BuickNut

Ok Mr. buick714..so you took a shot with my back turned....are you so "challanged" to think as a vendor, I am going to buy them for the over the counter price, pay shipping, and sell them for the over the counter price, thus at a loss ? Yeah...that would be real smart on my part as a vendor. Understand I was talking as a V-E-N-D-O-R TO V-E-N-D-O-R price for a bulk of the items...not wanting to buy them singularly for cars I wish to put them on. You offered them as a "lot" of a couple dozen.... Yes, $50 is fair if I were to buy ONE for myself...but not at bulk prices (...ok...mouth the words slowly...). Go to any parts auction, any vendor in Hemmings selling out his inventory of any quantity, ANYWHERE, even swap meets, and offer to buy parts from another vendor in bulk, and you generally pay $0.10 on the dollar for them. It takes too long to sell them, no matter how hot the product or part, to pay anymore for them in bulk - they sit on the shelf for quite a long time before they're sold.<P>Look, I'm uspset not because I can't get a reasonable price VENDOR TO VENDOR FOR A BULK LOT (how many times do I have to say that ??), but because here is a classic example of someone wanting to make a killing, going against pricing rules of thumb...and driving the cost of parts up. I have a lot of cars on que for restoration...and I don't like the fact it has become an INVESTIMENT and not a HOBBY anymore...that's why I am making such a fuss about this. Like I said...go into any parts store and tell him you have a bulk of carbs to sell for $50 a piece and hear the laughing from the buyer. And you who bought the carb from him for $50...if he sells them to another vendor for $50 apeice....mmmmmm, think you can get that same carb for $50 ? I think not....think maybe the price might go up ? Tell you what, you hold off on buying the carb from him, wait until I buy the lot, I jack the price up to $75, and buy them from me !..now wouldn't THAT make financial sense for the both of us ? Yep, I chose not to buy from him...my choice, his carbs, etc. Yes, he'll sell them, on a singular basis...but not as a "lot"...unless its to Kanters. Do you notice anybody else standing in line on this thread to buy the carbs...on a BULK basis, at that price ? If he wasn't interested in selling to vendors, at some type of bulk discount, why put in his initial message "dealers welcome" ? I offered to quit my whining about this.....until there were some pot shots taken.<P>[ 11-21-2001: Message edited by: BuickNut ]<P>[ 11-21-2001: Message edited by: BuickNut ]<p>[ 11-21-2001: Message edited by: BuickNut ]

I have the following for sale:<BR>1959 Buick (all) Body Service Manual ($20.00 plus shipping)<P>1963 Chassis Service Manual (for Special, Special Deluxe, and Skylark) ($25.00 plus shipping)<P>Drop me a line if you have need of these

Pontiac version was the Firenza and the Olds version was the Starfire. The only difference between all 4 versions was the grill and the engines. Chevy was the only one available with the V8.<P>Yeah, smart lookng cars and fun to drive. It is a shame there aren't more around. Those that are, most are cobbled up, tubbed, Chev BB stuffed in, etc........

I agree about using gradually larger drills, and then finish with the needle nose pliers...however, I was never good enough to get the darn hole centered and started in the middle of the bolt But its definately a good trick to use and practice until you can do it right...just make sure you don't drill through to a passage of some type...oops !

Ditto on the easy out. At one time I would have, and did, recommend using them - but heard TOO MANY stories about the easy outs breaking. They are hardened, and can't be drilled out - so your stuck once they break in the hole. Stick with drilling and retapping the hole....life will be much easier that way

Looks like I'm in trouble when I pull some of my cars out of storage for restoring. I did the brakes and lines completely in my '49 Super and '73 Century GS, and used silicone brake fluid in both. They've spent extended periods in storage without being run or moved ....looks like I'm going to have to redo the brakes all over again.

