Hello. I think that I would like to take this opportunity to voice my opinion on Scott Drake's products in as clear and unambiguous a way as I can. I have had to use Scott Drake parts on a car occasionally, and I have never been anything close to ok with how that worked out. Their whiz-bang stainless fuel sending units just plain don't work as far as I've been able to determine. I've tried several, and never did find one that would actually cause the gauge needle to move. On that ridiculous assembly that they call an outside door handle, the first thing that I do now is remove the entire latch mechanism and throw it straight into the trash, then install the 40+ year old Ford stuff, because, even after nearly half a century of use, the Ford stuff works far better than the brand new Scott Drake junk. The button is all sloppy fitting and notchy, hangs up on a regular basis, the clips turn loose of the latch rod or lock rod after closing the door a few times. The 'concous quality' starter solenoids are, again, as far as I've been able to determine, junk. I've seen a bunch of them hang up almost immediately after the installation. Never mind that they aren't aren't anything resembling concours quality. I can tell them apart from a real one from thirty feet away without having my glasses on. They also don't deliver anything close to reliable service. I've had several of the Scott Drake wire harnesses try to set a car on fire because of the dead shorts they had in them. To Scott Drake's credit, it has been a few years since I had one try to ignite the car. Now, all that I have to do is unwrap, re-route and re-wrap the alternator harnesses, along with re-crimping a couple of the connectors. The very best that one can hope for is cheap, shoddily manufactured components that don't work correctly, but won't kill the owner of the car.
There is no way that enthusiasts of any other marque of cars would accept junk like Scott Drake's. He definitely picked the right car line, because the Ferrari guys, the Corvette guys, the Jaguar guys, etc..would have driven him out of business years ago. This is all just my opinion based on my experience, but, I know many other people that have had exactly the same sort of experience with these products. 'Beyond perfection'? I suppose if one is travelling down the slope, it would be well beyond the point at which one passes perfection.
Make a better product. Charge more for it to compensate for the additional production costs. People will still buy it, and, be much happier with it. The Corvette guys routinely pay nearly 300 bucks for a rubber trunk mat like it's nothing. People love their cars, and, given a choice between cheap and raggedy parts or quality components that actually do what they are supposed to, people will buy the better product every time.
veronica well said thank you you really know your stuff when it comes to these mustang and what you have to say i have a lot of respect i wish other people felt the same way
I think YOU are the one who needs to get a life. So far I have seen you bit** about several companies, saying "poor me, poor me, why aren't they helping me". Maybe it is the fact that they are trying to help people around the globe who are trying to restore Mustangs. I have seen you dissing all these companies, but you haven't said a nice thing about ANY company. So the company made a slip up and gave you some bad info or sent you the wrong piece. Here's a thought. Before you buy, get a second opinion, and if they send you the wrong piece, notify them ASAP, not 2 years later. You don't know what these people are going through. For all you know, they have a person on the other line screaming that they are a retard that don't have any clue what their doing. So, take a chill pill, and talk politely to them. Treat OTHERS the way YOU want to be treated. I am 18 and I know to wait for help/ a response before you go running your moth off.
hey man i have no problem with you......but the other guy started running his mouth and for you to jump on the band wagon i think you sould really check yourself ......again i have no problem with you and i,m not going to get smart with you....but you need to have all the facts before you start talking...hey man we are all mustang guys in the end and i want to make friend on the site i,m real serious about that...............so if you have something else to say bad...hey i,m not going to resond to it......
Here we have three different post complaining about different company's. You think just maybe it might be the one thats complaining. Just my two cents.
