George Cole Posted May 24, 2023 Share Posted May 24, 2023 Has anyone had any association or dealing with Rock Valley Antique Auto (RVAA), in Rockford, IL? A while ago, I responded by phone to an ad for fabricating 2 gas tanks for my 1919 and 1920 Cole cars. Only one of my cars came with a tank, and it was in extremely poor condition. It was badly moth-eaten, and seams had been cut apart by a previous owner intending to repair it. I spoke with RVAA Steven, and then picked up contact with him through email. He confirmed they could fabricate a replacement tank using the pieces I had as a template. He said they had an 8-month backlog of work. He requested I send them my tank, and he would give me an estimate and put me in their waiting que. I sent it to them and have email confirmation of their receipt. Months dragged by and email contact names changed to 'Rock Valley.' Then COVID hit. After hearing nothing for months, I emailed them again and got a response that they had moved and lost many of their customer's files. However, they confirmed still having my tank (I had written my name and phone number on each piece with a Sharpie,) and would get right on making the 2 tanks for me. He/they said they would contact me as soon as they were done. The next several weeks again dragged into months, although we exchanged several emails where they requested additional clarification on what it was they were supposed to be doing. More months went by and I got responses there from Zach that they were still working on my tanks and he would let me know when they were done. And then all communication ceased. Although RVAA what appears to be an active website, they no longer respond to my email queries. Phone numbers I have for them now give messages that they've been disconnected. I found an 800-number for them but it went to an answering machine. I left a message for a call-back, but got no response. I've got a gut feeling that I may be screwed out of my irreplaceable gas tank. So back to my original question, if anyone has had contact with RVAA or knows what's going on with the company, please either respond here or give me a PM. Thanks, George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Gariepy Posted May 24, 2023 Share Posted May 24, 2023 rockvalleyantiqueautoparts.com website shows a copyright of 2019. Not a good sign. might help you to find someone local to drive by? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarNucopia Posted May 25, 2023 Share Posted May 25, 2023 If you look on the Illinois Secretary of State web site, it shows they filed an annual report last week. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobileparts Posted May 25, 2023 Share Posted May 25, 2023 If you google his name, this phone number comes up —- 815 - 399 - 5311 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restorer32 Posted May 25, 2023 Share Posted May 25, 2023 Hope it works out. They have done good work for us in the past and just last week we talked about sending them measurements to fabricate a stainless tank for a str**t r** project we are completing. I quess we will wait and see how your problem shakes out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Cole Posted May 25, 2023 Author Share Posted May 25, 2023 15 hours ago, Peter Gariepy said: rockvalleyantiqueautoparts.com website shows a copyright of 2019. Not a good sign. might help you to find someone local to drive by? I'm headed that way next week...first to the European Luxury Car show and tour at the Gilmore, then to Chicago for a couple of days. So yes, I plan to stop by there myself, but was first trying to find out if anyone else has dealt with them recently before going another 100-miles our of my way from Chicago to Rockford and back. Thanks, George 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Cole Posted May 25, 2023 Author Share Posted May 25, 2023 6 hours ago, mobileparts said: If you google his name, this phone number comes up —- 815 - 399 - 5311 I googled Rock Valley Auto Parts and came up with phone numbers 815-645-2771 which gives a response that the line has been disconnected, and number 815-645-2740 which gives some sort of weird tone, and 800-344-1934 where I left a message on an answering machine and did not get a response. I'll try your number 5311 number today. Still, as mentioned in my OP, I've emailed them multiple times over the past few weeks and also got no response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAKerry Posted May 25, 2023 Share Posted May 25, 2023 There is an article in the recent POCI magazine. Rock Valley merged with someone and changed their name to CO-LIN Metals Fabricating, inc. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonDup Posted May 25, 2023 Share Posted May 25, 2023 Looking at the CO-LIN website it looks like they have moved to the address previously used by Rock Valley 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K8096 Posted May 25, 2023 Share Posted May 25, 2023 (edited) Try this e mail address: rvroddin@aol.com I communicated with them 2 years ago and this is the e mail they used. Please let us know how you make out as I’d still like to have them make me a gas tank. Edited May 25, 2023 by K8096 (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Cole Posted May 25, 2023 Author Share Posted May 25, 2023 1 hour ago, K8096 said: Try this e mail address: rvroddin@aol.com I communicated with them 2 years ago and this is the e mail they used. Please let us know how you make out as I’d still like to have them make me a gas tank. That's the email address I've been using which they are no longer responding to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobileparts Posted May 25, 2023 Share Posted May 25, 2023 George, 100 miles extra ONLY —- I would make the trip…. Nothing like showing up in person…. Don’t use A N Y threatening language… then you are at fault…. Try and deal in a manly fashion and hopefully that will work…. Craig….. