The pain of returning a hood to Classic Industries

[dme922]

I purchased a cowl induction hood for my 68 K10 that i am doing a complete restoration on from Classic Industries. When my body man started test fitting all of the body parts he tried everything to get this hood to line up with the body lines. It seemed to wide on the firewall end, it would not line up with the cowl etc.. So i gave Classic Ind a call and told them the issues. They asked me if i had it at a body shop or restoration shop, said i need to do some shimming and asked me to send several pictures. So they finally agreed to pay to have the hood shipped back but they are going to test fit it and if they see it is a manufacturing flaw give me a full refund and if they dont see any issues they will give me a refund minus return shipping. Meanwhile a friend of mine let me try his 68 Goodmark cowl induction hood and it line up a 100 times better. Even after offering to send the pics of this hood on my truck they are still saying that their r and d department has to check it out. Sorry to ramble on but i just wanted to let people know how they treat customers.

[hugger6933]

There was a post a couple weeks ago from GMC Paul of GMC Paul's he went on at length about how he won't sell one because it just doesn't fit. He said that the people who stamp the hood are aware of the non-fit problems and the people who do sell them they HAVE to know about the bad stamping but he is the only vendor that has stopped selling them cause he said they plain just don't fit. He said he has tried several different times to get the "stampers" to make the corrections yet they remain hard headed. He also said that the hood is "too long" according to him and the lines never line up almost causing a second body line or a ghost line type thing. There were sevral replies to that post so you might do a search on his recent post to see if you can find it there may be something in there helpful to your cause. Jim

[dme922]

I did find that exact write after encountering this issue and even told them about the issues. They still act as if i am not telling the truth and keep me waiting several days for my refund. One would think a company of this size would not give a customer that spent well over a thousand dollars and potentially much more, so much trouble for the shipping cost. I just wanted to get my truck reassembled and painted.

[hugger6933]

the bad part is they knew dang good and well BEFORE they shipped you the hood that it wouldn't fit. Paul had said everyone that is in that business know the hoods are off but it is their decision to continue to sell and hope that nobody figures it out. Jim

[dme922]

I wish i had known this before i ordered the hood and it would be nice if they were all like Paul. Honest about selling a good product. I will give an update on what they determine.

[leftybass209]

It sucks that you're put in that position. The best you can do is stop spending your money with them, and start informing others as you are.

[special-K]

I can understand why they need to see for themselves if it is as bad as you claim. I know you showed pictures, but in the end the skill level of the one installing is a factor to consider. Your body man may be the best on earth, but they have no way of knowing. I just flat out don't buy any part like that if shipping is involved. For this reason and just as much to eliminate risk of damage in shipping. It could be spread from compression where no signs show other than overall dimension. I have read where site vendors flat out won't sell the hoods for poor fitment issues. It pays to read around this site. Lots of information like this discussed, then there are review boards. I believe there's a thread in there on this. A while back I put together a '68 front clip from all top quality repro and the results, after all the shimming, were very disappointing. Parts just flat out made wrong

[Steve Cole]

dme922, Are you also using aftermarket front fenders and/or radiator support? There is a reason I ask.
I have a cowl induction hood on my '68 that never fit right no matter what I did so I looked everywhere for an excellent condition [U]original[U] hood. I finally found one and when I installed it, the fit was no better than with the aftermarket hood. I think my aftermarket front fenders are the culprit.

[dmartin1]

Classic's brand rubber parts-

i bought quite a few rubber pieces from them for my 69 shortbed.

steering column to firewall boot, gas tank grommet,and a few others. all the parts have done is sit installed on the truck for a very short timeand EVERY PIECE OF RUBBER IS ROTTEN.

i can literally see day light through the firewall rubber and the gas tank rubber looks like it would split apart if touched.

sorry its rubber nopt body parts,but i had to tell people about this from them. extremely aggrevated

[dme922]

Steve Cole, my fenders are original but my core support is after market. What brand is your cowl hood? The Goodmark hood that i got from a friend to try fit really well.

[Steve Cole]

I can't say for sure because the PO installed it but I believe he said it was a Goodmark. I guess it is hit or miss with this stuff.

[Jonlopes]

Originally Posted by dmartin1

Classic's brand rubber parts-

i bought quite a few rubber pieces from them for my 69 shortbed.

steering column to firewall boot, gas tank grommet,and a few others. all the parts have done is sit installed on the truck for a very short timeand EVERY PIECE OF RUBBER IS ROTTEN.

i can literally see day light through the firewall rubber and the gas tank rubber looks like it would split apart if touched.

sorry its rubber nopt body parts,but i had to tell people about this from them. extremely aggrevated

I believe we will only see more and more of this until we stop outsourcing to China. I would rather pay double the price that they are charging for the Chinese repops for an American made part with the correct materials and better quality control.

[leddzepp]

Originally Posted by Jonlopes

I believe we will only see more and more of this until we stop outsourcing to China.

