I have just found a few parts on this site that I have used a couple of times and wanted some opinions before taking the plunge and ordering some parts??

Side mount intercoolers......

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/90-96-Nissan-300ZX-TWIN-TURBO-Z32-SIDE-MOUNT-BOLT-ON-ALUMINUM-INTERCOOLER/1025971675.html

 

and MAF........

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/New-300zx-Z32-80mm-AFM-MAF-Air-Flow-Meter-22680-30P00/2037951851.html

 

They also have the usual suspension and track rod bits seen on ebay.......

I wouldn't trust the MAF, but I believe the SMICs are copies of the Z1 SMICs.

 

Noel has ordered turbos from China before and hasn't mentioned them not being up to par.

Dont waste you money on a Chinese maf. I remember Jeff condemning them on a thread somewhere.

I keep looking at the suspension parts too, undecided if it's worth the gamble

I keep looking at the suspension parts too, undecided if it's worth the gamble

 

I must admit i do to, they do seem too good to be true though but as stuff the like, been overpriced for years ??

 

Does make you wonder where the driftworks or similar is made, probably the same province !!

Nothing wrong with ordering products made in China (or any other country for that matter). What does matter is the

design, materials, manufacturing and QA that went into the manufacture and the after sales support from the supplier

(or distributor). Plus feedback from real customers who have bought and used those products over a period of time.

 

Personally, I would want to be sure that a critical component like a suspension product was up to the job and wasn't going

to fail and leave me (and possibly others) in a serious situation. If an IC fails that could leave you at the side of the road and

possibly out of pocket but hopefully physically OK.

China, China, China, now theres a topic.

 

China is the worlds workshop, their ability to produce high quality parts is undisputed despite peoples claims that anything made in china is cheap tat. Don't believe me well turn that iPhone that your highly impressed with over and read the back, designed in California assembled in China. Well that sums it up really, complex items are designed in the west and some components will be made in the west but it is China with the cheap labour and lack of red tape that physically makes these things, what's more that's nothing new. My old work used to make amongst many things bollards for boats, these were hand pressed stainless steel sheet welded together to produce a hollow lozenge, there was a test at work when the boss had sent a prototype to china, to be made from cast stainless. Rumour had it they sent a batch back as it had been made with a red dot on it, the red dot was a drop of blood that had got there by accident from our factory on the model they were sent. its utter rubbish as actually they were sent back because the cast came back with pits and by the time they had been tacked up and re polished the saving was lost. The point I'm making is china is great at making exactly what we tell them but making things off their own back is a little bit of uncharted territory, look at the Chinese made cars for an example. So the question is can China make a quality product, without a shadow of a doubt yes, however it usually takes someone else to show them how. They seem to have become sick of this though as they make these things and sell them to us, who sells them to our consumers for way above what they got, so they have started cutting out the middleman. The fact that China hasn't got much of a respect for patents and breach of them rarely prosecuted. So is the influx of hooky Chinese gear via ebay and allibaba etc, don't forget though they were the ones making the bits they copied to begin with, which is how they know what to make and how.

 

This is were things get relevant, now id like to point out that I'm merely making observations and speculations so I'm no way saying these are facts you can draw your own conclusions and base your decision's on your own research. Lets for example take a set of Japspeeds 300zx side mounted intercoolers, they retail at £300, Godspeed have a set of similar items, which retail for £197, and yet again a brands called various things available direct from china for as little as £130! what is the similarity? Well they look damn identical! Another example, I know a member who has some expensive front upper arms, a well known brand. He purchased these at expense to replace a set of cheap ones that cracked, only to find that they were identical...that's a problem...Looking at many of these components 90% of the "brands" seems to be identical products, some are different colours others the same but overall they look identical. These doesn't just apply to car parts, the same factory in china make George ladies underwear as they do Victoria's Secret, big price difference same labour force making the product in the same building.

