Thread: 1 (one) guy's opinion

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Although there will be some differences of opinion in rating these companies, for the most part the report card seems to be pretty consistent on most of them. Here are some of my opinions:

Sanderson Headers: 10, three sets so far, all have fit well and the finish holds up.

Patriot Headers: 3, the bolt holes in their headers didn't come close to lining up and we had to wallow them out egg shaped to make them go on. Some were off by 1/2 inch.

Speedway: 9. It would be a 10 based on customer service and response, but I knocked it down one point because a percentage of their stuff is crap. But if you pick and choose, you can get good value and good stuff. Most of it is ok in all fairness, just a small percentage is not.........probably due to them wanting to be competitive.

Summit: A 10 in the customer service/ return departments. No hassles, fast shipping, and good prices. I do wish their techs had more hands on experience as they sometimes give a wrong or incomplete answer, but not often enough to be a problem. I don't care for their "handling fee", after all, every company handles the order, isn't that part of the deal?

Lokar: 9.... I agree the product mostly gets the job done, but I have noticed some irregularities in the chrome on my shifter starting to appear. Not bad, but not really high quality chrome IMO. Also the neutral safety switch sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. I do like the push down gear changing system vs the "to the side" system Gennie uses, but both are ok.

Coker: 10 for sure. Corkey runs a good company and stands behind what he sells. Been dealing for over 20 years, only one bent wheel in all that time and they sent a new one pronto.

Dan Fink: 10++++ Makes a work of art and that alone makes the somewhat high cost worthwhile. It also gives you something to brag about........."I have a Dan Fink grille."

Edelbrock: 10. IMO their carbs are the cats meow on the street. You bolt them on and forget about them. When I switched over I took a bucket full of Holleys and sold them for $ 10 at a swap meet, and have never looked back.

Total Performance: 6, maybe 7. Some of Mickeys stuff is ok, but some is marginal IMO. Body is a perfect example...........very thin and shows shadowing much more readily than even the two Speedway bodies I have. Very disappointed in that, and also that the chrome steering arm I bought from Speedway, that was bought from TP, snapped in half and was made from cast steel, not forged. But he does manufacture to a specific market and has been successful for something like 30 years.

Brookville: A 9+, maybe even a 10. I realize they are stamping bodies to Henry's tolerances, and we all know how close those were , so they are actually not too bad. We have the roadster pickup body, and may pick up a '29 roadster body at Turkey Run this year, so we are evidently pretty pleased. They do require some tweaking, especially if you want to exceed the original fit and finish. I find them good on the phone too.

TCI transmissions: How about a minus 5!! Terrible customer service, don't stand behind their products, and a very high failure rate from what we have learned since buying ours. My Sons C4 failed after 200 miles due to the torque convertor (also TCI) breaking apart, and filling the Super Streetfighter with metal shavings and wiping out the pump and clutches. They reluctantly replaced both, but it cost us $ 100 freight up and $ 100 in freight back. Luckily Speedway kicked in $ 75 in gift certificates to help defray the cost, but we will NEVER buy another TCI again. I have always dealt with Jackson Racing Transmissions, and theirs don't fail and I can get help when I need it. (Did I mention we will NEVER buy from TCI again???

PRC Radiators. 10+. Great aluminum radiators, good price, and super customer service. 4th one we have bought and all are a work of art.

Walker Radiators: ZERO. From all reports they build a good radiator, but I think their customer service stinks, at least in their approach to handling customers. Twice we have tried to give them business and they REFUSED to build the ones we wanted because they say the radiators would not do the job. On one instance I then went to the Brassworks, who did build it, and it worked fine, and in the second instance the radiator (that the sell through Total Performance) came with a warning sticker " not guaranteed to cool properly." IMO they are too conservative and only want to build full sized '32 Ford and similar unchopped radiators. But at least they could explain it NICELY, rather than a curt "NOPE, WE WON"T DO IT."

I have a lot more, but those are enough for now.

Don