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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / Mac's Rebuild Kits

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Discussion Topic: Mac's Rebuild Kits

47Fordor

02-16-2010 @ 5:50 PM

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I've been following a thread or two where some of you guys have been venting your "love" for Mac's parts. I'm assuming that buying simple things from them, like gaskets, would be fine but I wonder about rebuild kits (ie: master cylinder, fuel pump, etc.)? I won't be buying anything rebuilt by them after reading some of your experiences.

Chris

donclink

02-18-2010 @ 10:51 AM

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Chris, I’ve been dealing with Mac’s for about five years now, along with Bob Drake, Dennis Carpenter, C&G, and Sacramento Vintage Ford. They happen to be the closest to me, and I usually get the order within 2 days. I’ve always had very good service, both on orders, and returns from them, and I highly recommend them as a vendor for Early Ford parts. I believe that most of the early Ford parts suppliers use common sources for their parts. Problems with carburetor rebuild kits are common across most vendors, as I’ve gotten the same kit from multiple sources, with the same power valve problems. I purchased a set of Mac’s ‘USA Made’ ignition points several years ago, and was surprised to find that one contact had the threads missing in the brass inset. I retuned those points and ordered a set of Echlin CS-47 points from my local NAPA store. That set not only had the threads missing on one contact side, but the entire brass inset was missing. Coincidence? I believe that there is only one source for these replacement ignition parts, and that is Standard Motor Products, which is a US company. I don’t believe that these parts are manufactured in the US, but from one of their foreign plants, where the costs are more in line with the actual demand for these parts. Neither of these contact sets had ‘Made in USA’ stamped on them. Since then, I have collected older NOS replacement point sets off of ebay, or from swap meets. Those are stamped USA, and also have the brass pivot bushings. I’ve used Mac’s fuel pump kit without any problems, although I did replace the entire fuel pump with a new, ‘Made in USA’ Carter fuel pump from RockAuto.com. It’s been running for three years now without a hiccup, and the rebuilt pump is carried as a spare. I’ve used NAPA for the master cylinder kit, but it looks just like the Mac’s kit.

supereal

02-21-2010 @ 10:23 AM

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The biggest complaint we had with Mac's was that their people seem clueless about the origin and quality of their merchandise. We had the same gripe about a supplier in Oklahoma City. The counter people in our local parts stores are often baffled, as well. They frequently send our shop the wrong parts, but at least we don't have to wait days or weeks, only to find that the part(s) are wrong or poor quality. Gone are the days when parts men almost always had been mechanics before they got too old to "get out and get under".

47Fordor

02-22-2010 @ 8:05 PM

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Amen! I was working on a Ford 2N tractor for a friend. It had a 12V conversion kit and the alternator was far from new so, while it was off, I took it to the local auto parts place to get it tested. I cleaned up the AC Delco alternator enough to read the part number. The conversation at the counter went something like this:

Me: "Could you please test this alternator for me?"

Parts guy: "what's it out of?"

Me: "It won't be in your book but I have the part number here, could you use that?"

Guy: "I need to know what it's out of before I can test it."

Me: "A 1947 Ford 2N tractor with a 12 Volt conversion kit."

Guy: "Didn't that have a generator?"

Me: "Yes, this has a 12 Volt conversion kit."

Guy: "Ok, lets see... Ford [looking at his computer screen]... I don't see anything here."

Of course, the fact that AC Delco is primarily a GM product never entered his mind!

He finally did test it but I didn't trust his results (do you wonder why???). I went to NAPA. I love those guys! My NAPA store actually has guys in there that know what they're doing. Guy took it, put it on the machine, tested it, no problem (other than the fact that the alternator was toast.

I guess the big chains don't want to pay the extra dollars to hire mechanics to sell their parts and help the customers. It probably won't be long until we go in, pick out our parts on a computer, find it on the shelf and then self-check-out. Only employee, other than for stocking and cleaning, would be a guard to ensure you didn't take anything.

Chris

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