PS. Not your son, My dad was wise enough to teach me to deal with problems directly, not the back door crying to people that really (REALLY) don't want to here it..
hey........let me get serious....let me say to you...i,m sorry...you are right i,m not your father....i have two sons whom i love very much................but let me to you this.......you were the one with the smart comment ....not me...but thats cool i,m on this site to make friends....not to have bad blood with anyone...i hope that you can understand......and i will promise you i will never write anything smart in any of your posts....i don,t want everyone to agree with me on everything and if i need to be corrected thats fine i,m open to that.....but its a way to say and do everything.....and when you got smart...then i got smart back and thats not good...again i want to make friends....and if you don,t want to be friends then thats cool to.....hey man take care......allen
I think YOU are the one who needs to get a life. So far I have seen you bit** about several companies, saying "poor me, poor me, why aren't they helping me". Maybe it is the fact that they are trying to help people around the globe who are trying to restore Mustangs. I have seen you dissing all these companies, but you haven't said a nice thing about ANY company. So the company made a slip up and gave you some bad info or sent you the wrong piece. Here's a thought. Before you buy, get a second opinion, and if they send you the wrong piece, notify them ASAP, not 2 years later. You don't know what these people are going through. For all you know, they have a person on the other line screaming that they are a retard that don't have any clue what their doing. So, take a chill pill, and talk politely to them. Treat OTHERS the way YOU want to be treated. I am 18 and I know to wait for help/ a response before you go running your moth off.
there are good company ....like npd, mustang unlimited,blue oval industries,and classic auto supply in victorville
Sorry to sound like I am siding with him, but I feel I have to stick up for the other side. Where I used to work, I was always getting yelled at by angry customers, and it got really tiring. I know there are good companies and bad ones out there. And actually, I am starting to have second thoughts about scott drake as well. Several items I have (including lock knob grommets, console wood grain, etc) are really bad. The woodgrain keeps coming up on the console, and I am on my third set of lock knob grommets. I was just looking through your pictures and I have to ask, how many rally-pacs do you have?
Sorry to sound like I am siding with him, but I feel I have to stick up for the other side. Where I used to work, I was always getting yelled at by angry customers, and it got really tiring. I know there are good companies and bad ones out there. And actually, I am starting to have second thoughts about scott drake as well. Several items I have (including lock knob grommets, console wood grain, etc) are really bad. The woodgrain keeps coming up on the console, and I am on my third set of lock knob grommets. I was just looking through your pictures and I have to ask, how many rally-pacs do you have?
Hey man I can respect that and I have no problem, with what your saying. I worked at a parts place also, and I used to get yelled at too. So I do understand, as for the rally pacs I have one that is white it is a 6000 rpm and I have a black one that is 8000 rpm. My pony interior in my 66 Mustang GT is turquoise and white, so my rally pac has to be white. I am thinking about painting the black one white. If you ever get a rally pac do not get the scott drake version. When you turn on your dash lights they wont be the same as your rally pac. These two that you see on my profile, are made by Blue Oval Industries there rally pacs light up the correct way, they will look the same as your dash lights. Those guys are really nice over there.
allen
I agree, Scott Drake parts are just barely adequate nothing special and certainly not NOS. So the reason is WHY, is it that hard to manufacture parts that are as good or better than NOS. There is nothing all that amazing about FORD parts, with the exception that they fit and fit properly. I sent these guys an email with the same or similar comments that you made and frankly I got no email. However Scott Drake called my office. So what, I dont want to talk to anyone I just want the parts they make to be worth the amount they charge. Also, little things that really burn my muffler, they dont include the screws for most things, why, they cost almost nothing, and they would make it easy for the person buying the item to finish the install without looking for more screws. Sounds kinda trival but I found the screws for a few items I needed and the cost was totally absurd, as in way too high for what they were. The shift bezel, no screws, inside door and window handles, no screws, and that list goes on and on. I used to own two factories in Taiwan where many of these parts are made, these people do good work if you demand it to be, but I think Mr. Drake suffers from the make it cheap, they will and they also only want to get paid, they have no interest in the parts other than money so you have to stand on the factories. If I wanted to do as Mr. Drake I am SURE that I could get better parts made, and made for the same or less than he is paying. But they are a company, they have a bottom line and when they tork people off, they will eventually pay the price.
