A couple weeks ago, I bought a fuel pressure reg. at NAPA, and put it on the Chevy. It ran fine with three pounds of pressure; that is, until today. I finally got the speedo working in the Chevy again (third head, third gear), and took it downtown to fill the tank. Took it out for a test drive, and smelled gas...thinking I never smelled it so strong before after filling it up, and maybe spilling some. I pulled over, and the reg. was leaking gas from behind the dial something fierce. Yanked it out, and put in a longer piece of hose...it's going back to Napa Tuesday.

97 degrees here today, in the shade. I'd have been a bit more than peeved if the car had caught fire.

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phil


It's not a NOMAD, it's a Yeoman!

Phil,glad no serious damage was done......Bet them fellas at NAPA are gonna get thier ear bent tomorrow!! See Ya!!
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Daryle

wow, no kidding Phil to say the least, that was quick thinking!!
It was in the high 90's here today with a heat index of 105, to darn hot to do anything, stayed home all day getting things ready to leave thur morn for Lancaster, Oh.
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Watch those speedbumps!! Debb

A while back I bought Tie rods, ball joints, calipers and rotors from NAPA out of these, one of the rotors was about 1/4 in. thick on one side and no more than a sixteenth on the other side (these are not rebuilt parts) they were marked "made in Chile"as memory serves me. One of the tie rods had no threads on the bolt, one caliper was solid rust and one ball joint was wrong. When I took the stuff back they told me "Oh you probably want the better stuff, It's more expensive you know" I had never asked the price in the first place. I think they have gotten a little too big and need to clean up their act.
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Digger
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DSRA Member

I threw it away yesterday, now I have to go buy one
Just when you think you have won the Rat Race along come faster rats

That's the trouble with a lot of businesses nowadays. They earn a good reputation by selling quality products or services and get a good name, which takes a lot of effort. Then when they've got the good name, they cheapen up their products & cut corners and try to use their name to make a lot of money without putting any effort into it.

Good to hear everything turned out ok.
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*******
George

I happen to know something of these issues with NAPA and their parts in general. I have been doing consulting/interface work for a few years now on various subjects with them. This is how I make my real living these days...thru professional consulting. Some of the other projects/products are just sidelines.

The story about cheap parts does NOT surprise me. Over the years other competitors have brought less expensive and cheap parts from overseas into the market and were put up against the parts that NAPA offered. NAPA found out really fast that their marketshare was going south with a line of just their high end parts (more expensive too) and most customers were looking at price only and therefore buying from the competition in droves. NAPA pulled in an inferior (I hate using that word...but that's what it is) line of parts to compete with the others at hand. So, usually they have a "best" line and a regular line of parts. This is not always the case.

I fell victim of this very same thing back in the mid 90s when replacing a U joint for the 34. I replaced it and it took a year and it was shot again. What??????? After investigating I found that the U joint was not hardened. I went back to the store and asked it they made another hardened part. They had one listed for $15, the one I had already purchased, and one for $25. I took the later and is still going today! This is what happens when the consumers just buy on price alone, which creates a subset of inferior products, which as George points out, ruins the good name of the company.
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Steve Jack
Engineering & Marketing Technologies
ConceptOne Brackets and Pulleys

Well, I figured at $35, the dam* thing should've been more than good. So much for paying more than it's worth to keep the local boys in business.

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phil


It's not a NOMAD, it's a Yeoman!

Phil is right and in his case as with the brakes we are talking about safety and peoples lives here. I for one will not do business with a company who in the name of competition throws out their quality control and puts their customers at risk.
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Digger
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DSRA Member

I threw it away yesterday, now I have to go buy one
Just when you think you have won the Rat Race along come faster rats

oh, so you're gonna give up cars altogether?

got news for ya, maybe even a reality check.
napa and others have went to a "cheaper" line of parts as to be able to compete with the auto zones+ checkers.....
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If ya ain't drivin' it, it's just junk in the garage...

Thanks for the reality check I'm kind of new at this.

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Digger
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DSRA Member

I threw it away yesterday, now I have to go buy one
Just when you think you have won the Rat Race along come faster rats

I took the reg back to NAPA today, and the kid behind the counter told me that he could 'warranty' it. I said I didn't want another one. So, then I had to wait until the boss came to the front. He said I could have another...I repeated that I didn't want another, so he gave me a refund. I should have checked the one on the board to see where it was made, but didn't. It had profuel on the back.