 

So that takes me back to my original point and a question of what came first the chicken of the egg. Lets assume as our eyes tell us these are one product being made and painted to order and sold on to various UK, USA and AUS based distributers that's a fair assumption. Then lets assume that a percentage of these items are being sold direct from the manufacturer under different names and or colours to us at much reduced price, because why shouldn't they take up he opportunity to make a higher unit price by selling direct through sites such as ebay, aside from the fact it makes western distributors a little pissed. So these Chinese parts for half the price or less in some cases may well be the SAME product as you could pay double for. You could buy both and compare, we could find two members and compare at a show, what that tells you though is they look the same that is all and going back to the bollard pill, they can make things that look identical and are very good at it and arn't that fussed if its copyright. A destruction test of the components in comparison is the only relevant test, as it would determine the quality of the products irrespective of the provenance. So the real question is, are they actually the same products simply being sold direct from source to us cutting out the middle man, personally I expect so but its up to you to decide if that's the case or not.

 

There is a word of caution to this though, even if they are the same, what happens if it fails and this causes a problem. If you purchased that item from a uk or other large official distributor and it failed due to a manufacturing error you have that a fall guy. Mr Chinese company who is nothing more than an ebay shop isn't going to be your fall guy he is going to disappear just like he will if mr copyright comes knocking, that is the big difference not if it will fail but what will happen when it does... Choose wisely make informed decisions and remember china doesn't automatically mean cheap crap and a Uk or USA based distributors doesn't automatically make it a superior product.

 

I hope I've made my point and explained myself properly I do struggle getting my thoughts from my mind into words. Il be buying some Chinese intercoolers for £130 soon who ever they are made by.

I paid very good money for a trio of Greddy gauges once...Made in China it said on the boxes:wack:.I must say though there tooling has improved a lot recently but i still would,nt buy Engine products off them like the small 3 to 8hp Honda engine snides called Licon or summit

What Z1 have to say about Mafs and the Chinese version

http://www.z1motorsports.com/product_info.php?products_id=1752

Yeah mafs arnt highly praised are they, a quick google yields bad results. Could be an expensive mistake that one. That having been said I had a repro one on my corsa daily driver some years ago and that was fine, bigger market demand I guess.

The thing with Ting Tong gear these days is the low price is now out the window as another Chinese Factory down the road will make them cheaper so they have started upping the stakes in quality to gain buyers...ime buying 18mm plywood sheets atm £5 cheaper than current Brazilian stocks and there pretty good quality,and yes made in China but when your buying upto 50 sheets a month then its a good saving..Sorry for the side track here:blush:

I evaluated the Chinese Z32 MAFs years ago on a modified 200SX. They were no good at all then. Voltage output when quickly opening the throttle was a long way off, made the car bog down due to overfuelling. Not every time though, which made them even more useless...

 

I tested one on my Zed last year, and it was an accurate replica with regards to voltage output. Ran it for a few months. That particular one was from one of my suppliers of various items in the States. Sold it to another trader as a snide and it's been running fine on some Skyline somewhere. Unless you're able to properly evaluate the MAF you receive, you will have no idea if that particular one works correctly.

 

I deal a fair bit with Chinese suppliers for various things. The trick is not to automatically go for the cheapest option you find, but put in weeks of research to find the Tier 1 sellers, or if you're really industrious, the factories themselves.

 

99% of sellers have absolutely no idea of what they're selling. They are based in a single apartment building and are simple drop-shippers, never holding the product or even seeing it, dealing in iphones, MAFs, computer chips, turbos etc. Forget about any warranty, you pay your money, you take your chance. Be wary on Ali as there is less protection than eBay. Always pay via Paypal. If you need to return something, you're better off fixing it yourself or binning it.

 

Expect it not to work, and you'll be fine. Not something I would risk when it comes to important sensors or anything that keeps me on the black stuff!

Says it all

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-29660705http://

I will say, when you get these reports from UK and particularly US lead bodies, do not forget there are not unbiased. China selling direct is stealing from their back pocket. Remember it was good enough quality when they were making money as a middleman, now there having thier cut stolen it's inferior...with china buy careful.