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Sat Oct 02, 2010 3:05 pm

CLASSIC CAR GUY wrote: Empi now is nowhere of Empi then we all know this, I do use some items which are some of the same items sold but other compays with different names, most exhaust stuff is the same from other companys as well and its all mfg'd in china and reboxed, I know what im getting from them and expect it to not "bolt right up" right out of the box, so with that in mind if things need a little "tweeking" im prepaired for it. also heres the packing material that came with my empi glasspack exhaust last week... :? can i have a order of egg rolls with that?

I will say this, the other night I installed a header from bugpack and it bolted right in on my 1200 no issues, did the whole install in under an hour, with no cursing and only 2 ice cold Coronas in between... :lol:

The chrome crap might be the same amongst companies in terms of origins, but I know there's no way Bugpack, Scat and EMPI and other companies are sharing manufacturers for exhausts. EMPI sucks dick in particular on exhaust systems, in my experience.
Bugpack makes their exhausts right here stateside in the U.S.A., as does Scat, I believe.

I hear good things about Kymco's exhausts, and, of course, A-1 for the higher end stuff.

Unfortunately, the VW world has only itself to blame for the quality issues. Being a bunch of cheap bastards has taken its toll, and that's why quality companies like S&S Headers are now out of business.

Sat Oct 02, 2010 3:43 pm

Even My Pushrods Imploded!

Their goal is the bottom line. But they do stupid stuff.

Try to get a rebuild kit for the Kadron kits they sell with chokes that has the choke parts. ???

I always try to throw out a new one... not relying on the same old issue I had a lifetime ago.

I think Glenn has an EMPI crank in his engine.

Mon Oct 04, 2010 12:38 pm

I'll chime in here. I've bought 2 bottom-end kits lately, which come with Empi crank and rods. One is in a car and running, the other is still on the bench. The difference is I bought them from a reputable dealer/machine shop, which unpacked them and checked everything before I ever got my hands on them. When I went to balance/check the rods out, I found they had already been unpacked, balance, and marked. Everything was dead on.

Sometimes spending a little extra to CYA is worth it.

Mon Oct 04, 2010 12:51 pm

JSMskater wrote:
I avoid Empi totally because until their products are CONSISTENTLY good, then I just lump them all into the 'crap' column of parts vendors I would only call if I simply had NO other choice and imminent death or injury was my only other option :lol:
Amen, it isn't worth the hassle. When I spend my hard earned money, I want to buy quality. I do not want to buy a "lottery ticket" that maybe it's a quality part and maybe it's a piece of crap.

Augiedoggy wrote: empi is really just a distributor..
Precisely. They don't actually manufacture ANYTHING. At all. They simply take products made by Chinese manufacturers and then repackage it with the EMPI logo and sell it in the USA. Every part that EMPI sells, without exception, is made in China. No thanks!!

Mon Oct 04, 2010 1:24 pm

I think EMPI is slowly killing this hobby. Taking money away from decent manufactures that just can't compete when pricing seems to be the major decision factor.
Many hobbiest loose interest when there cars run like crappy overheating rattle buckets.

Just my opinion! 8)
Mark

Mon Oct 04, 2010 7:22 pm

well Ive gotten junk from scat, Ive gotten junk parts from bug pack,and yes I have even gotten junk parts from empi, witch to my understanding means "Engine Might Pop Imeadeatly "well not for sure on that one.and I have gotten effed up new cb 044heads. and most of everything I get isant up to snuff. well to out it plainly the vw parts that we are buying are not what they should be. for the prices we are paying.and what about the price of the cases these days??? it's 2x what I paid a few short years ago. and the brand name sellers (companys like scat,bugpoop,empli )dont give a shit one way or the other what they are selling,or if it is even packeged with the correct part#'s. so some times you get what you pay for ,and some times you pay for what you get. thats what a good engine builder is good for.to sort out the shit from shineola .

Mon Oct 04, 2010 7:34 pm

One rule of thumb for me is to never put any EMPI parts INSIDE the engine. I will occasionally put a pump blockoff plate or something on.. but if it is critical, never. But some big name builders are using the EMPI engine parts on a regular basis - I just can't make myself do it. I've never been scared to put a CB or Bugpack product in an engine though. They can all be screwed up, but when Every Mistake Passes Inspection, I have to hesitate mightily.

I like DPR or CB cranks, stock rods or Scat rods, Mahle pistons and cylinders, and a variety of other supporting parts, as much German core parts as I can, like gears, distributor drives, etc.. I like Schadek pumps, Berg pulleys and pump covers, and ACN full flow kits, and Elring gaskets. The rest matters, but these are consistently good for me.

Mon Oct 04, 2010 7:41 pm

Many parts sold by EMPI are not made by them. This same parts are also sold under other major brand names.

So the EMPI connection rod can be exactly the same as the Bugpack or other maker.

Never use an internal engine part without having it inspected to ensure it measures up. It doesn't matter if it's EMPI or Gene Berg.

Mon Oct 04, 2010 9:03 pm

mharney wrote: Even My Pushrods Imploded!

I always try to throw out a new one... not relying on the same old issue I had a lifetime ago.

I got an EMPI flywheel lock 2 months ago and the supplied 10mm bolt did not fit. The hole cast in the lock was filled with casting inclusions and slag. Yet another example of fine EMPI quality. :roll:

Mon Oct 04, 2010 9:36 pm

lupin..the..3rd wrote: Every part that EMPI sells, without exception, is made in China. No thanks!! I'm pretty sure the cardboard and heat shrink packaging are made in the USA! :D

RC

Tue Oct 05, 2010 6:03 am

I refuse to buy anything form EMPI. The last 20 years they have shit all over the VW hobby so bad with crappy parts that I will never support them. They can not improve anything enough to erase the damage they have caused with junk parts. I hope and pray they go bankrupt.

