>If you can affors it always go for German parts. I fitted a 
Brazilian clutch
> and
>plate in my bus and it wore out in about 14 months...
>                          

I have gotten parts from Brazil, Italy, Spain, and even India(!) as 
well as Germany. I have never had a non-German part fail 
prematurely (hope I'm not jinxing myself!), but whenever I am 
dealing with a part that is labor-intensive to replace, I go German 
just to be safe.  For example, when I bought a master cylinder I 
opted for $30 Brazilian rather than $120 German, because even in 
the event that it failed prematurely (it didn't), I would have to 
replace it 4 times before it equalled the cost of the German one - 
and the master cylinder is very easy to replace, even if I did have 
too.  However, I sprung for the German clutch because if the clutch 
failed prematurely, the whole engine or transaxle would have to 
come out, and that was not worth the gamble.

-Ron Salmon