If I am not mistaken, grainger is sort of like an industrial supply
company. There should be a Grainger store somewhere near you. I
wouldn't be surprised if they had an online form for "Over The Web" part
orders. Their web site should be located at
www.grainger.com. I have a recent catalog of theirs, and its about as
thick as a telephone book. They've got more hydraulic/pneumatic parts
available than anyone else I know of. In fact, Bricklin owners can save
big $$ if they study the catalog. I saw electrically operated "air
valves" that look just like the ones on my air board. If you bought four
of them and mounted them on a flat piece of metal, you would have an air
board just like the ones the vendors carry, at a much lower price. I am
compiling a new cross reference list, which allows us owners to save big
$ on our projects. Don't get me wrong-we need to support our vendors.
There's only 3 of them worldwide. However, i also believe that there are
several parts we can purchase for less money compared to vendor prices,
such as the headlamp swicth. Mine cost $10 or so, compared to $70-90 at
the vendors. If we kindly approach the vendors, tell them about the
upcoming parts list, and make it clear that we would prefer to do
business with them, maybe they can lower the prices on some of the parts
with extremely high margins, and/or help them modify their inventory by
suggesting alternative proven parts that the vendors can buy for less
money. From there, they can pass some of the savings on to us. Our
vendors have been a crucial part if BI, and without their expertise, the
Bricklin would probably cease to exist. They have helped us keep our
cars on the road, not to mention the great blessing we have in Terry
Tanner, the man behind our air door systems. I think we should try to
return the favor by doing something to help them. It doesn't matter if
you're a vendor, board member, or an owner-everyone has to work together.
We've been doing an excellent job on that, so hats off to all of you out
there =)
Look for a major update to the parts x-ref, coming soon to an e-mailbox
near you....
This is Riley Marquis III signing off =)
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