580148

[billw]

Is nothing sacred? I always knew the Sierra version of these points wasn’t very good. I was running out of used sets of OMC points to clean up, so I spent the “big money” and got some “OEM” 508148 points. Eee-gad, they are worse than Sierra!! I had to grind an entire 1/8″ of spring off the end, just so the little copper-colored clip would fit right and the spring tension has got to be THREE TIMES what it should be. What total crap! When we farm this stuff out to the Chinese, the least we could do is confirm the quality. First it was the coils, now this.

Long live American manufacturing!

[bobw]

Did they come in a genuine BRP box? The OEM points were always noted on the box as Made in Turkey and never had any problem with those. Hope they haven’t changed suppliers.

Bob

1937 Champion D2C Deluxe Lite Twin
1954 Johnson CD-11
1957 Evinrude Fastwin 18
1958 Johnson QD-19
1958 Johnson FD-12
1959 Johnson QD-20

“Every 20 minute job is only a broken bolt away from a 3-day project.”
"Every time you remove a broken or seized bolt an angel gets his wings."

[garry-in-michigan]

The poor quality of outsourced parts is what killed OMC in the first place.

[fleetwin]

I have noticed that the spring end on these points is just a little too long, but the dimple on the copper retainer still fits in hole on the base so haven’t worried about it…. I have never had any experience with aftermarket points, so can’t really compare. But, I’m sure the quality of this part is probably of little concern to BRP, which is such a shame. BRP should realize there is profit in the OEM parts business, along with customer goodwill and loyalty.

[Mumbles]

You don’t have to trim the spring. Just slide the copper continuity connector on from the top. Works perfectly!

As for the spring tension, what did you compare it to? Another new set or a used set? Quite often when reusing a set of points, I’ve pulled the spring back to increase the pressure as the springs seem to relax over time.

[billw]

These springs were so strong that normal tension would have been achieved by just letting them sit against the side of the coils! As for the spring length, there is a dimple in the copper colored clip that is supposed to sit in a hole in the point set’s stationary piece. Side ways or from the top, there was NO WAY that was going to happen without grinding them off. And yes, it was an OEM box. I will have to check whether it was new old stock OMC or BRP. Not sure about that, now that I think about it. They WERE the goldish color and came with a wiper, as is the custom with OEM points. They were NOT just Sierras that somebody stuffed in a box. Sierras are silver.

Long live American manufacturing!

[amuller]

What is on the box doesn’t necessarily tell you a lot about the quality of what’s in the box (!), or who made it…. It’s a common observation that automotive points are not of the quality they used to be.

I suppose the reality is that when a part was going into new production, there was incentive to QC it as warranty returns might result. But stuff going into maintaining old motors likely doesn’t rate the same attention. Inspecting stuff seriously is expensive.

[jeff-register]

Twenty some years ago I helped do the electrical in a local High School. The light fixtures were labeled “Made in USA. Wrong!! The cardboard box was made here, not the lighting fixture as it said Made in China. Bought Tuna lately? It is up 33% overnight. More chicken!!!

[Author]

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