUGE issue should be mentioned within this article. That being our two largest mailorder suplliers are the ones who primarily fueled the desire for these cheap imitations, Jegs and Summit. While most of us will steer from the notion to purchase a product made in Taiwan or China, I have seen numerous people gobble up parts that have a Jegs or Summit sticker attached to them. These are the same customers that will complain about these imitations when they walk in my store but will go home and order a Jegs or Summit labeled part and think they have purchased a superior product over these cheaper ones. They are not. At my store I offer these imitation parts and the brand name parts. I can make a huge margin on the copies whereas not so much on the name brands.Its totally up to the customer as to what he wants and to keep my doors open when faced with such giants as Jegs and Summit and the internet ,I have to allow my customers as many options as possible to make sure he doesnt walk out my door.
By Brad Adkins. February 27th, 2006 at 8:09 am