These guys are also in Las Vegas, about 15 minutes from my office, you would think I could go over and get what I need, NOPE you can not you HAVE to go through a dealer, total horse hockey, I can buy from Sony, and lots of other companies that have dealers, I would spend more with this company if I could pop over, order what I wanted and be a happy camper, but no, they have some perverse idea that dealers ADD something to the product. NOT TRUE, they all list the same thing on EBAY and the price is the same, etc etc. There are not a lot of people trying to make mustangs here in Las Vegas, but there are 40 million people who come here every year, would it not be a great thing if instead of going to the casino you could take an afternoon, go over to the Drake headquarters, meet those who want to be met, get the parts you want, and at least spend some of your money on something of supposed value. But NO they must not have any idea of what customer service really is.
Enough, moving on. I will try and find NOS parts when I can, dont care about the cost, they fit better and are worth the extra money.
I agree with Veronica and if she had a company making parts I would buy everything she made for my car, no matte the price. She has been an immense help with my journey to restore a 65 coupe. She is the encyclopedia mustangia, she always know what to do. I dont so it works great. Scott Drake parts are junk, so Now I spend time at swap meets looking for all the goodies I can find, clean em up, restore em and sell them. But I end of up giving them away most of the time to people just like me who are not happy with the Drake line of product.
Hi again. Why, thank you, Mike. That is very sweet of you. If I was in the business of making parts for these cars, you wouldn't be able to tell them from NOS, and they would provide years of reliable service, just like the originals did. You certainly wouldn't see foolishness like the screw holes in the taillight bezels that I made didn't line up with the screw holes in the taillight housings that I also made. How does that happen when you're making both pieces? I can see how maybe the studs on the back of the taillight housings don't line up with the holes in the car ( which they don't) for the first run, but, to continue having that be the case just makes no sense to me at all. In my opinion, the bottom line is that Scott Drake makes worthless junk, he knows that he makes worthless junk, and, he just doesn't care, because, on a lot of this stuff, he's the only game in town. The saddest part of the whole thing is that his brother, Bob Drake, makes components of the very highest quality. He's a very meticulous and careful man with one simple standard for his parts. If it isn't perfect down to the most trivial of details, it isn't good enough and will not bear his name. But, he doesn't make Mustang stuff. He does older Fords and hot rod stuff. I bet those two made for some interesting Thanksgiving Day dinners.
I think it is funny that people think that the vast majority of customers are willing to pay more for the right parts. If that were the case I would be making millions, but the fact is the majorty of people will buy a mirror for $29.99 five times in place of spending $59.99 once for the correct mirror. I see it every day, with dealers purchasing overseas products as opposed to US made products that fit. I could go on and on, but the mods will blow me out.
Check out my blog for some cool side by side's with US made and Asia Made parts. http://calponycars.blogspot.com/
__________________
Mike
I've had 60 cars....most of them Mustangs :-)
Last edited by Calponycarsmike; 05-18-2009 at 02:45 PM.
Reason: added link to blog
I agree, Scott Drake parts are just barely adequate nothing special and certainly not NOS. So the reason is WHY, is it that hard to manufacture parts that are as good or better than NOS. There is nothing all that amazing about FORD parts, with the exception that they fit and fit properly. I sent these guys an email with the same or similar comments that you made and frankly I got no email. However Scott Drake called my office. So what, I dont want to talk to anyone I just want the parts they make to be worth the amount they charge. Also, little things that really burn my muffler, they dont include the screws for most things, why, they cost almost nothing, and they would make it easy for the person buying the item to finish the install without looking for more screws. Sounds kinda trival but I found the screws for a few items I needed and the cost was totally absurd, as in way too high for what they were. The shift bezel, no screws, inside door and window handles, no screws, and that list goes on and on. I used to own two factories in Taiwan where many of these parts are made, these people do good work if you demand it to be, but I think Mr. Drake suffers from the make it cheap, they will and they also only want to get paid, they have no interest in the parts other than money so you have to stand on the factories. If I wanted to do as Mr. Drake I am SURE that I could get better parts made, and made for the same or less than he is paying. But they are a company, they have a bottom line and when they tork people off, they will eventually pay the price.