Well,I'm off to Peoria to have my eyes checked again, will check to see what they have down there, if anything. May have to order one from Jegs or ?
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phil


It's not a NOMAD, it's a Yeoman!
Not an engineer, but I DO drive a train.

After (2) O'Reilly rebuilt starters, I finally bought a Delco. No more problems.

(Hey... is that one of those NOMADs with a post? or what? What is that thing? What's a Yeoman? Never heard of it. Are you sure?)
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Wear your seatbelt

OOOOHHH! Lance you're on top of yor game today!! Say are you guys still thinking of a "southern tour"???
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Never let your mind wander..it's much too small to be left on its own.

Charter Member: Dipstick Street Rod Association

Actually, yes. Kristy and I thought we'd go to the GG show in Charlotte in late October. We haven't registered yet, nor do we have Hotel reservations, but that's no big deal. As soon as she gets her vacation days approved, we'll take a week and see what you folks do down there for fun.
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Wear your seatbelt

Hey, Lance, yeah, it's a Nomad. I straightened the post to give it a different look...took off a lot of the chrome also, specially that ugly stuff on the tail gate. LOL.

I've had people ask me where I got the name to put on the side. I wish I had another one, I'd make an El Camino out of it. Of course, I wish I had a bigger garage, more money, etc., etc....
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phil


It's not a NOMAD, it's a Yeoman!
Not an engineer, but I DO drive a train.

I for one am sick of the junk on the market today. I grewup with a dad who is a tool and die maker and he has never had a defective part returned to him, ever!! He just turned 76 last week and he is very excited about my 31'tudor project. He use to build rods & racing boats back in the fifties, and just stopped racing ice-boats last year.
Just this week I had to re-work a brand new Lokar shifter. Mounting holes did not line-up, one hole was improperly tapped and I got better installation instructions on my valve covers. Speaking of valve covers. my brand new aluminum covers from Speedway are very disapointing. You have to drill the bosses inside to mount a splash plate to them. The 9/64 they reccomend won't even come close to fitting the screws they send. I busted one of the bosses off trying to put the screws in. The aluminum is such poor quality is looks like pot metal. And talk about customer service with some of these companies! You would think I was working for them. Quality, customer service. I give it, I expect it. Not too much to ask for.
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Rick Menard

Three years ago the starter went away on our "wee"six! Had to go through a NAPA store as they were "only place in town"
and paid American $$ for exact same replacement piece which sold in Canada
(but less $$$ cause of $$ difference).for same amount!!! Also put in 4 starters in between times!!! Good thing all under warranty!!!
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Member:Dipstick Street Rod Association.
And thats the bottom line, cause the old fart said so!

I think PEP Boys is the major culprit when it comes to cheap low quality parts! I was on a trip when the starter on my 78 GMC pickup gave up on me. The closest store was a PEP Boys, I bought the "lifetime starter" 2 months later the solenoid went out, once again I was on the road. I bought a Borg Warner solenoid from a Mom & Pop parts store and pulled the starter in their parking lot. To my amazement the solenoid on the PEP Boys starter was only 2/3rds as long as the B/W solenoid and the plunger was 1/2 the diameter of a stock GM starter! I ended up buying a NEW starter at the Mom & Pop store. PEP Boys would not give me my money back on the starter only a replacement....What a deal??? No more parts from PEP Boys!!

I had almost the exact issue with the U-Joints. But, they never mentioned a "better" / more expensive joint. I stopped buying from NAPA altogether, they just don't have the quality I'm looking for. I have to use CarQuest mostly now. Not to many choices in this small town, But the parts are more reliable.

While in Syacuse this past weekend, I needed to replace my starter. The engine coffed and the starter drive took the worst of it. Across the street from my hotel was an Auto Zone. My starter was bought from AZ last year with a lifetime warrentee. Took it across the street, returned with another one, and in 15 minutes was on my way to the grounds. Dave
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Life's too short to drive an ughly car!
Massachusetts Safety Inspecter for KKOA
www.geocities.com/stupidbaker57/custom_green

I've tried AZ for a number of different items, and there are a lot of things they don't sell (brakes for my Merc rearend, wheel weights, fuel pressure regs...). But, there are a couple smaller outlets that I hit it lucky at once in a while. While in Peoria today, I went to the Advance auto parts store...they had the same 'profuel' reg as napa; I said 'no thanks.' I'll order one through the mail.

Digger...if you're new to this game, then I haven't even started yet! LOL.
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phil


It's not a NOMAD, it's a Yeoman!
Not an engineer, but I DO drive a train.