Vendor pricing

[My imp]

Time to hop on my soapbox again. Why when ANYTHING is for a Mopar, does the price need to be so astronomically higher. Case in point; when I inquired about a mechanical fuel pump for my Imp, Summit quoted me a price near double that of one for a SBC. The only difference between any series of pumps is the drive arm. Pull one pin, swap arms, & put the pin back in. Summit blames Edelbrock, edelbrock says Summit sets there own prices, & they have nothing to do with that. This is probably the reason I'll never be rich, is that I try to do unto others... If I can help someone, generally I try to do just that. Others want to bend you over a barrel and.... Maybe if they lowered their prices a tad, more people would enter the hobby with something other than 350/350/10 bolt. It's a simple formula, lower prices, sell more product, create more jobs, grow the economy, rinse, lather, repeat! Or, keep butt forking the few people that can actually afford, or, don't mind being butt forked into spending exponentially more amounts of cash for similar product. Let's face it, there's no R/D on a mechanical fuel pump. What costs do they need to recoup? Sheer greed! One of the main things wrong with everything, not just Mopar parts!

 

[alf44]

WOW !!!you got that right,,,anything MOPAR seems to cost a arm-leg- finger- or left nut !!

 

[My imp]

Brothers of the Pentastar unite. Dee Snyder said it best,"We're not gonna take it, no, we're not gonna take it. We're not gonna take it, anymore!". I already told Edelbrock I won't use their products unless they're used. And I'm going to encourage everyone to do the same. Talk about biting the hand that feeds... The first job edelbrock did for the big 3 was the 6 pack Mopar manifolds. We kept them afloat, & that's how they show their gratitude! I guess people must not get sick of seeing 20 rows of Camodes & Rustangs at the race track, car show, cruise night, pick the venue. I do. I like to consider us the unique breed. Even under our own banner we're considered red-headed step children. I heard our Imp.'s referred to as Cordoba's with a rubber (clown I guess) nose! Someone's F body handed an A body his ass, & the guy said his car resembles farm equipment! There are only so many Chargers, Road Runners, 'Cudas, & Challengers to go around. Remember when the A bodies were scoffed at? Now they're cool as well. It could be our turn next. I'll be happy if it isn't! Why? Simple, look at how inexpensive we're picking these cars up for! Could you imagine picking up a '68 Charger in near mint condition for $1500? Taillights & a grill if you're lucky! It may be harder for us to find parts for ours, but when we do, it usually doesn't break the bank.

 

[alf44]

if only the big sheet metal companys would start to make parts for our cars and keep the price to where we dont need to sell a lung and kidney. i asked a big name company about that at a show and at first just got a blank look,,,,, like what planet did i jump off of. then was told that they dont see a need to make anything for anything mopar but A,B, AND E bodies !!!!

 

[My imp]

Mill Supply, Cleveland, Oh

 

[Jack Meoff]

I actually emailed AMD a while back asking them why they don't make panels for F's, M's or J's and if they were ever thinking about it.
The response was...... "No".
Then I expressed my disappointment to a buddy.
His comment was....while parts and panels are still fairly attainable from boneyard's why would they?
The guy I was chatting with at AMD said basically....times are tough out there economically and the cost of tooling up their shop to make said panels would hurt....which is fair enough.....go with what you know is going to sell.
I don't even know what a new repop fender or quarter goes for at AMD but I'm guessing a hell of a lot more than the $100-$150 I'd pay at a boneyard.
So if they did make sheet metal for our cars and they were $500 who would buy them???.......I see their point at this stage of the game.
I've been saying for a long time now that our cars WILL become the next wave of cool collector cars....but until that shows in the marketplace I just keep buying and stockpiling goodies for my rides.....the day will come I believe but it ain't here yet.
As far as why other parts are more for Mopar's?
Maybe they know that Mope owners take a lot of pride in their cars and want what's best and the chebbie and turd guys just want it to run.
They'll buy cheap chinese knock off crap so they have to keep prices reasonable or they won't buy theirs.....we on the other hand won't put asian crap on out cars so they know we'll pay for better quality...
Just my guess.

 

[alf44]

what does mill supply carry?

 

[My imp]

They stopped carrying stuff for us. They used to have rockers, 1/4's, bottom of doors, etc. now their just B & E body & trucks.

 

[alf44]

jakes-auto body sales has rocker panels for the 2 door and 4 door f bodies, i used them on my 2 door and think they are great parts, they might have more stuff for f's for 25.00 plus shipping.

 

[slant6billy]

All it not lost. Found an odd build up today. A 99 RT Dakota drivetrain was crammed into an early 50s pontiac 2 door sedan. Saw the same with and early plymouth too last year. The topper: a mid 70s Datsun 280 Z with the motor and trans out of a late 90s Ram. There are ton of Magnum Rams/ Daks and vans just waiting to donate their heart and soul to some project- thus it will generate the demand for parts and ripple effect for more mopar parts. With a lot of these last gen 5.9 and 5.2 not making emissions to stay on the road in their factory home- they go for cheap. Mopar ain't going away- just economically slowed.

