Yes Dean has came to me in the past and most likely the other venders, but
he will not give the source of who is doing the work, sending money off to
an unknown source is just not good buss. If he had offered it on a even
playing field it may have been different. Also he is pretty aggressive in
the competing end, which I'd say makes most of the other venders like me
, not wanting to deal unless I have equal info , and control over any
deals...
example;
Dean calls me on early dash caps , I commit to buying 10 , I never get them
, dean's answerer ," I sold them all" well if he hadn't , he'd expect me
to buy the 10 I committed to, I don't want to be a dumping ground for
products Dean can't move.
But Dean is correct it is very costly to set up to have any part made , it
cost the same to have a gear made for a $100,000.00 ferrai as it does a
$5,000.00 roadster. The other problem is the roadster although very rare
is cheap, VWs are cheap , but there was millions of them and so there is a
lot more to market the part to. making trimming gears for 23, 000 max
motors , and then having to sell them for a few dollars , there is no way to
make a profit.
The internet is good for the roadster owners, this group, gives out much
needed information , and does bring prices down, well kind of , On parts
that are readily available this is the case, to the existent that ,. parts
in this category , would take more time to deal with than they can be sold
for . 90 % of the used parts I charge the time to remove the part , box it
and ship it . and then it is still too expensive for most, and that
doesn't even included the cost of storing. Now the hard to get parts, they
have gone sky high, they can be found cheaper, if someone can find then on a
non roadster vender shelf some where. but that is getting hard to do, as
most of the venders are sucking up anything that is left ,just to have
something to sell. Don't blame me though, since my divorce two years ago I
don't have the liquid cash to invest in this , which I will admit sucks, as
I would be doing the same thing if I had the money.
It is capitalism at work supply and demand, Just like another poster
stated he will go where the parts are the cheapest, and the venders will
make there money where they can , and that is in the hard to find parts .
Don't get me wrong I'm not complaining, I'm the same way I want everything
as cheap as I can get it too, :-)
In the early 80s there was very few selling roadsters parts , but as the
decade came to a close the old car market went wild, including the
roadsters, when there is money to be made, more venders will jump in, By the
mid 90s the market cooled and the internet exploded. So now the dwindling
,roadster market share is divided up amongst many vendors, which means no
one is making and real amount of money. and so no vender has the capital to
invest in the manufacturing set up costs.
Add to this now the new parts are disappearing, so soon there will be very
little to be had to sell.
for example in my case, my best year was in 1992, and now I'm doing only
about 20% of that volume in sales. Not all bad though, as now I don't
have to work so hard :-)
Only thing I could suggest is for all to buy up as many old roadsters as can
be found, and save them some where for the future.. Also Buy any extra parts
you can find on the shelves and offer them here on the list for your cost
plus shipping.
Restoration Products
Mike Kerr
PH# 530-644-6777
Fax# 530-647- 0389
Web; wolfgang@innercite.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Fred Schroeder" <roadster@texoma.net>
To: "James M Koken" <james.m.koken@gte.net>;
<datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net>
Sent: Monday, March 18, 2002 2:08 PM
Subject: Re: 2000 timing parts/gears
> > ARE THESE #'S CORRECT?
> Yes, these are the correct numbers.
>
> > HOW DO WE GET THESE PARTS OTHER THAT THROUGH THE
> > VENDORS?
> We don't! Even getting them through the vendors is a good trick these
days.
> I was talking to Dean Apostal at Fairlady Products a few days ago. He
said
> that he had about 10 sets left! Due to the high setup cost, having them
> custom made is out of the question. I asked about all of the vendors
> getting together to share the tooling costs. He said that he has tried to
> do this for different items in the past but could not generate any
interest.
>
> So, how about it vendors? It would result in the parts being pricey I
> realize. But, pricey beats NLA. After all, they ain't cheap now!
>
>
> Best regards,
>
> Fred Schroeder
> '70 2000
> SRL311-13359
> TDROC
> Home page http://home.texoma.net/~sitsinwest/
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "James M Koken" <james.m.koken@gte.net>
> To: <datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net>
> Sent: Monday, March 18, 2002 12:07 PM
> Subject: 2000 timing parts/gears
>
>
> > Dear Group,
> > Was ordering timing components for the 2 litre and my nissan dealer came
> back
> > with NLA on the following Parts:
> > Camshaft Gear 13024 25500
> > timing Gear Jack shaft inner 13035 25500
> > Timing Gear Jack shpft outer 13036 25500
> > Crankshaft Gear 13021 20100
> >
> > thanks
> > Mike Koken
> > Colo. Springs
> > Oh yeh whats the replacement for the lower tensioner?
> >
> > /// datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net mailing list
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> > /// http://www.team.net/cgi-bin/majorcool
> > /// Send list postings to datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net
>
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