VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Vendors & Suppliers - Parts Filling Station

I just got my montly newsletter by e-mail from The Filling Station today. They purchased a pile of NOS parts from a Chevy dealership that closed. These items are for sale. There is a link in that newsletter to get you to the list of parts. I tried to link to it but could not, maybe some one else also received it, and could link to it.
Thanks
Woodbutcher

Mine opened, showed 219 items,

The link worked for me too!

the link was ok for me

Sorry, What I meant to say is I could not post the link in this post.
Thanks
Woodbutcher

The Filling Station just sent me an e-mail stating they don't deal in NOS parts. Interesting.

I just wish they'd send me the parts I ordered about three weeks ago.......<sigh>

Probably are parts not in stock, but I'm getting anxious !!

Now......if you don't think the internet has changed EVERYTHING and if you think The Filling Station isn't the BEST vendor in the world, listen up:

I made my previous post more in humor/boredom than anything else, as I had submitted my order to The Filling Station with instructions to ship the order only when complete.

Well, about 10 or 15 minutes after I made the post, my phone rang and it was Steve from The Filling Station !! He said he saw my post and told me they were short one item and asked if I still wanted to wait or should he short-ship the parts he had.

WOW!! Is that Customer Service or what? I spent most of my working life as a Customer Service Rep and let me tell you, that is A#1, world class customer service !!

Now I have to decide if I want to add the tapered roller bearing conversion set that's on sale for my '37 to the order - hmmmm, maybe I'll have to make a phone call back to him tomorrow..........

Thanks, Steve!

Go to fillingstation.com about have way down the page is an NOS listing. This AM there was about 229 items.
Thanks
Woodbutcher

I agree completely. I order from the Filling Station frequently and have received superlative service and quality parts every time. AND they support our club! Good guys.....

All the Best, Chip

if it wasn't for the filling station. my car would be just a hunk of rusting metal.
two thumbs up for the filling station.

The FS has one of the best inventory's that I know of, but my last experience did not reflect their usual excellent service. Those that followed the 32 water pump kit thread are aware of problems of quality with the past kits.While I can't fault them for the kit quality I was less than satisfied by having to make several calls from N.H. to OR. about it due to the lack of a call back.When I did get to speak to Steve Kassis about it I did not get the impression of any genuine concern.I explained that when we discussed that only three seals(needs four) were included he insisted that three was all that was needed and I would have no problems with three. It lasted about 150 miles and upon disassembly I found the seals wiped out due to the shaft being too rough. At this point I would have expected a reply of: I am sorry you have had a problem. This is what I can do for you- and then a solution or offer of some sort. What I got was-"well, what do you want me to do for you?".I resisted the urge to tell him what to do with his kit and I responded that I would like him to personaly check out the kit and get it fixed so others didn't have the same problem. Its my understanding this has been done. Its easy to be happy with a vendor when things go well, but its how they handle a problem when things aren't going well that makes a lasting impression. I will continue to purchase from them, though after this posting I expect all parts to be out of stock.

Hello Guys,

A little background on making parts for our vintage cars. As a few of you know I make some of the parts which Steve K. sells and some of the other club members make other items which Steve K. sells as well. The problem is we (everyone in the hobby) don't have record as to what Chevrolet did over the year as well as the after market guys. Everyone thinks that mid year changes is something new, not really I can count about 3 right off the top of my head which happen in 32. The other problem which we have is the fact that your dealing with many different suppliers to Chevrolet. These suppliers most likely followed some kind of specifications but did not necessarily make the part the same as the other guy. Take the case of the 32/33 horns, some have a seam and some don't. The same thing applies to internal parts like your water pump bushings. When you get ready to make something, you think you have it all figured out but then you find out there are really 2 types of water pumps, then there are 3 and it sounds like there might be 4 now. Unless you know every change that Chevrolet did from 1929 to when every they quit making this part your not going to make everyone happy. Case in point your water pump. So when Steve asked what he could do to make you happy, then you should have told him. He opened the door for you.

So I guess what I’m trying to say here, we should all be happy that there is someone out there like Steve willing to make parts and take the risk to make the parts. It really takes a lot of money up front to make some of these items and then you might sit on them for a few years until you get your money back. Some of you know Les Stone, started Bow Tie, he had money tied up stamping tooling for years before he got it back. Any way we can only make parts to the best of our abilities and to what information that we have.

By the way, I get great service from the Filling Station.