These guys are also in Las Vegas, about 15 minutes from my office, you would think I could go over and get what I need, NOPE you can not you HAVE to go through a dealer, total horse hockey, I can buy from Sony, and lots of other companies that have dealers, I would spend more with this company if I could pop over, order what I wanted and be a happy camper, but no, they have some perverse idea that dealers ADD something to the product. NOT TRUE, they all list the same thing on EBAY and the price is the same, etc etc. There are not a lot of people trying to make mustangs here in Las Vegas, but there are 40 million people who come here every year, would it not be a great thing if instead of going to the casino you could take an afternoon, go over to the Drake headquarters, meet those who want to be met, get the parts you want, and at least spend some of your money on something of supposed value. But NO they must not have any idea of what customer service really is.
Enough, moving on. I will try and find NOS parts when I can, dont care about the cost, they fit better and are worth the extra money.
Mike
mike thank you.....i know i,m not going crazy now.. for a long time i thought it was just me when it came to scott drake parts and these feeling went on for years with me and i never said anything about it..i just wanted to say thank you i really like what you wrote
I agree with Veronica and if she had a company making parts I would buy everything she made for my car, no matte the price. She has been an immense help with my journey to restore a 65 coupe. She is the encyclopedia mustangia, she always know what to do. I dont so it works great. Scott Drake parts are junk, so Now I spend time at swap meets looking for all the goodies I can find, clean em up, restore em and sell them. But I end of up giving them away most of the time to people just like me who are not happy with the Drake line of product.
i agree ....if veronica had a mustang parts business...she would be the only person i would buy from...i wish i had some big time money$$$$$ i would ask her to do a mustang business with me because she has the love for it... and i feel with her it would be done right.......i have a lot of respect for veronica..A VERY NICE PERSON...SHES WORTH BEING IN THE MUSTANG HOBBY
I think it is funny that people think that the vast majority of customers are willing to pay more for the right parts. If that were the case I would be making millions, but the fact is the majorty of people will buy a mirror for $29.99 five times in place of spending $59.99 once for the correct mirror. I see it every day, with dealers purchasing overseas products as opposed to US made products that fit. I could go on and on, but the mods will blow me out.
Check out my blog for some cool side by side's with US made and Asia Made parts. http://calponycars.blogspot.com/
mike i have done it before to save money.....i,m learning..spend more for the quailty parts.....i wish i could buy from you guys over at california pony parts your parts are great...mike keep up the good work
Allan, sorry I did not reply sooner. Home computer down.
Just so we are clear. You told me you had a clearly marked 1965 Underdash Fog harness but you own a 1966 and it would not fit your car? I agreed it would not fit your car. Nowhere in any of our catalog, Website or anywhere do we say it fits a 1966. You sent me a picture and a part number of C6ZZ-15223-FUD and yes is the correct Harness for your car which I agreed with you on the phone. It is also the only harness that will fit you car.
You initially ordered or were given a 1965 Harness for your 1966 by one of our Dealers and it still seems to be our fault and you are mad at myself/SDM. I am sorry you got the wrong harness and I am sorry when you called one of my salesman said it was all that there was when you could not make it work.
Also when we speaking on the phone you had all ready discovered this on your own that we did make a 66 Harness and you had it in your hand when we were speaking. So what more could I do except apologize that my salesman gave you bad info. We did not initially put the wrong part in your hands and it was not labeled to fit your car in the first place. Anyways I really do not want to go back and forth on this subject anymore. I truly hope you have your Fog Lamps working now and it sounded like your were all ready on the right path when we finished our Conversation on the phone. Otherwise I would have tried to help you out.
I am at work and should be doing other things right now but before I go I would like to state something that some of you may not know. All though we do sell close to 9,000 parts through a Dealer Network. We actually only make a little over 2000 parts ourselves off of our own Tooling. The balance we buy from other Vendors which many times they are the only source and yes sometimes quality is not to OEM specs but that is all that is available.
