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View Full Version : Not the best workmanship I've ever seen...



vindi49
07-09-2012, 08:50 AM
I've got a bit of a side project making a second ducktail spoiler. The idea is to be something like a YSCC, but about double / triple the size... anyway, by way of getting a head start I spotted a really cheap ducktail spoiler on Ebay... a copy of YSCC or similar, so I thought I'll buy that and bond it on, then extend it up from there...it will save me some time and get me a basic curve started.

So this morning the "spoiler" arrived. First thing i notice is its been very carefully packed... in a single sheet of newspaper. No big surprise when I open it up (no scissors required, it virtually fell off as it was soggy from the bad weather!) and there are cracks in the fibreglass... quite a few cracks... so I count them and there is 37 cracks down the one side, I don't bother to keep counting! Most of the cracks are quite long, and a fair few have joined up, resulting in pieces of fibreglass falling off. There are cracks across the top as well as some more chips and a hole that will need filling.

I wonder if it is still a useable shape, so offer it up to a bootlid but it is twisted along its length, and for some reason it is not flexible at all. When I try to twist it back to see if it would lie flat there are several more cracking sounds, so I leave that experiment for when I can add some heat. Looking at it, there are ripples down both the edges as well, so it would never have sit flat even if it wasn't twisted.

I check back on Ebay and see that the postage has cost me £15... the label on the packet says £2.20. Second class and not tracked or insured, not what I paid for... Must have been a very expensive sheet of newspaper then, or maybe extremely high quality parcel tape?

I flip the spoiler over to see how its been made, and its so thin you can see daylight in most places. Its also got a funny feel to it, nothing like any of the materials I use, so I start wondering what its made of... its white, dusty and really stiff / brittle... plaster of paris? Papier mache even? I don't know but apart from the fibreglass mat underneath the top material is not something I recognise.

I've sent some comments off, but somehow doubt to hear anything back as they are apparently using someone elses Ebay account. Apparently this is a new company starting making pieces for the MX5...god help us!!! As I'm going to cut this about and add a lot more material on top, it will still just about do for my purposes, but if I was a customer I don't know what I'd do apart from send it back... they do take returns, although apparently its at the customers risk and expense! I just don't understand why some people have so little pride in their work.

Russell.

Demon I Am
07-09-2012, 11:55 AM
It's easier to be lazy and make a quick buck selling cheaply-made shit for cheap, than it is to sell less items of high quality for higher prices. Too many people are out there to "find the best deal".

etikoner
07-12-2012, 03:18 PM
Post some pictures and links so more people know not to buy the same crap!

vindi49
07-12-2012, 04:52 PM
Post some pictures and links so more people know not to buy the same crap!

I'm just waiting a few days until I get a response as I want to give them every chance to sort it... will post something tomorrow if still no reply!

Russell.