Has anybody here tried one of these new deck lids from Heartbeat .I bought one and tried it and it wouldn't fit worth a darn . Both front corners where very close and if you tried to adjust it back to fit the corners it had a large gap at the front . Now I could have fixed that no problem , the worst part was at the very back , with the deck lid closed you could put your fingers right in to the gasket , it looked like crap with that large of a gap there . So we tried a couple of buddys lids and they also fit perfect just like My rusty original . I have have just shipped it back to them as they garantee them 100% but I'm out just over $100.00 dollars in shipping that sucks . They take them back but it costs you . They give you a bunch of tech talk but thats not worth crap if they don't fit .
Mark .

If the darn thing don't fit worth a crap they should have to pay shipping BOTH ways. It shouldn't cost you a cent if they 100% gaurantee them!! At least that's what I would believe!!

John

Well John that's what I thought , but when it doesn't cover shipping it can an expensive lesson . The thing that makes Me really made is how He blames it on My car and not the lid . I tried two original 69 lids and one 68 from friends cars and they fit just like My original rusty one I was trying to replace .
Mark .

Keep your friends original and give him the repro.

Well then Mark .... I am sorry for you learning the hard$$$ way about Heartbeat City. Now we all know that no matter how much bullsh*t this guy gives you you still lose in the end. I have looked at some of his stuff on ebay and kinda wondered what he was selling. When I saw that he had a ZL2 hood for sale ( crossram) for like 4000$ dollars I though he was NUTS!!!! And I think he had a JL8 rear end for sale for 12,000 dollars!!!!!! Yeah.. right.
So thanks for the info, I'm sure we will all store it for furure use!!!!!

P.S. Maybe we should all take up a
collection for you to cover your losses. :)

Oh I think I will recover but it still makes Me mad . I wanted to get this thing in Paint on My Holidays but it will funny without a deck lid . Oh well We will go on from here .
Mark .

Dido on my trunk lid from Heartbeat. Didn't fit well at all. But since mine came bare metal I primed it before trial fitting it. So I'm stuck with it. Decided to fix the original. :-( Oh well live and learn.

Uh, I thought their ad on ebay stated "even if primed and painted" they would accept it for return....



Dido on my trunk lid from Heartbeat. Didn't fit well at all. But since mine came bare metal I primed it before trial fitting it. So I'm stuck with it. Decided to fix the original. :-( Oh well live and learn.

Thanks for the heads up for heart beat. Just deleated him from my online catalogs.

Well its good to here that its not just mine that didn't work , they said it was My car not the lid , if so why do GM lids from friends cars fit , He wouldn't even talk about that . But please do return it if He gets more poeple sending them back maybe we will all get are shipping back .
Mark .

How hard is it to find a used one? I'd take good used sheetmetal over repro any time...

Boy if I could find an original deck lid for this car without filler or rust I would buy it right now .
Mark .

If these are so crappy, who in the world would pay 400 bucks for one??? I see nice original ones all day long for a hundred bucks or less.........oh well, you know what they say about a fool and his money!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1968-1969-Camaro-SS-Z-28-RS-Trunk-Lid-USA-MADE_W0QQitemZ4562093752QQcategoryZ10076QQrdZ1QQcm dZViewItem

Surprise, surprise, thats the way to get rid of " blems and misfits"

i know whos parts i wont be buying. someone should email them a link to this :)

:rolleyes: Oh yeah, his repo deck lids dont fit, so that means all his stuff is crap, yeah right. Gimme a break, I have bought repo stuff from Heartbeat and it fit just fine (full rockers and outer wheel wells). I am not doubting the lid doesnt fit, but to judge the guy by this isnt right.