Unfortunately that will never happen. Too late

[Grumpy old man]

It's very hard to buy replacement sheet metal ,Most all of it is "replacement quality" at best not anywhere near original in my opinion tap on an original fender then a replacement fender they don't even sound the same . Having something shipped half way around the world and then expecting it to bolt up correctly and fit is a hard bill to fill . it's really up to the body man to do whatever is required to make it fit by bending /cutting / re welding or just stomping it into submission ! It's only a piece of metal until it's assembled,primed and painted and driven down the road , Then it's a truck .

[Classic Heartbeat]

The goodmark hood and the classic industries hood are manufactured by the same company. It is more about the inconsistencies in their manufacturing process and lack of quality control. WES

[Jonlopes]

Originally Posted by leddzepp

Unfortunately that will never happen. Too late

Agreed. The only other option is to locate sources of original sheet metal before you need them. I live in the suburbs with my tiny piece of land and I am thinking of picking up spares as I find them and just making room in the garage.

[Grumpy old man]

The first cowl hoods on these trucks were made by bodymen who knew what they were doing and cannibalized cowls from other old chevys and made them fit ! if yours doesn't fit find a better bodyman it's only metal.

[sneakyfast]

Originally Posted by Jonlopes

I believe we will only see more and more of this until we stop outsourcing to China. I would rather pay double the price that they are charging for the Chinese repops for an American made part with the correct materials and better quality control.

I have been working in manufacturing industrial products for 18 years and all I can say to this is post is hahahaha.....In my job I deal a lot with manufacturers and every single one without exception has tons better quality from Chinese manufacturing than American Unions. it is valid that you will pay double the price for American made but the flip side is you will receive a lot worse quality. Just to clarify I mean manufactured goods and not small business or hand craft. Not trying to start a war but this perception is way out of date.

[Jonlopes]

Originally Posted by sneakyfast

I have been working in manufacturing industrial products for 18 years and all I can say to this is post is hahahaha.....In my job I deal a lot with manufacturers and every single one without exception has tons better quality from Chinese manufacturing than American Unions. it is valid that you will pay double the price for American made but the flip side is you will receive a lot worse quality. Just to clarify I mean manufactured goods and not small business or hand craft. Not trying to start a war but this perception is way out of date.

There are no wars starting just a group of guys sharing their opinions. If you ask 10 people you will probably end up with 11 different opinions.
I am just referring to the fact that the Chinese (or Tiwanese) made repops are made with thinner metal and not to the same standards as the American made units.

This time last year I was restoring a Jeep Jeepster and the repops for them were easily oem quality and made in America. Jeepsters were made from 1967 through 1973 and in all that time they only made about 60,000 of them. In the same years Chevy turned out close to 2 million C/K 10-20 trucks. There is just not enough demand for the Jeepster parts to be made overseas so they are made here in the USA. The parts cost about twice what they cost for the 67-72 Chevys but the quality is there. That is what I am hoping will eventually happen for us. If there is enough demand for a premium product it will eventually be made.

[CUSTOM/10]

I purchased a 69-72 cowl hood from Brothers ( Not sure who the MFG was )
But it had a couple of issues, but my body guy was able to correct them both and made the hood fit great. One issue was the front pass side of the hood was curved in-ward so there was a gap between it and the grille. That we corrected using a big slide hammer with a wide flat hook to pull this area out. That took some effort !!! The other issue was the hood was narrower than the cowl on the top of the hood. So he pie cut the cowl on both sides to bring it in and line it up with the hood. He did a great job on it and I love how it looks !

He was confident he couple work out the isses, and I felt this was easier than shipping it back and taking another role of the dice on another hood.

A good body guy is worth his weight in gold !

[michael bustamante]

good mark is now sold thru LKQ if you are wanting to try their after you get your money back.
its too bad to read about these cowl hoods. I was really looking forward to buying one... well not buying one but putting one on my 67

[dme922]

I just got a call from Classic Industries and they are refunding me the full amount. I am glad it worked out this way but its a shame that it took several weeks of back and forth with them. Also yesterday when i got to my boiling point i informed them that i was going to start this thread and got the call at 8 am their time right when they open.

[Lokin4AReason]

review(s) and feedback can like hurt their business, oops ..

from what I understand ( the majority, or all of them ), of these panel(s) come from over sea(s). and their product control varies I take it ( at who is on the clock or not ). probably just had a bad batch of item(s)

[dme922]

Thats what i tried to tell them. I know by working in manufacturing plants that every once in a while something can go wrong and get some bad parts. Being made overseas their quality control isnt quite the best.

[Cape Codder]

I run a one man body shop, I get all my aftermarket parts from LKQ / Keystone. Same thing. They deliver to the door and if something needs to be returned they pick it up next day. No questions no problems no shipping. I would talk with a local body shop about having them order sheet metal for you, they get 30 per cent off so they make a buck and you save shipping.