I had, ten years ago, a 1978 Buick Skyhawk with a 4 speed, and V6. It was terrible in the snow, but a fun car to drive otherwise. I very much liked the looks. I barely see anymore of them through. At one time, I started looking for one - but couldn't find one even when looking nationwide through Autotrader. I saw one for sale not too long ago, and was EXTREMELY tempted - but it was an automatic, and I very much feel that car and engine setup screams for a 4 speed (better yet, 5 speed if you could figure the swap) to get any performance out of it. I had the car for 6 years, and drove the heck out of it. Some of the engineering on it was terrible - you had to partially lift the engine in order to change the starter ! Also, per typical GM - the plugs (only 2 of the 6) were difficult to get to. Otherwise - fun car.

I see you live in CA....I would die for that kind of weather all year round. While the wife drives a '97 Pont Transport (will never get her convinced of the reliability of the older cars....), and I drive an '86 Ranger 4x4 V6 most of the bad whether time, I did drive my '67 Ford Wagon (oops...did the fact that I have a Ford slip out ???...) as my everyday car back and forth to work, to my parents in OH, etc....and it worked well except for some few times (3 over 2 years) where starter went, or something dumb on my part, and had to be trailered. Truthfully, I try to get my old cars into my everyday routine as much as possible (the '49 Buick, '70 Caddy conv, and '73 Century GS are still awaiting restoration to get into the thck of it...). Since with ANY used or new car, you know SOMETHING will go wrong that will put it in the garage or dealers soooner or later...why not make it an older car and like the Old Guy said...have more fun with it, more smiles per mile, and MUCH more attention

Even if the fuel pump were rebuilt with modern materials on the diaphram - todays fuels, especially dependant on where in the country you are - are literally hell to deal with. Even with todays new cars - some areas have lots of problems with fuel systems being eaten because of the additives in the fuel. I rebuilt a pump with all new guts, new material for the diaphram, new valves, etc - it worked one year, the next spring it had to be replaced. Rule of thumb - always have an extra with you on the road just in case ! Typically the 2 most common problems are installation error (pump arm not riding on the eccentric) and the diaphram material being eaten away.

I'm through..... Per carb, on a singular basis, that IS a good price....very fair. Per carb times a couple dozen at that price ? Good luck......

1) Assure gas tank has sufficient fuel <BR>2) Assure line in open between pump and carb<BR>3) Assure fuel pump arm is engaged and riding the eccentric lobe<BR>4) Assure there are no minute leaks in the fuel lines (even a small one will cause pump to suck air instead of fuel<BR>Good luck<P>If you pull the fuel pump off, hold the pump and work the arm (use your weight to do this..) and you can hear its sucking air, then the pump is probably working and you have problems elsewhere in the syste.

Talk about poor business practices....I would be rather foolish to buy them from you for $50 apiece, and try to sell them for $50-$70 apiece on EBAY or Hemmings. How would I make up for shipping (carbs are appx $7-$10 apiece to ship..maybe $3-$5 in bulk). Course that would do you all sorts of good - but me, or the poor fool who might pay out the posterior if I were to jack MY price up to make up for your price ? I'd never move them to make a profit. Again, classic example here of why the hobby has become so expensive. And in the 20 yrs my dad has been in business and advertising through Hemmings - he has always found the rule of thumb in selling vendor to vendor to be true ......yes, 10 cents on the dollar. Heck, for NEW parts through parts stores, they pay 25 cents on the dollar. I work for a Tier 1 Auto Supplier to the big 2 and little one....and thats 25 cents on the dollar too. Try walking into a parts store and telling the buyer that you have a couple of dozen carbs to sell him for $35-$50 a piece.....I can hear the laughing now. I even worked in the furniture industry - and we only got 25 cents on the dollar from the dealers. Consequesntly, for older parts, that don't move as quickly as new parts, I consider the 10 cents on the dollar rule justified....and I didn't make up that rule....its generally the going rate - unless of course you have parts for Pierce Arrows, or Mercedes, or the like. Again, you must deal a lot with Kanters. Sour grapes on my part for not getting the price I wanted? Heck no...plenty of parts out there for my price. Upset because someone is spiking prices again ? Heck yeah. Upset because a rookie is passing himself off as a seasoned vendor ? Heck yeah.