Don't get Me wrong Jonesy I'm not saying anything about repop stuff quality wise or fit , this Whole thing started with Me just seeing if anybody else had purchased one of these lids . I got pretty ****ed off when He told Me it was My car that was out , now how could that be when the car had a rusty original deck lid and I just wanted to replace it with fresh steel . After He said this I tried three other lids from buddys cars , two 69 s and one 69 lid , they all fit the car perfectly and He just won't listen at all and comes up with more reasons and that just made Me mad . He sells good stuff and at this point I just want My money back and move on .
Mark .

If you bought it off Ebay i would leave feedback saying the lid did not fit and he wouldnt refund shipping.In the add he says he will refund ALL your money.

Well at this point He says no to the shipping refund , all I wanted was the original $40.00 I paid , it then cost Me $63.00 to send it back , that hurt . Oh well . Thats why you need to ask I guess 100% doesn't mean much .
Mark .

Mark seems to have a pretty good attitude about all this. But I could imagine all the bs he had to go through with HBC to get to this point. It's all about attitude and what most folks without perfect cars have to go through to deal with HBC is just not worth it.

I said this before and I'll say it again, I for one have taken my business elsewhere before I put up with HBC's attitude, EVEN IF THE PRODUCT I'M BUYING IS INFERIOR!!! They are not the only place in town, just convienient and very expensive.

Well at this point He says no to the shipping refund , all I wanted was the original $40.00 I paid , it then cost Me $63.00 to send it back , that hurt . Oh well . Thats why you need to ask I guess 100% doesn't mean much .
Mark .

I agree with Stope.... I'm glad you're not getting all bent out of shape. Live and learn I suppose, and take everything at face value.

Let's move along folks.... there's nothing to see here.
:thumbsup:

A real test! I have a second 69 Z all original quarters. I will take the Heartbeat trunk lid any try it on the original Z and try its on Z number one.
This will tell the tail.
BTW: Spoke to Jim at Heartbeat and seems to be a very stand-up guy. Will take back my lid even though I primed it. I will not hesitate to deal will him again.
Test results to follow:

Looking forward to your test results.

I have bought several items from Jim, but no repo stuff, and most before he got so ridiculous on prices. Never had to send anything back. With sheet metal, it is possible to get a "bad run", and perhaps the first ones he had were as perfect as he says. Who knows.

At any rate, if the parts are truly inferior, he should pay shipping both ways.

BTW, can anyone remember any repop part they ever purchased that really was exactly as the original? I am sure there are some, but for the life of me, I can't remember seeing one. Even if Rick's or Classic says "technically correct" or "exact", it never is.

Lynn

OK, here's what seems to be the problem with the HBC lids. I removed both cars org lid and installed the HBC. It seems that the pass side can not be pulled down far enough to keep the top gap consistent accross the entire length of the trunk lid. This was the same on both cars. The corner is so tight on both that it would chip the paint if either car had any. I will be sending these pics to Jim from HBC per his request. Anf if you could pull down the lid to get the correct gap across the top the side gap would enlarge from top to end of trunk.
Is this where you other guys had the problem with HBC trunk lids???

Yes Mine was very tight in the corners , but when the trunk was closed you could stick your fingers in the gap just above the lock , and with the original you could just get the tip of your finger in there , maybe a 1/4 inch gap when closed .
Mark .

Marky mark, stop crying and tell the real story about your crappy save a dollar, repro quarter installation.... Wonder why you couldn't get your money back from HBC as your CRIED all over the web, before trying to get your refund....

As for the HBC policy, I too also confirmed, that the trunk lid was returnable, even if I painted it. This is still Jim's policy today as I write this... Since Jim doesn't have time to "PATROL" these boards and speak for HBC, I wanted to make sure everyone knew some facts..

As for the trunk, I have 2 69 camaros, one with original quarters, one without, but NOS replacements. The trunk lid fits both cars exactly as
the original one I had, no issues. I did have to readjust the trunk lock on another car, my friends, he had some goodmark quarters on the car, with a good installation, the trunk lid was just ok. I took my original trunk lid and it still was just ok on his car...

