38 replies to this topic

[DeanP]

We have been reviewing this post as it has evolved....

 

 

 

 

Thank you for taking the trouble to reply.

 

I am prepared to pay what is needed for a quality component to OEM standard.

 

Rubber components on my Morris Minor are a pain. My Mini will be a daily driver when completed, I want my new parts to be reliable and trouble free.

[GreaseMonkey]

Has anyone found any leads on where to buy Delphi knuckle joints/steering tie rods?

[Steve8274]

I emailed Delphi direct and they told me my closest supplier. I ended up getting some from a place called bbc superfactors. They have various outlets around northwest if thats local to you.
Hope that helps

[sonikk4]

Having seen first hand Simon's rogue's gallery of inferior quality parts and the lengths he is personally going through to ensure we do get the best possible, its not an easy thing to do.

 

There are so many counterfeit items out there with more appearing every week its a difficult thing to manage. At least we have someone like Simon who is willing to go that extra mile.

 

And before we get the old " Minispares sponsors us" guff we have had before, Simon did not have to show me this but he choose to invite me for a looksee around the warehouse when i went up there to pick some parts up and this was one of the final things we looked at. 

[Northernpower]

Has anyone found any leads on where to buy Delphi knuckle joints/steering tie rods?

I brought my knuckle joints from a local motor factor. They had more than one supplier available so I asked them to get the Delphi ones.

[robminibcy]

i agree, it is nice to have someone/a company who seem to care about what they do rather than just being about the financial numbers. It's not just the mini and automotive world where dodgy and poor parts are the issue, but most only seem to care about taking money and going home at the end of the day...

[alex-95]

We have been reviewing this post as it has evolved, Minispares actively sources original parts as well as aftermarket. We do stock a range of Delphi parts where necessary to do so, but they are also not stocked if we believe them to be inferior to what we currently stock, and in some cases our aftermarket comes from the same supplier as Delphi.

 

 

 

Parts listed above that people name as Delphi being able to supply, we would offer the following instead.

 

 

 

Mini braking items (Formerly AP Braking or Caparo Braking Now 920Engineering)

 

 

 

Mini front wheel cylinders, GWC126 and GWC127. These are manufactured in the UK at the original plant (the original AP factory) to the original specifications and drawing's.

 

 

 

Mini rear wheel cylinders. As above

 

 

 

Mini front and rear brake hoses. As above, made in the UK using the original drawings and specifications.

 

 

 

 

 AP Brake Hoses/Cylinders by NoahRobinson07, on Flickr

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

The question of stocking Delphi ball joint kits has been raised before, so to see if there was a quality improvement over the kit we stock, we ordered a set in. Nicely boxed, and as you would expect to see a kit. Upon opening however, it quickly became clear these are no different to the kits we have in stock, as these pictures show. They have the same kit labelling on the bag, and the same reference to batch codes. The main difference is they come with 2 extra lock tabs. We checked with our supplier of kits, and indeed they are the same. They add the extra tabs at the factory and then supply them to Delphi.

 

 

 

 

Mini Spares V.s Delphi Packaging 1 by NoahRobinson07, on Flickr

 

 

Mini Spares vs. Delphi Ball Joint packaging 2 by NoahRobinson07, on Flickr

 

 

Mini Spares vs. Delphi Ball Joint Exploded by NoahRobinson07, on Flickr

 

 

The knuckle joint we will indeed look at, and evaluate whether that is worth stocking

 

 

Engine mounts have also been mentioned above. This is largely market lead, Xpart (the MG Rover source) now only offer a non genuine aftermarket variant albeit at a largely inflated price. We offer a non genuine version (www.minispares.com/21A1902MS.aspx), as well as our own manufactured item made to the original drawing (www.minispares.com/21A1902.aspx)

 

 In summary, people have suggested that we aren't interested in the quality, which is untrue.

 

 

 

In a time where come companies are starting to advertise/retail cheaply made brake hoses and ball joints for cheaper than I can purchase a quality item in for, we will continue to buy these items from reputable sources.

 

 

 

This is from your kit that I bought this week...

[JonC]

Great to see this, just today I noticed . My new knuckle joint boots were cracked, zero miles! And several of those sealing rings on the rear swingarms. Delphi it is then, pita to be taking things apart again just to replace new parts...

[Haygate]

I bought some knuckle joints from eBay and they are 100% Delphi, ok maybe not the cheapest but great quality and all correct bags and boxes etc.

https://rover.ebay.c...tm/302004553161

Need to see if any auto factors locally sell the stuff now, eBay is just convenient.