My dad may be able to help, he may or may not have NOS...but you won't have to pay top dollar for it either - he's reasonable with his prices. Call him at 419-433-3773 in Ohio.<p>[ 11-12-2001: Message edited by: BuickNut ]

Mmm...obviously some rookies here. Look, no offense intended, but as I understood, you were selling some (couple of dozen)in quantity. Rule of thumb, from vendor to vendor for that amount of parts, is that generally, a good (fair to both) is 10% of the going vendor to customer price. Other parts I have bought vendor to vendor previously, the parts were at that price - my dad has been selling fuel pumps, tune up kits, electric parts, etc. for 20 years - and that is the rule of thumb. If you want to make a killing on them, and you opt to NOT follow the rule of thumb pricing - they are your parts, sell them to who and for what you can get them for. My earlier suggestion that if you want mucho bucks, and want a one sided deal - sell to the big places. Though why you even hestitated to sell them at that price, to the other big vendor, is beyond me. Vendors are in business to make money - I am in that same situation with selling parts - I don't plan on just giving them away - but I believe in being fair too. One could make an assumption about the ongoing increasing costs of the hobby due to increasing costs of parts (mmm, imagine that.....)of vendors ? Perhaps you wanted to give us small vendors a break and let us have them for that same big price ? Truthfully, I have seen them go for the price you quoted from vendor to buyer (depending on condition)...so I believe I am correct in that you are searching for a killing....so please do the rest of us a favor and SELL to the big guys like Kanter's.....<P>[ 11-12-2001: Message edited by: BuickNut ]<P>[ 11-12-2001: Message edited by: BuickNut ]<p>[ 11-12-2001: Message edited by: BuickNut ]

As you said....we have a difference of opinion, but still had a good discussion. Guess I'll just end my part by saying I still hold to my guns, but liked the way you held up your point of view - though we disagreed, it was done with a degree of intelligence (...though I think I held up that end more so !!! ....so am I laying it on deep here or what ??? ). It was nice tossing the old banter back and forth...but I still have to ask you a very important question...."tastes great or less filling?" (from the old beer ads....)

Did anybody have to change shocks by chance ? If not, did the shocks tend to bottom out ?<P>ANOTHER choice of lowering the vehicle....load the trunk and frt and rear seating area with bricks.....let sit for 2 years....reverse procedure >>>>>LOWERED CAR ! <P>[ 11-09-2001: Message edited by: BuickNut ]<BR> <p>[ 11-09-2001: Message edited by: BuickNut ]

Just to make sure nobody misunderstands me....I'm not pissed at anybody that has differing opinions with me....I respect your opinions (..no matter how wrong they are ), just I get a little heated about this once in a while. No offense intended to anybody or their opinions.....sorry if it might be coming off that I'm ranting at anybody....by all means want to keeping the conversation civil and friendly...<p>[ 11-09-2001: Message edited by: BuickNut ]

How do you explain the flip flopping of the excuses of the oil companies of the refinery supplies ? There was clear lack of agreement in the oil business's repsonse as to their "supply" problem......first they have one, and then they don't. <P>I believe in supply and demand..yes, sometimes its not always fair...but NATURAL - yes. What causes a price to go up $0.25 from one day to the next ? Did the supply do down that much in one day ? Did the demand go up that much in one day ? Face it, fuel is something that has no "natural" supply and demand. Everybody needs it to go back and forth to work. Its not like a decision of "well, let me see, do I go to work today or not based on the price of fuel" ? Energy is something that is essential to our everyday operation AND livelihood. As such, NATURAL supply and demand do not come into play. I can decide not to buy an SUV based on gas milage, price of vehicle, etc. and buy an ecomony in its stead - not so with fuel. My car requires regular grade gas...I can't opt for a cheaper grade and have my vehicle work properly over the long haul without serious repairs. I can't either pull out of a lease or a loan and get a better MPG vehicle based on the cost of fuel for the day. I can't opt to NOT heat my house during the winter (not gasoline, but natural gas)...I can't opt not to use electricity and walk around with stinky clothes not being washed. If you feel that gasoline goes through NATURAL supply and demand as do other commodities in a capitalistic society - I would strongly disagree. What about things like water ? That also does not follow NATURAL supply and demand. That is something in the future that will also start becoming more and more expensive.....can I opt NOT to drink ? Do only the rich go back and forth to work and have the ability to afford water ? There is SOME control I have over supply and demand - the MPG of my car, etc...but note there are alot of things REALISTICALLY out of my control....with the way jobs move and transfer folk - I may origianlly live close to work - then find myself 1 hr away (..just happened to my sister in law)...do I ruin my finances by selling my house ( depending on the housing market) so I can live closer to work ? Ok....change jobs ? What if there are not jobs closer ? In reality - energy in general does NOT follow NATURAL supply and demand - and that is the crux of this problem and why I'm still bitching !