If you lined up your car and did not use an original trunk lid when putting
quarters back on etc, to measure, your going to have problems, unless you
pickup a cheap repro..

Ccognetta -

All I have to ask is what would motivate you to join this board today, search through posts weeks and months old for Heartbeat City, and then post six times either defending HBC and trashing one of us, or perform shameless marketing for the HBC crossram setup.

We can all get along. You said in another one of your posts that Jim doesn't have time to "PATROL" this board. Have you volunteered to do it for him?

HBC is a business, and will end up taking lumps just like every other business. Please don't jump on us because you have a chip on your shoulder.

I also noticed that all of a sudden we have someone without a public profile pop up on the site, post a total of 6 times (at the present) and everyone of them has something to do with HBC and how wonderfull they are. Whats the interest and connection to HBC?

I'm not here to bash any vendor but would like to add to this topic and tell my experience. I've tried a few times to bid on a particular part that keeps popping up every few months from HBC on ebay. The auction was ID private (of course) and I bid what I thought was a very fair price for the part ($132). This is a rare part but not a popular one for A/C BB Camaros. At the last few seconds of the auction a higher bid was entered (nothing unusual there) and I lost the auction. A month later the same part, same description, one of a kind in this condition description, same photo. I stayed out of the bidding this time and it went for $68 which was sniped at the last minute again. I started to get suspicious about this part so I followed up every few days to check the feedback to see if it was actually sold to a "real" bidder and if he was satisfied. Both times I never found feedback (to date) for that part. I know, maybe none was left. I have a hard time believing this part was sold for a very low price. In addition, the part will come up again every couple months. I just get the feeling no matter what is bid for the part, it won't be really sold until enough money is bid for it. This is almost like a built-in reserve. Of course, this is only my opinion and my gut feeling. I could be totally wrong, who knows, but maybe others have the same suspicion.
Now, to be fair about this, the part may have been sold to a real bidder both times (two exact parts in same condition, using the same photo, and describing it as "you will never find another one in this condition") and everybody was happy but no feedback was left (happens all the time). Or, it was a deadbeat bidder and the part was relisted. I'm not bashing here, only telling my experience and watching these no reserve auctions closely.

I decided to simply call Jerry MacNeish, and buy NOS with no bidding or BS. I'm extremely happy with the product.

OK, here's what seems to be the problem with the HBC lids. I removed both cars org lid and installed the HBC. It seems that the pass side can not be pulled down far enough to keep the top gap consistent accross the entire length of the trunk lid. This was the same on both cars. The corner is so tight on both that it would chip the paint if either car had any. I will be sending these pics to Jim from HBC per his request. Anf if you could pull down the lid to get the correct gap across the top the side gap would enlarge from top to end of trunk.
Is this where you other guys had the problem with HBC trunk lids???

They must all get them from the same source then. I got mine from Goodmark and it has problems exactly as described. I need about a 1/8th of an inch of width on both sides and if you pull the passenger side down to meet the tail/quarter corner the gap is an 1/8 wider at the top than on the drivers side and if you set up the gap correctly across the top the corners are too tight. I have goodmark replacement quarters on both sides and the nos lid fits fine but is rusted out so bad at the rear lip it is unusable.

Steve

Just my two cents. I did win a HBC bid for a GM fender for a little over $500
A good deal in my eyes. Fender was perfect. I sent my trunk lid back and UPS shows it arrived yesterday. So far Jim has been a pleasure to deal with.
The trunk lid would have fit my one camaro but not the one I needed it for. The lids are really close to GM.

I live in Jims area and have visited his shop a couple times. He is very, lets just say rude. He thinks he is THE Camaro God and we are just a bunch of dummies. I checked out his ratings on ebay and all the negitive responses he got he responded by saying "learn to read" or "I can't help it if you don't know what your talking about". That's what he'll say to you right to your face. It's really bad BUT sometimes he has parts people can't resist. I think in the end he is a pure JERK and I know he is a fake on Ebay saying he has great customer service.