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Cole Posted May 25, 2023 Author Share Posted May 25, 2023 2 minutes ago, mobileparts said: George, 100 miles extra ONLY —- I would make the trip…. Nothing like showing up in person…. Don’t use A N Y threatening language… then you are at fault…. Try and deal in a manly fashion and hopefully that will work…. Craig….. Of course to everything you said. However, I wanted to try and find out what's going on prior to showing up there. And if by some miracle it all falls into place, i could pick up the tanks in person rahter than paying another couple of hundred to have them shipped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Gariepy Posted May 25, 2023 Share Posted May 25, 2023 http://www.co-linmetals.com Co-Lin Metals Fabricating Inc. We recently moved: 5295 28th Avenue Rockford, IL 61109 Same address as the old company: Rock Valley Antique Auto Parts, Inc. 5295 28th Avenue Rockford, IL 61109 PRESS RELEASE ON OLD SITE FROM 2019: ROCKFORD, IL – Co-Lin Metals, a full-service custom fabricating shop expands its customer base with the acquisition of renowned Rock Valley Antique & Street Rod Auto Parts, located in Stillman Valley, Ill. since 1971. Co-Lin has served the greater Rockford and Chicagoland area for over 55 years as a specialty metals fabricator, excelling in custom parts, stainless and custom weldments. “Rock Valley Antique Auto sells tens of thousands of parts each year direct from their Stillman Valley location, and we are thrilled to consolidate our two manufacturing facilities to even better serve auto enthusiasts”, exclaimed Co-Lin President Stephen Hedlund. Both Co-Lin and RVAA work with a wide range of materials and employ highly skilled fabricators. RVAA manufactures and distributes a full line of components, accessories and ready-to-install kits for vintage vehicles, specializing in the manufacture of stainless steel reproduction gas tanks and gas tank accessories. In 1981, they seized an opportunity to duplicate the original gas tank from a 1934 Ford, named “Best New Product of the Year” by the National Street Rod Association. Today, Rock Valley Antique Auto remains the largest fabricator of stainless steel reproduction gas tanks. Hedlund adds, “Their inventory stocks more than 8,000 parts for both Ford and Chevy models from 1928 through 1976, with a product line that includes everything from access doors and battery boxes to dash boards, grilles and running boards”. “The combination of the two workforces will accommodate engineer patterns for custom applications in any car, truck, boat and tractor, formed from high-grade materials, state-of-the-art machining and rigorous performance testing for every product sold”, states Co-Lin Vice President Michael Hedlund. About Co-Lin Metals Co-Lin Metals was founded in 1958 by the Cottrell family. Father and son team Michael and Stephen Hedlund purchased the business in June of 2015, specializing in custom industrial cabinets, machine guards, custom weldments and stainless steel weldments and working with a wide assortment of materials, including carbon and aluminum. Based in Illinois, Co-Lin is equipped to produce custom fabrications in any quantity to meet customer’s application needs, specifications and finances. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Cole Posted May 25, 2023 Author Share Posted May 25, 2023 Okay, here's the latest. First, thanks mobileparts for the updated phone number. All of the old numbers I had no longer worked. Yours did. After a couple of diversions to an answering machine, I got 'Michelle' who passed my message to Zach, who said he'd return my call when he got back into the office. He did, and we spoke a few minutes ago. After telling him I've emailed and called multiple times with no success, he said they've been having problems. He profusely apologized for this dragging on for so long and not getting my tanks done. I reminded him I had sent them my only tank, which had been cut into several pieces, on 4 Sept 2020, almost 3 years ago. Since that time, we've exchanged many, many emails, with them continually telling me, "We're working on them." That was until January of this year when they no longer responded to my queries. He said they've done the engineering drawings for the lower half, but since their move, have not been able to find the upper half pieces of my tank. He asked if I have another tank which i can send...which of course I don't. I told him I had taken pictures of each of the pieces before sending them to him, so he asked me to send the pictures and they will use them as reference to again look for the rest of mine. I told him I had written my name and phone number on each piece with a sharpie, so if they have it, it shouldn't be too hard to find. He said they'll get right on it. I told him I'll be in his area somewhere around the 7-8 June and he said I was more than welcome to stop by. So again, thanks to everyone for helping me get this back off of top dead center. I'm heaving sighs of relief that my one-and-only unobtanium tank has not gone to never-never-land. Regards, George 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobileparts Posted May 25, 2023 Share Posted May 25, 2023 George, Sounds like it has a good possibility for positive results…. 