I read some of the history as to why the staight 8 was abandonded - and alot of it made sense. I'm also glad because we do have the rip snorting 455's today. However, its funny that one of the reasons they went to the straight 6 vs V6 was due to manufacturing and component economy. After all - you only need 1 head vs 2, chew up less horsepower running 1 OHC vs 2 OHC's...and the good thing was they got gobs of HP with the final product - not as much proportional torque as a V-8...but still pretty respectible. One of the newer technology changes they've done recently that make sense as an alternative to a V-6 economy and a V-8 power <P>I hadn't heard of the concept straight 8 chrysler did....if you have anything as to websites, etc on it, please share..it would be neat to see.

Ranchero....no, I'm not one of those people that think that everything is a conspiracy. I do believe in our government, think that basically most are honest folk trying to help their country. However, can you explain the difference between the price over the summer and now ? First the oil companies complain they are being gouged by OPEC....then its discovered oil prices to OPEC haven't risen that much....then they complain they don't have enough capacity with their refiners...thus the supply is short and the demand is high (oh...THIS is the law of supply and demand)...but then somebody uncovers some memos written by oil company folk about volantarily NOT building more refineries because they couldn't use that as an excuse to keep their profits high)...so they change their story again and say they DON'T have a problem with their refineries keeping up with demand...so they quite changing stories, and lower the price to shut people up and thus stop the peoples pressure on congress to hold an investigation....that's my slant on the whole thing. Can you explain why their story has changed so much ? Yes, I believe in democracy, and our financial institutions and the free market and supply and demand and capitalism....but this is NOT fair supply and demand....I still think is price fixing.

Guess I'll have to pass these by then.....generally (and this is 20 years of my dad being in the old car parts business talking.....) when you buy parts from vendors to sell (unless your somebody like Kanters who will sell them for 2 or 3 times the going rate of small vendors...), you generally pay only 10% of the going price over the counter......I suggest you might want to contact those bigger houses you mentioned and sell to them. Guess I was hoping you had a slightly bigger stock and would sell them per the vendor to vendor going rate...... good luck to you

I love the staight 8 in my '49 (smooth as silk), and love the stump pulling torque in my '73 Century GS - however, the V-6's are pretty damn fair (not not muscle, but fair) for most applications today. I've got a '97 Pontiac Transport with a V-6 that does pretty good for the intended use. However, I would still like to see them take the straight 6 they make for the Trailblazer and Envoy and try a staight 8 ! ....and I STILL know that you can take a V-8 with gobs more powere than the V-6s, put an overdrive to them, and get 20-25 mpg.........

Check the thread lower on down the line on this message board. There are numerous places recommended to go to, and if nothing else, give them a call to get some ballpark figures. I would think that a place that has been doing plating would have a pretty good handle on prices for various models bumpers - at least that's what I would expect , maybe I'm wrong ?

Whenever you lowered your vehicle by cutting the coils, did you notice any degradation in either handling or "way too harsh" ride ?

'Scuse me.....I'm still going to [censored] about it until they solve the problem of the oil company monopolies and price fixing....we are just now in the low point of the prices (and WHY did it go so low ????? High test is still $1.30/1.40 around here.......), I guarantee that next spring/summer we'll be bitching about it again......the greedy oil companies/politicians will decide its quiet, so go ahead and raise prices. Don't thing for a MINUTE this is going to last for very long.... The oil companies are smart...they know that now is not a good time for high prices due to the economy and the war - besides, they lowered (???) the prices because there started to be all kinds of start up investigations into the price fixing and the monopolies - no offense, but open your eyes<BR> <p>[ 11-05-2001: Message edited by: BuickNut ]