I agree who is Ccongetta? When I first joined the board I read alot before I got into posting then I asked more questions (probably became a pita) then as I got more comfortable and knowing more of the posters I would get in on the other postings. But to just join and sing praise and bash others who had honest gripes NO. I would like to know the angle ior s it someone from HBC acting as a honest buyer? I too have follwed alot of the HBC eBay auctions and I too have seen the same patterns. It made me stay away as I to had a gut feeling. I never looked at from your angle I figured it was someone close trying to up the price and hope that you would get caught up in the bidding craze and bid alot more than it was worth just to get the part. We all have done it from time to time bid way more than its worth just to seal the deal, and keep others out. I have seen some unreal prices on stuff from people doing that. Heck I could go pay retail plus 10% in some cases and still get off for less than some have spent. I also know that if I have a bad experiance I leave it in the feedback. I know it takes time for some to leave feedback but generally good honest sellers leave it for you as soon as the deal is made and money recieved. If they dont it makes me wonder. I have a friend who waits 89.8 days to leave negative so they cant respond and wont slam him just to get even. But he leaves praise as soon as he recieves it in described condition. I too have called them on the phone and after getting off felt like I was not to their level or thats how they made me feel. We had a fire in our shop a few years ago and lost alot of vintage/rare Camaro parts and I will tell you his prices really came in handy for the insurance company. They asked me for a price list and I gave them their web site and phone number. After depriciation I came out about what you would actually pay. LOL. I better quit now though before Dennis or Al chasitze me and close the post or move it.
Mike

Z10Joey,
I had the same situation as you. A few months back, HBC had a complete front set of the 4 piston calipers, rotors, spindles, brake lines It was a ready to go package with a promise of (high Bidder will get first shot at the Rebuilt JL8 rearend (not a service package either.) I placed a bid at the beginning, Just to test the waters, was out bid but I waited tell the end and did another bid of like 2800.00 Way more then its worth, But I wanted this setup and what do you know???I was outbid.... Then a few months later he had the whole JL8 setup on ebay for 12K and it was the same setupon the front. Bad thing about is, I had considered bidding the package, cause 1 of my pace cars is within 1 week of that rear end date, but I refused to bid/buy from him. I just dont have time for people who fell they can cheat other people.
But since he has the #40 ZL1 for sale, Maybe I need to change my ways??? I will be a walking zoombie though, I need my sleep.. (lol)

looks like to me the guy that's new to the forum has some knowlage about these lids and states that even if you have aftermarket 1/4's witha good install the lid will only fit ok. With that said and most of us using aftermarket 1/4's the market for this lid seems limited to those of us that have or can afford N.O.S 1/4's and only ones that have an installation done a certine way. This guy/gal seems to be the expert here and we are all here to learn right.

What have I learned today. That I can only afford crappy aftermarket 1/4's and being such that this lid would be a total waste of my money. I have also learned from him that if I do have or could afford N.O.S that if my install were not installed around some blue-print to this trunk lid than it's a total waste of my money. Goodmark and Ricks or ??? Here I come when I need this part.

Thanks to new contributions from a new member here we can all rest easy that we will not spend our hard earned $$$$ on stuff we can't use. Ahhh that's what this forum is all about the help full exhange of useful information. Gotta Love this place. :D

Joe

Does anyone have any actual width measurements to post from the lid they have. I have a Goodmark bought two years ago. The new Goodmark catalog is now listing two different 67-69 lids. One just for 69 models listed as standard quality and one listed for 67-69 as "Improved Quality" for about 15$ more. I am sure I got the old style standard quality as there was only one offered back then. It could be about a half inch wider to fill the gap better. It would be interesting to see what others max width measurement is for comparison.