99 % of us in this hobby are ” family “ and only want the best for all of us…. Keep us informed on how your trip to Rockford, Illinois goes… I would go, and schmooze, and shake hands even, so they know you think nothing about ” stopping in “ …. Best to you…. Craig …. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walt G Posted May 25, 2023 Share Posted May 25, 2023 (edited) I too wish you well and can totally appreciate you apprehension about where your gas tank ( or any part) may be . Orphan old cars that have not been manufactured for a century are a lot to cope with and to have a "missing" part that you once had is understandable upsetting. You are just trying to preserve history! have your car whole again to drive down the road. All my best, and as Craig mentions keep us informed of how you are making out. 1 hour ago, mobileparts said: 99 % of us in this hobby are ” family “ and only want the best for all of us…. ABSOLUTELY Walt Edited May 25, 2023 by Walt G (see edit history) 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Cole Posted August 20, 2023 Author Share Posted August 20, 2023 (edited) Success! I visited Co-Lin/Rock-Valley on 8 June. Zach stopped what he was doing and gave me his undivided attention for over an hour. We walked through the factory, where seemingly over a half-dozen employees were involved with making tanks. We went out back and dug through a very large mil-van, full of what appeared to be scrap tanks. Lo and behold, there was the major part of the tank which I had sent to them. it still had my name, email address, and phone number, which I had written on it with a Sharpie. No sign of the tank top piece or strap which I had also sent them. Zach agreed there was enough of my tank to use as a template for fabrication of 2 new ones. He said he'd get draftsmen on it immediately, and then fabricate my tanks. There was some confusion on the figure-8 design of the filler neck and gauge. I told him to disregard trying to duplicate them. Just send me the tanks and I will figure out how to cut them for the filler neck and gauge. He asked me to email pictures of my one last strap which they could use to fabricate 4 new ones. Last week i received 2 large boxes via UPS, each with a new stainless steel tank...massively packed in foam. I haven't been able to do anything with they yet as I'm recovering from 3 spine surgeries within a 30-day period (21 June, 26 June, and 19 July.) And if that's not enough, the good Lord's suffering committee must have said something like, "He's coping rather well with the spine issues...let's take out an eye." So I got hit with eye shingles on 1 July. So like I said, per my spine surgeon's directions, I'm giving my back time to heal, and recovering from the eye shingles. Note to all: If you haven't had the shingles vaccine, GET IT. Even if you got it a few years ago, it's changed, so get it again. It's a two-part vaccine, at least 90-days between the shots. I didn't know the vaccine existed. So here's the two pieces of ratty old tank which I sent to Rock-Valley. We found the bigger piece, but not the top piece which had been cut away. Zach used the bigger piece to fabricate my new tanks. I also sent them one of my 2 tank straps. Two are used for each tank. It went the never-never-land way the top piece of my tank did. So I sent Zach pictures of my remaining strap. I told him I could probably fabricate them myself if necessary, although the curl at the end might pose a challenge. Here's the strap picture I sent to Zach. Here's the tanks I received, complete with bottom drains and side pick-ups. He sent me 2 do-it-yourself fill and gauge neck sets. The straps he sent were nothing like the original strap I sent them or the pictures I sent. They were bent to the contour of the tank, but the attachment curl on the end was not there. Nor were the attachment holes drilled. Also, the new tank strapping is significantly thinner than the original straps, so I may be looking for different material to start from scratch with them. Such is life. Need to get my back patched back together and my eye back to normal before I can do much of anything with them. George Edited August 20, 2023 by George Cole (see edit history) 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert G. Smits Posted August 21, 2023 Share Posted August 21, 2023 6 hours ago, George Cole said: I didn't know the vaccine existed. Don't know about your individual state but in Texas you can go directly to your local pharmacy for the shots without seeing a Physician. Also ask your pharmacist what other immunizations are recommended for your age group. You do not have to be exposed to someone with shingles to acquire it yourself. Anyone who has has chickenpox carries the latent virus which can be reactivated by multiple factors including stress or anything which effects your immune system negatively. Sorry for getting off topic but I am sure George would agree that shingles is something to avoid. