Think it through before ordering parts

carl said:
Well, from my one experience from ordering parts "in stock!" from FAZA you would have waited several months for parts.

Steve, I turn 75 tomorrow, my anti-bucket list is to never have to fly again. I don't like the experience, you are lucky if your flight actually leaves on time, you are treated worse than cattle and my big fear is being stuck in the plain on the runway for several hours.

However, I would enjoy a flight on an old warbird WWII bomber.

Oh, the tie rod ends arrived yesterday and got installed immediately. State inspection this morning then alignment and we are done with this simple job.....that took two weeks but probably saved me $500.
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Happy 75th buddy! 🥳
 
About 25 years ago I could have flown on a B25 and the price depended on what position you sat in. Sadly my scared of flying self overruled the "this looks like a hoot" self.
 
Going through a similar issue now but I can deal with it because my wrench time is very scarce lately, if it wasn't I would be just as pissed.

My instructor use to say "Pain is an excellent teacher."
 
My wing man strikes again. I think it may be a control thing. My mom used to wonder why I couldn't ride on amusement park rides but I could race motocross which is the best amusement park ride ever.

My 75 860GT was like a big Lab Retriever, my Honda CBX tried to throw me down the road a few times.
 
Rupunzell said:
At this point in the aftermarket auto parts era, not convinced aftermarket parts are any good. OEM parts DO cost more, there is some assurance of OEM level of quality, durability and all that..
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I used to replace parts just for good maintenance practice. But now I am so reluctant to do this unless a part is near or at failure. The new parts with what used to be quality manufacture from name brands I trusted are not what they were years ago. Brands like Gates, Timken, etc.
 
This puts us rather in a bind, I don't think you can get too many genuine Fiat parts for our Xs.
 
Icky aftermarket parts apply not only to Fiat, it applies to all moto brands due to where and how these parts are made today.
Name brand is no assurance of quality, proper fit, durability and all.

Keep in mind, most motos today are designed with a specific service lifetime from day on. CAD and modern materials and manufacturing process allows this with ease. Driving factor is economic. Profitability comes from reducing design/production/warranty cost and limited product lifetime enforces re-purchase.. good for share-holder wellbeing and their bottom line..

Few are going to dissect their product offerings and fully understand the design-engineering of what was done and why.. Or why this is so easy for manufacturers to do this.. Couple this with perceived value based on brand identity and market perception (ala win on Sunday, sell on Monday).. Today there is another problem,YouTube content providers that toot themselves as self declared experts toot what their audience wants to hear then present edited evidence enforcing these myths and falsehoods.. easy to accomplish due to folks wanting to believe instead of accepting what they want to believe can be absolutely false and fantasy..


Bernice
 
carl said:
This puts us rather in a bind, I don't think you can get too many genuine Fiat parts for our Xs.
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I didn't mention in my post above. I wasn't talking about Fiat parts. Just parts in general. I have a Chevy Silverado and Subaru outback I service. So parts like water pumps, wheel hubs, belt tensioner pulleys, etc. Normal wear parts.
 
Carl, here's another one:

The project that was supposed to be done at a leisurely pace over the winter, which got put on the back burner because you forgot just how cold and drafty an unheated, uninsulated garage really is----yeah, that project----imagine that you're doing the final steps, and that DINKY LITTLE PART that was with all the other dinky little parts you cleaned and prepped last spring, WTF WTF what happened, I had four of them and now I only have three!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And oh its not a hardware store or autopepadvancereilly part, lemme just run down to the corner and pick up another one...Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, it's a FIAT part, gotta order it! Yet another order! When one of your previous orders was from that exact same page at MWB, only for the third part below this one!

Oy Vey!
 
I don't usually have a major stall on any of my projects but have been caught out missing stuff I knew I had for the car.

A friend just got a 128 four door that was totally stripped for paint, got painted and then the owner passed before reassembly. He has the joy of putting it all back together and hoping we got all the parts from the widow as they were scattered all over the house. At least it came with a parts car. He will be making lots of parts requests to MWB!
 
Not sure if anyone has mentioned this one yet: I'm working on a project and make my list of parts, order them, only to find that I already had a couple of them in a box on the shelf. This happened on my son's '86 X1/9 when I bought the expensive brake reservoir hoses to replace his only to find I already had enough on the shelf to do his car. Also happened with his pedal pad rubbers. I ordered a set and later discovered I had 2 sets on the shelf already! I gotta get around to cataloging my spare parts stash...
 
Lost parts story...

Neighbor had a friend at the shop, lost the fuel rail spacers on an AUDI TT.. they rolled away in a multi thousand sq-ft shop.. not gonna find them.
Try ordering these spacers from AUDI.. non-stock special order... Solution, make them from round bar on the lathe... 15 minutes later.. done.

Being able to make and modify parts like this and more with the machine tools and tooling in the shop is an extreme luxury in many ways, yet mandatory for serious mech stuff of any kind. Skill and knowledge of how to get this stuff did is the other part.

Bernice
 
I have a magic workbench. Things will roll off the edge down onto the floor and disappear for life. Once in an election cycle I'll wheel the bench away from the wall and fail to find any of the missing bits. If a car guy designed his own garage he would NOT have the baseboards located 1/2" above the floor to create a nice gap for things to disappear into.
 
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