CHP v.s. DSS v.s. My own kit

If you have a good local shop you trust, there is definitely some benefit in having them do the work for you. Being able to talk to them in person is nice.

CHP - nuff said. I've emailed the owner of CHP, Mark O'Neal, and he has answered all of my questions without trying to sell me something or skating around the real answer. He's got an impeccable reputation for great customer service, and he knows his stuff. Your friend may just be the only person on planet Earth that has had a bad experience with CHP, seriously.

Joe

Could you describe the bad experience?

I think it is probably OK to buy a kit from them, then assemble it locally. Just make sure everything is up to your standards, or else return it.

I have heard of problems with CHP, like a motor that blew up at 6,000 miles I think. It had been open tracked once, but the red line was never exceeded, it wasn't abused. I don't know if it was just the limitations of the stock block, oil starvation or bad parts. As long as you don't settle for bad parts, you can make sure the other two don't come up.

I try to go for brand name american made parts, but that is expensive. I have heard good and bad about eagle, but all good about their cranks (lately). I have heard nothing bad about scat, and they have been around a long time.

What about Bennett racing? Well I guess they're expensive. . .

I don't think Bennett has a house brand of parts. So you have to ask what parts they use. If it's good stuff, that explains some of the expense. If they use Eagle or other chinese stuff, ask them why they chose those parts and how many failures they have seen with the cheap stuff.

Cheap isn't always bad. Chinese isn't always bad, you just need to find the right stuff. For example, China has a large state run pellet rifle buisness. As long as you stay away from products that are made in a few factories, most of the chinese pellet rifles are very accurate and the actions are made from quality material. The bad factories make really cheap rifles, like $20 rifles, and that includes shipment on a boat to the U.S. They work, but they are not as accurate as a cheap crossman, and the finish is very crude.

For another example, China makes the parts for the shop task mill/drill/lathe combination machine. It's the best, most feature packed 3 in one machine on the market. China also makes the cheap harbor freight versions that chatter like crazy if you try to mill more than .005" in one pass.

Economically it makes sense to manufacture things in china. The government will subsidize any new manufacturing plants, so that is almost free, labor is almost free, and in certain places it is free (it isn't good to be a comunist). If you want to make a cadilac or a yugo, they can do it. It's just sad that they are willing to flood the U.S. market with worthless cranks, just because they can, when they could sell plenty of quality affordable cranks for nearly the same price.