Somebody above mentioned about about our Tail lamp Bezel pitting. Were those actual Scott Drake Brand (our name is cast into the part) or were they the Taiwan Version that Scott Drake also sells. If Scott Drake Brand I will happlily replace them. These Scott Drake Brand do cost more than double the Taiwan Version. We offer both because their is a demand for both.
Somebody also complained about Scott Drake Door Handles I can tell by his description they are ecomomy Taiwan version that we sell and so does everybody else for that matter. And he is correct that they are far from perfect, but they are good sellers because of the price. But we do also make our own Outside Door Handles off of our own Tooling (our name is cast into the part)and everything about them is better (Chrome, Fit, Hardware), but once again about double the price that not everybody is willing to pay for.
Should we not carry ecomomy parts? and only the best which are always more expensive? We try and give people choices when available and let the Consumer decide.
Regarding solenoids just one supplier of Solenoids and we all get from the same place and failure rate is higher than any of us would like.
We only make a handfull of Wiring harnesses, we buy 95% of them from the same two manufacturers everyone else does.
Not trying to make excuses here for everything but just want people to keep in mind just because it has a Bar Code label that has Scott Drake Mustang on it does not necessarily mean we actually make it. We have very little control over quality of parts we do not actually make.
Anyways thanks to all of you for listening. If you made it this far.
well said 
I think that I would like to take this opportunity to voice my opinion on Scott Drake's products in as clear and unambiguous a way as I can. I have had to use Scott Drake parts on a car occasionally, and I have never been anything close to ok with how that worked out. Their whiz-bang stainless fuel sending units just plain don't work as far as I've been able to determine. I've tried several, and never did find one that would actually cause the gauge needle to move. On that ridiculous assembly that they call an outside door handle, the first thing that I do now is remove the entire latch mechanism and throw it straight into the trash, then install the 40+ year old Ford stuff, because, even after nearly half a century of use, the Ford stuff works far better than the brand new Scott Drake junk. The button is all sloppy fitting and notchy, hangs up on a regular basis, the clips turn loose of the latch rod or lock rod after closing the door a few times. The 'concous quality' starter solenoids are, again, as far as I've been able to determine, junk. I've seen a bunch of them hang up almost immediately after the installation. Never mind that they aren't aren't anything resembling concours quality. I can tell them apart from a real one from thirty feet away without having my glasses on. They also don't deliver anything close to reliable service. I've had several of the Scott Drake wire harnesses try to set a car on fire because of the dead shorts they had in them. To Scott Drake's credit, it has been a few years since I had one try to ignite the car. Now, all that I have to do is unwrap, re-route and re-wrap the alternator harnesses, along with re-crimping a couple of the connectors. The very best that one can hope for is cheap, shoddily manufactured components that don't work correctly, but won't kill the owner of the car.
you really know your stuff when it comes to these mustang and what you have to say i have a lot of respect i wish other people felt the same way
i think you sould really check yourself ......again i have no problem with you and i,m not going to get smart with you....but you need to have all the facts before you start talking...hey man we are all mustang guys in the end and i want to make friend on the site
How does that happen when you're making both pieces? I can see how maybe the studs on the back of the taillight housings don't line up with the holes in the car ( which they don't) for the first run, but, to continue having that be the case just makes no sense to me at all. In my opinion, the bottom line is that Scott Drake makes worthless junk, he knows that he makes worthless junk, and, he just doesn't care, because, on a lot of this stuff, he's the only game in town. The saddest part of the whole thing is that his brother, Bob Drake, makes components of the very highest quality. He's a very meticulous and careful man with one simple standard for his parts. If it isn't perfect down to the most trivial of details, it isn't good enough and will not bear his name. But, he doesn't make Mustang stuff. He does older Fords and hot rod stuff. I bet those two made for some interesting Thanksgiving Day dinners. 