Steve

Well, My trunk lid arrived at HBC. Even though I packed it in double bubble and filled the box with "popcorn" the trunk lid arrived bend to hell. So HBC was sorry to say no refund. Did anyone ever try to bend a corner of a trunk lid to make it fit? You really have to work it. But UPS shipping bent the corner down so bad that the lid is unrepairable. So no refund from HBC. Still not sure I believe this story yet, I am trusting by nature and that works against me more often the I would like to admit. What I do believe is that I spend $328 plus 30 shipping back to HBC for nothing. Supposedly Jim will give me a good deal on something else I need. So let me think. He has my deck lid and $328 and now I should spend more money?????? I am calling him tomorrow and I fear he will show himself as a rip-off. I hope not and will post this transaction honestly. If the offer is to get 25% off my next purchase I WILL NEVER have anything to do with HBC again and he shows himself as what he is. My brother is a lawyer and wants me to work with UPS under insurance fraud as he thinks HBC bend the lid on arrival as not to have to pay the refund. MarkC lid is supposedly damaged as well with no refund. Maybe he was smart and had it insured. So we'll see tomorrow what HBC is all about. Rip-offs or a decent business trying to make a honest buck.

Okay, my mint early 67 trunk lid I just got is 51 13/16" on the rear edge, and 54 3/16" on the widest part near the forward part of the lid. I have my other 2 original lids and the dimensions seem to vary by a 1/16" or so. Does this help?

Wow, what a difference. The trunklid I got from Goodmark in August of 2003 measures:

51-5/16 across the edge of the bottom lip.

54-1/16 across. Measurement taken at the start of
the curve at the top.



Steve

Hopefully it was insured and you can get your money back from from UPS for the item and since they hosed up the shipping maybe the cost of that also. Might be a blessing in disguise??

Steve

I don't understand why anyone would deal with this shop.

Not that this will help but the UPS delivery person can take a beating on damaged deliveries. Ask him or her if the lid was damaged when delivered.

By the way, don't ever try to buy a big block shroud from him, site unseen. He may send you one that was severely cracked but repaired. Then have him tell you that it can't be seen when installed. Of course, he saying this with an attitude wondering why you would question the near perfect part he sent you. Yea right!

Oh, by the way, did I forget to ask why anyone deals with this guy? Let him have his perfect and sometimes questionable perfect parts! I wouldn't even consider buying his perfect cars. Everything he has is worth nothing if no one will buy.

I dealt with HBC once in the early 90's and that was it for me. I've got a 'GOOD' '67 SS hood in my garage from Jim that isn't worth the time it takes to throw it out. Rusted out with hood pin holes = GOOD in Michigan. My mistake was that I waited about 10 years to blast it to see how bad it really was. I contacted Jim and had my original receipt and shipping paperwork. All I got was told to 'shut up' and hung up on. I've got the pics and e-mails to back it up.

I bought a '67 3.73 12 bolt posi with the traction bar bracket that turned out to be a 3.08 with a bent tube and wasted axles. Fortunately, I had Tom's go over it and send the info back to. At least I got a new Richmond 3.73 gear set out of him.

My friend, who I warned in advance, bought a 'NOS' header panel from HBC and it arrived bent and damaged. He was told that it was UPS's fault and that HBC wouldn't refund the shipping. Fortunately he stuck to his guns and got a full refund.

If anyone knows John Alley in So. Cal, he can tell you some stories as well.

All I can say is BUYER BEWARE!

I wish I had read this post before doing business with HBC. I am currently in a situation with them now. We'll see how it turns out before I get into details.

Richard

I had the same situation with a deck lid. It was returned at the end of July and was told it arrived damaged. Because I was claimin git didn't fit my car I was told they would put it on an original Z and they'd send me pictures which they did. In the pictures it doesn't look like the corners are damaged at all yet I was told that three corners were bent. I've been trying to collect on insurance from UPS. It's really going slow and I'm afraid I'm not going to get my money back. So much for a 100% money back guarantee. HBC doesn't lose anything and we don't if we can collect on the insurance. This needs to be dealt with. Mark.