Bruce

I couldn’t agree with you more Bruce. I’ve worked around welding fabrication and machine shops all my life. Ever since I can remember we always had welders, lathes and milling machines in the basement or garage. Later my brother and I had our own fabrication/machine shop, which was in business for more than twenty years. After my retirement the thought occurred to me that I could do some work in my home shop since I had collected a good group of machine tools over the years. Even working with the low overhead that I have now, the short production runs just barely pay for the materials and upkeep on the equipment and you can forget a lot of the labor. It’s not like there is a big demand for 10,000 pieces of a typical parts for a 49 Chevy pickup or 38 Chevy Coupe. In reality a run of 100 pieces for most items that you would reproduce for the restorer is more realistic and even then, like you say, it may take years to sell them all. When you figure in the cost of making the tooling that’s often required to form, stamp, punch, align, fixture an item during manufacture there just isn’t enough volume to absorb it.
I’ve built open wheel midget and sprint car part and experimental airplane parts over the years and never could produce parts in very short runs that would make money.
I presently have a biplane with less than 100 hours flying time on it and the engine, a Pitts Special that I built with $20,000 in 1983 dollars, that I can’t even get a nibble on for $20,000 in today’s money. Labor you say? 5000 man-hours of labor, which I will have to give away. People seem to expect you to put all the time and effort into making something for them and then just give it to them. Try asking a doctor or lawyer or financial planner for a little advice and just for 10 minutes of their opinion you’re gonna have to shell out this weeks allowance.
It always seemed to hold true, that the ones that made the most money were the ones that were the tightest when it came to buying the parts or labor that you had to offer, I suppose when you think about it, that’s why they had the most money in the end.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Steve from The Filling Station here. I recall the conversation we had about the water pump kit. We had just changed suppliers on the kits. The previous supplier used rope type packing, which took only three pieces. I was, unfortunately, mis-informed when we spoke. You were correct, 4 pieces were required and are now included with the kits. You told me you had aready had a new shaft made for your pump and it worked fine. After our conversation I immediately called our supplier and told him of the problems, which he has corrected.

I am not looking for sympathy here, but everyone needs to know that we have over 19,000 inventory numbers and over 350 suppliers we deal with. Our coverage of parts starts at 1916 and goes all the way to 1987. Keeping track of each individual supplier and part quality control is an overwhelming job at times. This was one of those times. If I seemed less than cordial, for that I apologize.

One thing that I can tell you is that a direct result of this problem has been that we are developing a bearing type water pump for 1929-1934. This new design will have sealed bearings and require no lubrication. We hope to have this new pump available by late summer or early fall this year.

hey steve
thanks for the heads up on the new style pump.
i for one would be very interested for one.

Thanks Steve for the update. While my posting may have seemed a litte overly critical its good to know "the squeaky pump will get the grease". If we all just said nothing,you would not be aware of the problem and a solution would not be forthcoming.I can certainly empathize with trying to keep up with inventory as I have worked in the parts business of both heavy const and heavy trucks for the last 45 years.When you are suppling parts to someone that depends on you to make a living it can certainly at times be stressful.Thanks again for the explanation.

Believe me, I am very happy for input on problem parts. As I mentioned, this caused us to look for an updated alternative to the old bushing type water pump. So now, everybody wins! Now we will eliminate the "squeaky pump" because the new bearing pumps won't need greasing.

Our customers are our best source of quality control and new product development. Keep the suggestions and comments coming. We appreciate all of our customers - you are what keeps us in business. THANK YOU!!
Filling Station Steve

I also have made parts over a long period of time.
One thing that sort of takes the fun out of it is when you get a few people asking for the same hard to find part and after you tool up and make some they say, "Oh great, they are available. Now I am looking for another hard to find part and will get back to you when I need the one you make."
So the part you made up, hoping to sell enough to cover your time, sets on the shelf and you begin to wonder if it is worth it.
After my fire 9 years ago, I see what some of the parts that I made are going for on eBay and want to make some of them again.
I do mostly custom orders now, for all sorts of customers, not just the auto field.
Chevi Shop, Coley

Coley,
I know exactly what you mean. I also make a few parts. Most are made in small quantities by hand as the cost to tool-up is just too high for the number that can be expected to sell.

What most people don't understand is the cost to produce fixtures, molds, dies, etc. in most cases means that you have to sell 100+ to actually break even. On the steering column bushings I make it took nearly 5 years and over 300 to actually break even. Then then making then next 100 put it the the red again. And that doesn't count the cost of storage or the time value of the money invested.

My advise to anyone that thinks they will need a part is to buy it now! It helps the people that have invested their time and money to make it available. And in too many cases it will not be available when you need it later. I can tell you that from personal experience.