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Cole Posted August 21, 2023 Author Share Posted August 21, 2023 1 hour ago, Robert G. Smits said: Don't know about your individual state but in Texas you can go directly to your local pharmacy for the shots without seeing a Physician. Also ask your pharmacist what other immunizations are recommended for your age group. You do not have to be exposed to someone with shingles to acquire it yourself. Anyone who has has chickenpox carries the latent virus which can be reactivated by multiple factors including stress or anything which effects your immune system negatively. Sorry for getting off topic but I am sure George would agree that shingles is something to avoid. This is not off topic. Getting eye shingles massively affected my ability to enjoy the antique car hobby. I've cancelled attendance at several shows and other venues because of it. It's been 7 weeks since I came down with it, and I'm still limited in what I can do with my cars. Initially my right eye was swollen shut for 6 days. The shingles med finally started working and I was gradually able to open the eye and start seeing light and dark shadows. Although most of the symptoms (huge black blisters which covered my forehead, scalp, and eye,) are gone, I still have eye pain and constant headaches of 3-4 on a scale of 1-10. The pain has been somewhat mediated by the max dose (600mg p/day) of Lyrica which I'm now taking. Now I'm dealing with that drug's side effects. My optometrist says the shingles symptoms can last for 6-12 months. That's 6-12 months of affecting my ability to enjoy the antique car hobby. Most likely the shingles was brought on by stress from my first failed spine surgery. I had 5 ruptured discs in my lower back. One had my spinal cord compressed and displaced by over 50%. The surgeon tried replacing the worst 2 by putting screws into my vertebrae to hold them in place. He said the bone crumbled like rotten wood. He did the best he could, but the new discs blew out the following day...worse than they were before. Three days later he brought me back under the knife for a kyphoplasty procedure, wrapping those 3 vertebrae in 'cement', then rescheduled me to redo the spine surgery 2 weeks later. That's when the shingles hit. The pain from it was the worst I've ever experienced in my life. The good news is the 3d spine surgery worked...the surgeon was able to screw into the 'cement' and fix a wire cage around those vertebrae to hold everything in place. I'm slowly getting better...walking a mile each morning now without a walker. Two more weeks of 'limited duty', and I should be able to crawl under cars and up under dashboards again. And as I said, although my eye pain and headache are still significant issues, I'm dealing with them and trying to get on with my life. GET THE SHINGLES VACCINE, unless you want to give up a year of your life and your ability to enjoy the antique car hobby. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHuDWah Posted August 21, 2023 Share Posted August 21, 2023 2 hours ago, Robert G. Smits said: Don't know about your individual state but in Texas you can go directly to your local pharmacy for the shots without seeing a Physician. Also ask your pharmacist what other immunizations are recommended for your age group. You do not have to be exposed to someone with shingles to acquire it yourself. Anyone who has has chickenpox carries the latent virus which can be reactivated by multiple factors including stress or anything which effects your immune system negatively. Sorry for getting off topic but I am sure George would agree that shingles is something to avoid. The CDC publishes a schedule of recommended vaccinations by age group: Adult Immunization Schedule by Age 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAKerry Posted August 21, 2023 Share Posted August 21, 2023 George, On the lighter side, I am glad you finally got your tanks back. I know that has been an ordeal. So sorry to hear of your medical issues. I was wondering why its been awhile since I have heard from you. Hopefully its all behind you now and things can only move forward at this point. Glad to hear you are getting back to walking on your own. My brother in law had shingles a couple of years ago, he was in his late 60's at the time. Said the misery was beyond what he could imagine! Mom (shes 85) got it last spring, and surprisingly only lasted a couple of weeks. She was very fortunate. I am about to hit 60 and have thought about getting the vaccine, this will prompt me to do so. I can do so at the local grocery store pharmacy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Cole Posted August 21, 2023 Author Share Posted August 21, 2023 For those of you naysayers and non-believers, here's what I looked like the first day my eye was swollen shut..2 July. Now here's what I looked like on 11 July, with my entire forehead, eye, and scalp covered in blisters. Now, think about playing with your cars in this condition. At this point all i wanted was for the extreme pain to subside...which it didn't start to come down until I started getting mega-doses of Lyrica, several weeks later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAKerry Posted August 21, 2023 Share Posted August 21, 2023 YIKES! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert G. Smits Posted August 21, 2023 Share Posted August 21, 2023 George, thank you for mentioning the condition that is preventing you from being active in the hobby. Many of us are meticulous regarding maintaining our cars but ignore our own health maintenance. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JACK M Posted August 21, 2023 Share Posted August 21, 2023 My mother had the shingles and made me promise to keep current vaccines. She is long gone now, but I won't break that promise after having to watch her suffer that pain. I have heard more than once that it's the worse pain ever. Glad you are over the hump. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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