Tue Oct 05, 2010 6:56 am

vwracerdave wrote: I refuse to buy anything form EMPI. The last 20 years they have shit all over the VW hobby so bad with crappy parts that I will never support them. They can not improve anything enough to erase the damage they have caused with junk parts. I hope and pray they go bankrupt.

What Dave said. And they're laughing all the way to the bank. They make way more profit on a part that sells for slightly less but done no r&d on, made to a lower quality standard and used inferior (read cheaper) materials. To quote P.T. Barnum, "there's a sucker born every minute! And the VW world is apparently full of suckers, so they're not going to quit any time soon...

Tue Oct 05, 2010 7:39 am

I have empi door-handles on my 63 Baja winter-driver. The only time those handles don't rattle is when they're laying on the floor.

If they can't even get door handles right, I'm certainly not buying anything critical from them.

Max

Tue Oct 05, 2010 7:57 am

RockCrusher wrote: lupin..the..3rd wrote: Every part that EMPI sells, without exception, is made in China. No thanks!! I'm pretty sure the cardboard and heat shrink packaging are made in the USA! :D

RC

Are you kidding? Last time I saw an EMPI product, the "Made in China" sticker on it had a little sticker on IT that said "Made in Taiwan" !

Tue Oct 05, 2010 8:13 am

lupin..the..3rd wrote: They don't actually manufacture ANYTHING. At all. They simply take products made by Chinese manufacturers and then repackage it with the EMPI logo and sell it in the USA. Every part that EMPI sells, without exception, is made in China. No thanks!!

They have their own China factories.
In fact they sell to other brand companies that put their name on the same part.

That last line is not true either.
They sell Bosch, Mahle and a lot of other items that are not made in China.

Tue Oct 05, 2010 4:31 pm

I havent seen much of any defrence in parts from empi or bugpoop,or scat. the crank was the same crank I got from cb perf.in the same box.rods had name stamped on them with ink but looked like the same. I got a scat crank that was machined wrong. the empi & cb crank were great. I got bugpoop vs retainers that were to small for my small motorcycle ,I havent a clue what they fit. they were supposed to fit the 4046 bug poop spring,not!!! and bug poop said somebody had swaped them in the vacume skin package that had never bem opened !!! ya right. I know empi makes a lot of shit,but so far they have been the only mfr/packager that has steped up with the parts to make it right, jets for the duel hpmx( witch have worked flawlessly for I reckon 5 years now.I got them right after they came out. and the rear disc w/e/brake had the wrong cables & they sent what I requested to do the job corectly all no charge. bugpoop just says tuffshit,all vw owners are morons they dont know what they are looking at so there is no reason to make it corectly.and thats a quote from rick at bugpoop. and sact says there isant any problems well less than .05% with thier dragfast into reverse shifter.and only charged me about $18.00 for the snapring that gos on the end of the crank to hold the gears in place ,because they had machined the groove the wrong size. but said it was my snapring.but sent me a snapring identicle to the one I had witch was a scat packaged part. but it still did not fit the crank corectly. the rods I got from cb had junk nuts that broke uppon torquing and they had been shot peened with the bolts instaled in the rods, witch left steel shot wedged inbetween the bolt & rod,the rods were not round when taken appart then reassembled. so everybody puts out shit for vw's. thats what a good engine builder is for.to wipe up the shit & clean up the mess. but there are also good parts coming out of all of the venders also. what looks good to some is junk to others.but that dosent mean it cant be used, if repared/fixed/massauged/machined/clearanced/heat treeted/chamfered/balanced/honed/oil holes added/coated/debured/lubed/and a few more. the china chrome is the execption it is rusted when you get it.

Tue Oct 05, 2010 5:25 pm

You're a riot Mark. :)

Tue Oct 05, 2010 5:38 pm

I lived near Empi in the Bronx, yes the Bronx back in the 60's, They had the East Coast Inch Pincher. Those guys got me away from MGA's to my first New 69 bug. Their parts were amazingly good. I bought an Empi Extractor, it was solid super chrome plated with the EMPI logo Rivited on the muffler in Brass. It came with a larger main jet to compensate for the leaner mixture of the extractor. Their dual carbs were Solex and Webbers. The 009 dizzy was from the 356 Porsche, no cheap crap. I sold a set of original empi fly window locks to a guy in Sweden a year ago for $80. They were about $4 back then. Empi meant quality. Now the new EMPI Chrome rusts in one rain.

Tue Oct 05, 2010 6:50 pm

I would of made one hell of an umpire,everybody would of hated me. !!! but quality speaks for it self, and so far non of the vw parts I have ever bought/seen/worked on were worth a shit out of the box and none of the parts could speak. I have seen some stuff that was junk til smebody bought it did nothing to it but not it was the cats meow.the best on the market !! well I call it as it is.sorry if I offend any body it isant ment to. I wish someone out there in cai would get to edelbrock and get some good parts made hear in the use at a price that is equal to what chevy & ford parts go for. they could make a compleat rollercam kit for a very affordable price, and lowered cam cases,properly desigined heads that will work and not need welding, better intakemanifolds,fancy valvecovers (we all need another set of them) edelbrock could make just about everything for the engine.at a much better quality and a good price.oops Id better watch out, or my feet will get wet when the wind shifts :roll: