The nerve! The pirates of Shanghai are knocking off entire motor vehicles.

Yahoo (Summary of Forbes Article) ^ | 29 January 2004 | Joann Muller

[lewislynn]

Gee, what happened to all that "free market", "fair trade" yammering from these big corporate guys?...Be careful what you wish for.

[lewislynn]

The manufacturer of the pirated version was partially owned by GM's Chinese business partner

Sleeping with the devil with dollar $ign$ in their eye$.

[Clay Moore]

"The Chinese already make parts for the '47-'55 First Series Chevrolet trucks and it would be just an easy step to reproduce the entire truck."

If you do not mind the fact that the parts are very thin and do not fit without serious work. I'd rather spend the hours beating the old stuff out.

[Last Dakotan]

I may pay more for a "genuine" GM part...

Me too.. but wait, I don't own any GM vehicles nor have I advised anybody to buy one for years. They make junk.

GM "owns" the list of cars to stay away from as posted by various consumer magazines. Probably has something to do with their purchasing the cheapest part sourced worldwide regardless of quality. That "Geniune GM" part you bought was probably made in the same factory as the knockoff, as the article testifies. As always - buyer beware.

[toddst]

GM "owns" the list of cars to stay away from as posted by various consumer magazines. Probably has something to do with their purchasing the cheapest part sourced worldwide regardless of quality. That "Geniune GM" part you bought was probably made in the same factory as the knockoff, as the article testifies. As always - buyer beware.

Well, I don't make my automotive buying decisions based on consumer magazines. I've been buying and driving GM vehicles since age 17 and not had a bad one yet.

Per the "GM" part and its source, it doesn't matter to me IF that part comes through the GM network AND meets OEM standards.

Based on your comments It's clear you dislike American-based auto producers. Be my guest. I'll not get into a pissing contest with you. However, my comments about counterfeit parts stands - they are based on theft by deception AND create safety risks.

[vetvetdoug]

If you subscribe to Classic Truck Magazine there is usually advertised original parts from a yard in Arizona. This junkyard has miles of old truck parts that have been kept in the desert and have minimal rust. I purchased some steel window pieces from them, they were excellent when buffed out but were not cheap. Brothers parts in Chino, California referred me to other junkers for parts that have been helpful.

[vetvetdoug]

Unfortunately, most of the fenders that I found for my First Series were rusted in various places and were in serious condition. By "cutting and pasting" from four trucks I finally got fenders for all sides, the spare wheel fender being the hardest to find along with the spare tire apparatus. Since I restored my '55 there has come on the market parts from Taiwan that are decent, especially the gas tanks, and I have replaced them on my truck. I have a dandy 55' First Series that made a photo piece about four years ago in Classic Truck and since it has been four years since restoration, I am having to replace little things like screws that rust and pay special attention to the original brake setup.

I would have to think real hard if I were to wreck my truck. Would I search out old fenders again or just buy the new reproduction steel ones from the little people? I hope I am not confronted with that dilema but in the meantime, I buy up old rustbuckets in barnyards for little when I am doing farm calls in the hopes I will have the spares when I may (hopefully never) need them.

[Clay Moore]

Keep the old parts. I built a '55 F100 back in the '80's. A van driver running about 80+ clipped me and ran me off the road. Wiped out clipped frame, LF fender, valance, bumper, 2 tires and wheels, damaged RF fender. Had less than 1K miles since frame up restoration.

I rebuilt it and drive it to this day.

I keep every little part now.

[lewislynn]

Thanks for the great info...