I would think after a while, that UPS would get suspicious after receiving an unusual amount of insurance claims on deliveries to HBC...

Bought a NOS header panel from Headache City. It arrived bent and with a spot weld almost broken through. I contacted Jim at HBC and got his "attitude". He finally agreed to take it back but said he'd have to file a claim with FedEx. The panel was packaged very poorly, just a little bubble wrap and a cardboard box. After waiting several weeks to get FedEx to pick it up, I called them to find the pick-up was never scheduled, so I had to schedule it. Once Jim gets the panel he contacts me and tells me there's nothing wrong with the panel and that's its perfectly fine! The panel had a dent right in the center and a spot weld on the engine side that was almost broken through. Then he tells me that he's looking at three more NOS panels, and that they're all that way, so its ok. He then tells me that the panel is supossed to be that way. What a bunch of crap!!!! So I got my money back and argued with him over the shipping, but he did refund it. Oh, and he also told me not to bid on his stuff any more, but obviously that's something he doesn't need to worry about. So I got my money back finally but it was a major HEADACHE. My advise, BEWARE OF HBC!!!!

I'm still playing games with Him . The other big game player for rusted out junk up in the Pacific Northwest is Don M at Vintage Camaro , this Guy sells Me a trunk lid after I sent the one back to Jim that was so full of Rust . I just can't believe these type of Guys can operate a buisness doing this kind of crap and get away with it , I was told this deck lid was nos but had be painted blue , the inner structure was so rusted , well now the bozo won't give Me My money back . Oh well what goes around comes around .
Mark .

Hey, Mr.Jim Heartbeat City is a first class jerk!!! Do not buy from this man! He really does sell crap for parts!! Been there done that with him!! Well good luck to you Mark I hope you can get your shipping returned! Looks like to me with all the post about him, he's been ripping off alot of guys!! Good Luck!!!! Jimi 69 Z28 X33 Ralley Green, 68 RS Z28 Ash Gold, 68 Z28 ButternutYellow :beers:

The word just needs to get out there more on these Guys , I love the hobby , but this kind of crap can really put some rain in your Day . I sure hope UPS looks into His practices and pours the coal to Him . The one thing that bothers Me the most was He said He wouldn't do anything until I left Him positive Feedback , It then pi$$ed Me off when I see Him refer back to His great Feedback . I;m so wound up now I need a Beer or two .
Mark .

Sounds like you already had a couple of beers, eh, we need to get our facts straight, and present them like they are. 1. A used painted deck lid is never NOS, duh. 2. YOU looked at it, YOU felt it and YOU chose it. 3. It was never shipped, YOU took it in person. 4. YOU blasted it. 5. Nobody ever said they wouldn't take it back. 6.YOU didn't call, 7. YOU left me with a bunch of parts that I wouldn't normally stock. Think about it. It appears that YOU made a bunch of bad choices. There now the facts are out and visible to all. See crying didn't help at all, did it.

And I never returned also , if you had of left the parts out like you said you would it would have worked out in your favour . I left a note on your door , and messages on your machine but still no reply , great to do buisness with you . I'll post the pictures of your mint trunk lid I returned to you .

On the other hand, I have bought many NOS parts from him and got exactly what I expected...NICE STUFF that I couldnt go out and buy just anywhere. To sit here and say that all he sells is crap for parts is ludacris. If you have a problem with him take it up with him privately instead of slandering his name all over this board.

Mark, try Bob at Evergreen Musclecars in Auburn at 253-735-2404. I have bought about $2000 in parts from him and I must say he is top notch to deal with. I have sent quite a bit of business his way cause I think we need to support the guys who know our cars and are good to do business with.

Alrighty then.....
The end has come.

The points (and counterpoints) have been made. I think 2 months is long enough for this thread. Especially since it's serving no more purpose. Folks, let's move on now before it gets any uglier. Please take any differences you have OFFLINE.

Thank you!
:thumbsup: