Having just returned to the hobby recently and doing some rebuilding I
am shocked at the lack of quality being delivered by some parts
suppliers.  Without mentioning names I will just say in general what is
being sold is horrible.  Cloth has holes in it, tubing has flat spots
and fittings/nipples are poorly cast or the soldering is like it was
done by a beginner.  Are there suppliers out there that deliver a
quality product anymore?  It's aggravating to track down a problem and
find it comes from a poor quality part or material you just bought.  The
other issue I see is that the same low quality stuff is being sold by
multiple suppliers.  I will say that some custom work I have had done by
a gentleman in NY has been great, but I hate to think I need to have him
make me simple "T" fittings to get one that won't leak.

Robbie,
   If this is to pointed for the list I apologize but with the cost of
restoration today I think this is an important issue.  How long will
today's rebuilds hold up if the part quality does not improve?

Bob Stewart

 [ This is an interesting and important topic.  I'm especially interested
 [ in nudging this discussion in the direction of understanding why
 [ suppliers are having trouble providing consistently good quality  and
 [ finding ways to help them and or ourselves, rather than having the
 [ discussion go in the direction of bashing individual suppliers.
 [
 [ For instance, from time to time consortiums of restorers do have
 [ special runs of things made.  I know one restorer who has had
 [ several runs of custom lead tubing made.  Can this help ?  What are
 [ suppliers supposed to do with the not-so-perfect stock that they
 [ have ?  Is any of it useful as "hobby grade" rather than
 [ "restoration grade" ?  Any other ideas out there ?   Thanks!  --Jody