Kanter vs Egge for engine parts?

[Guest]

At Hershey last week Kanter and Egge were represented. Catalogs show engine rebuild kits about same price with Egge throwing in a few more parts for $1650 vs Kanter's kit at $1175. Egge makes a lot of its own stuff, including pistons and claims to use modern equipment to improve on old specs. Would appreciate hearing comments pro or con, or if there is some other outfit I should consider. This is a big job and like Kanter says, I want to do it once and do it right. Thanks.

[Guest]

I can't tell you about complete kits but I bought pistons and rings for my 1930 Pontiac from Egge and have over 17 years at 1000 miles a month without any trouble. I put a set of their king pins in at 99,000 miles in 1959, and had to replace them in 1998 at 430,000 miles so some of their stuff is pretty good.

[BuickNut]

I would check some other sources than Kanter. They are EXTEMELY expensive when compared to other places and smaller vendors....mostly double the price. Look through Hemmings Motor News (they also have a website). You may have to go to 2 or 3 vendors to get what you need (generally you can get overhaul gasket sets, and overhaul engine parts as kits but each from a separate vendor). I would honestly never get anything from Kanter unless I absolutely couldn't find it anywhere else. Aside from whatever suppliers they go to for new parts - they also go to smaller vendors selling out of their stock to fill their inventory as well. So I doubt that you will get much better quality going to them vs a smaller vendor....so I don't think going to them is consistant with doing it right the first time. Just make sure you get parts that are made from reputible companies which the smaller vendors may have - they may actually have better parts than Kanter - you just might have to shop around some. Just my 2 cents worth as I have noticed their very high prices over the years.

[86 2dr.ltd]

About Canter - How about front end kits? I figured their complete kits were not much more cost as just the bushings would be for 70's B body.Are their front end parts of poor quality?

[BuickNut]

Concerning Kanter's, I didn't state that their parts are of poor quality - just that they are terribly expensive when you compare them to most vendors (with relatively little shopping around) you can find either through Hemmings Motor News, Cars and Parts, etc. (other restoring mag's). Their parts are probably of no better quality than the other vendors either. Keep in mind that there are many parts stores, Pep Boys for one, actually has a lot of older car parts for vehicles back to the 60's - that probably have many parts such as front end (though you would probably have to order them separately and talk to the counter guy, or see what Kanter offers in their kits and order the same type of parts....). I have run across vendors that have sold their inventories to Kanter's - and they mark them up a whole bunch when you compare to what the vendor sold them for to their customers. If you want to go with them- they are an easy shop as they have much in kits - but you pay for that "service".