Has Anyone Ever Bought From This Company ?

[Mark Gregory]

I saw this company and have never heard of them . They seem to have hard to find parts .http://www.mykmlifestyle.com/Antique_Automotive_Parts.html

Edited January 2, 2016 by Mark Gregory (see edit history)

[Terry Wiegand]

I too would like to know more about this company.  They show certain condensers that look like what is used in one of my Buicks.  If anyone knows about this company, please let us know on here.

 

Terry Wiegand

South Hutchinson, Kansas

[dl456]

Km lifestyle is the old Atwater Kent Co.

I've never been able to find out the reason for the odd name change but some

of the old people are still there.

I have never purchased from KM but I have from Atwater.

They did provide some tech data on an old ignition system so we could fabricate some parts

that were not available.

I would call them and talk to them.

Dennis

[Beltfed]

I purchased an item from this company for my 1938 Lincoln Zephyr. The part looks and operates as orginial. The sensor is a King-Seely type. Talked to the guys at the company and was pleased with their knowledge. Pricey but where are you going to buy a piece of technology that went out with silent films.

[JV Puleo]

I suspect that the owners of the Atwater Kent name objected to their use of it. They weren't the same company. The original company went out of business many years ago but its quite possible that the corporate registration still exists and someone has rights to it.

[midman]

I bought a King Seely sender from them a few months ago. Expensive as mentioned but good quality.

[dibarlaw]

midman:

 I collected and restored Atwater Kent Radios for many years before the Buick bug bit me.  Atwater Kent was at one time the largest manufacture of radios in the world. They had their start with the manufacture of small electrical appliances in Mass. They started to manufacture ignition systems to replace the early unreliable systems around 1905. By 1920 with other companies supplying original equipment systems (Delco, Eiseman, Bosh, North East etc.) to auto manufacturers they turned to the new technology of radio. Working through radio's 1920s boom years, they were producing over a million radios a year by 1928. They located in Philadelphia where several of the original buildings are still standing. The company went out of business in1935 when the work force wanted to organize. A. Atwater Kent shut the plant down, sold the fixtures and retired to California. He was known a lavish party giver within the movie colony until his death in the late 1940s. He always had a collection of high end cars. At the state museum in Harrisburg PA. there are several of the early (pre 1910) cars which he kept over the years.

 Keep us posted on the progress of the 96S.

[Dave Mellor NJ]

There's still an Atwater Kent Museum in Philly around 4th and Arch.

[broker-len]

Hey Dave     it/s Bob Romano      have not had my cars out this summer     how are you ?  still have the A

[Guest AlCapone]

I purchased an ignition coil / starter switch from them about a few months ago. Yes it was very, very expensive and I did not find them very friendly or responsive to my emails or telephone calls. Wayne

[Terry Wiegand]

Mr. Capone, could you please tell us what vehicle you purchased the coil/starter switch for?  Would you mind giving us a ballpark price of what you paid?  You see I'm looking at one of their condensers for one of my Buicks.  I'm not filthy stinkin' rich, however, when a person has two options - NOTHING and a HIGH QUALITY PRODUCT, the decision gets narrowed down pretty quick.  Several folks have said that they have dealt with this company and the thing that just blows me away is that NOT ONE of these people have complained about the quality of what they got.  In my opinion that speaks volumes.  Every day that the sun comes up ignition/electrical parts for the vehicles of the teens and early twenties is just that much harder to find.  I know of two NOS, Delco, threaded post distributor caps that sold for $900.00 to one person last year.  If a person needed one of those caps to just make the engine run it would have been cheap at twice the price.  I want to make the decision of what some may consider 'pricey' for myself.

 

Terry Wiegand

South Hutchinson, Kansas

[dl456]

Terry,

As you know expensive is a relative term in our hobby. I have purchased from Atwater and the price was about what I

expected. Not Napa , but reasonable for a 100 year old part that I needed.

The last time I spoke with them, I needed parts they no longer had available, but they produced

prints of the distributor and specifications for the springs free of charge.

i would give them a call.

I don't know what year your Buick is but have you called Jim at Special Interest Auto. He just supplied

cap, rotor and points for  my Mitchell with Connecticut ignition.

 Dennis

[Terry Wiegand]

Dennis, thanks for your input here.  I did call the folks the other day after reading the initial posting.  I spoke with a fellow named Mike and I was very impressed with his knowledge of what I was asking about.  I have a 1916, 1920, and a 1922 Buick and all have the 6-cylinder engine.  The '16 and '20 use the same Delco distributor cap and rotor.  I have been gathering ignition parts for over 20 years for these cars and there are just a few items that I feel like I really need to get.  I have 5 NOS Delco caps for the '16 and '20 plus what is currently on the engines.  I have 2 NOS caps for the '22.  I have boxes of NOS starter and generator brushes for all of the cars and several dozens of the BIG headlight bulbs for the '16 and '20.  The '16 and '20 use a coil that sets atop the starter/generator units and is referred to as a 'mailbox' coil.  As everyone knows these coils are exposed to repeated cycles of heating and cooling and over time will gradually fade in strength.  I spoke with Mike about the possibility of them rebuilding and/or rewinding these units for me.  He assured me that they can do this as this same style of Delco coil was used on Harley-Davidson motorcycles in the same time frame.  I am a huge fan of originality on the Buicks and finding someone to help with this area of the ignition system has me feeling almost giddy as they say.  I think a lot of folks simply do not realize the critical aspect of obtaining these early ignition parts.  One could have a completely restored automobile and go absolutely nowhere with it simply because it cannot be made to run for the lack 2 small parts - a cap and rotor.  Well, that's my story anyway.

 

Terry Wiegand

South Hutchinson, Kansas

[Guest AlCapone]

Mr. Capone, could you please tell us what vehicle you purchased the coil/starter switch for?  Would you mind giving us a ballpark price of what you paid?  You see I'm looking at one of their condensers for one of my Buicks.  I'm not filthy stinkin' rich, however, when a person has two options - NOTHING and a HIGH QUALITY PRODUCT, the decision gets narrowed down pretty quick.  Several folks have said that they have dealt with this company and the thing that just blows me away is that NOT ONE of these people have complained about the quality of what they got.  In my opinion that speaks volumes.  Every day that the sun comes up ignition/electrical parts for the vehicles of the teens and early twenties is just that much harder to find.  I know of two NOS, Delco, threaded post distributor caps that sold for $900.00 to one person last year.  If a person needed one of those caps to just make the engine run it would have been cheap at twice the price.  I want to make the decision of what some may consider 'pricey' for myself.

 

Terry Wiegand

South Hutchinson, Kansas

i

Approximately $550 dollars.

[startergenrebuilder]

Terry,

You called me recently, but I can't recall if it was on this issue or not. Either way, I can rewind the original coils you are talking about. It would be a true restored and rewound coil and not a modern coil hidden inside. let me know if I can help.

Good Luck,

Jason