 

[My imp]

Cool, now if Chrysler would start releasing computer software to the aftermarket for plug & play drive trains, instead of suing the hell out of anyone trying to do it! Our frt. subframes were the basis of many F100 drive trains until parts started becoming scarce. That's a very lucrative business to get into, once you talk them into using Mopar drivelines. Could you imagine if it were like the '50-'60's when everything ran a HEMI? Then we'd get to listen to everyone whine about what Joe & Mike are putting a HEMI into this week on Horsepower TV!

 

[8d5 AHB]

Mopar is all about the money, knows S about the heritage.

Like the new Mopar Performance print ads with the FIAT 500 Abarth on the LH side of the page? That should tell you everything you need to know

 

[My imp]

Yep, but Fiat didn't get to be the worlds largest car co. by accident. They did it by knowing & responding to their market. The 500 Abarth is Italy's version of the SBC. Maybe write them letters? How much research did they do vs. just listen to what Mopar told them? By simply either selling plug & play drive trains competitive with the LS1 package Chrysler could become a larger company. I'd love to put a 6.4L/8 spd auto trans in my Imp! All that power, fuel economy, reliability, in an affordable package, with financing at low or no intrest!

 

[alf44]

i dont think that will ever happen.. todays chrysler company has no clue to its own history.. and never will again !!

 

[My imp]

Sure it will, when Fiat's gotten what they want out of the deal, or if they don't get what they want (just like Mercedes Benz) they'll sell it & for a while the product may improve. I'll never call that 4 door abortion a Charger! I have 2 real Chargers in my driveway! They could've called it a Coronet & released them in 2 & 4 doors. But I would slide that SRT 6.4 complete (including IRS) under my Imp. Even the balance of the options that the Imp didn't have. I may have access to an infotainment center my wife's Nephew took out of his '11 Jeep (Sony). I don't know if it'll fit (DIN) I'd love those cameras, thermometers, quality stereo. Then I'd really have to upgrade my speakers. Has anyone purchased on of the A pillar gauge pods yet? The kid at Summit wanted me to buy all the ones that fit Dodge & then return the ones I don't use! Then brings me something that looks like someone mounted gauges to a piece of cut up 4" sewer pipe! Al. I wanted to do was to match it up. If I went to the trouble to remove the one from my parts car, the least he could do is bring out the 5 or 6 that're supposed to fit Dodge. Very vague in their explanation, but the picture looks close enough. I may end up doing that myself also. I need a place for an amp or volt meter, tach, GPS, & tweeter. I'd need to make one for the other side to place the other tweeter in. Then recover it in headliner material. Probably have an upholstery shop F it up, & hopefully get a workable pattern to do it right. Good luck getting it done right the first time! They hand you some abortion, then look at you like you grew an extra head when your not satisfied, "We're the number 1 upholstery shop in Cleveland!". Maybe, but what you gave me looks like number 2!

 

[kkritsilas]

One of the reasons that i got my J Bodies is because they don't have all the "gingerbread". Only things that I actually want in the J Bodies is a full set of Gauges and a good aftermarket stereo system. I don't need a navigation system (I have all I need in the Google Maps in my iPhone), video playback (when you are behind the wheel you are supposed to be driving). I also want the simplicity of a non-computer controlled engine and tranny. I have all that in my daily driver Dodge Caravan, and they really don't make driving any better or easier. I honestly bekieve the reason a lot of drivers drive the way they do is due to a lot of this stuff inside the car distracting their attention away from the road. Half of them can't drive properly even without the distractions, and with the distractions, you get what we have today.

I had a dream to own a Porsche 928 at one time. Used to belong to a Porsche mailing list. A question was posted regarding the lack of cup holders in the 928. Answered by the following: If you were driving the car properly, the way it was intended, you wouldn't have time to drink coffee or worry about cup holders.

Kostas

 

[slant6billy]

Somebody has to be making a plug and play system. saw a Valiant with a late 90s magnum block O/D trans set up. biggest thing I see as a roadblock is the speedo cable. Anything newer than 88 is a pulse signal and most of our cars has a mechanical speedo cable. I thought at one time some company made a piggyback setup for mechanical cable speedos and still allowed the pulse sensor?

 

[kkritsilas]

Depending on how it was done, the O/D tranny could have been a Pre'96 a500/a518, which don't need a computer to control them. They can be controlled by a pair of pressure switches and a manual toggle switch for the converter lockup. As for the Magnum engine, this vould have been done a few ways, including third party injection systems, or removing the fuel injection altogether and going with a carb setup (but I guess that would have been easy to see.

Kostas

 

[My imp]

Yes, but that also requires our ingenuity. Maybe we're just smarter than the average bear, & Mother Mope thinks we don't need spoon fed a plug & play harness & driveline. But for once I'd like an affordable LS1 setup that passes the strictest of emissions, doesn't require hrs of rooting through a salvage yard looking for a wiring harness, sensors, brackets for accessories, etc.. Maybe I will write that letter & post the BS they send me, if anything at all!