| Bob Perry Jr. | -- 10-09-2010 @ 11:55 PM |
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I would like to Thank all the Bob Drake customers, that I have serviced over the last 3+ years. I have enjoyed talking with you about your early Ford projects. Unfortunately Friday myself & 4 other coworkers were laid off, due to the bad economic times. Hopefully when the economy improves I will be back to the job I enjoyed so much. Hope to see you at a swap meet or two. Thank you, Bob Perry (Bob Drake sales dept.)
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| TonyM | -- 10-10-2010 @ 7:33 AM |
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Sorry to hear your bad news. I did purchase some tail lights from Drake's recently. This econony stuff goes in cycles. You'll be back. Good luck. TonyM. TonyM. Calumet City, Illinois, USA This message was edited by TonyM on 10-10-10 @ 7:34 AM
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| trjford8 | -- 10-10-2010 @ 7:59 AM |
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Bob, sorry to hear about your job loss.We are all hoping the economy gets better soon, but who knows. Unfortunately it's the unknown that is causing people to hold back on purchases. We all appreciate those who manufacture parts and work in the old Ford hobby. Without your help our old Fords would still be in the garage with no parts to make them run. We hope you will be back to work soon.
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| supereal | -- 10-10-2010 @ 1:14 PM |
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I join Tom in the same wishes. Out here in "fly over" land, the recession began to bite a bit later than other places, but has really sunk in now. Our machine shop business depends heavily on the local car dealers. Three of the major brands here were sold out to multistate operators because the economy of scale was necessary to keep the doors open, but even the "big boys" have had to lay off people. We did, too, and it was a matter of survival. Anyone who knows anything about the old car hobby recognizes the Drake name, and we hope it weathers the economic storm. Good luck, Bob.
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| shogun1940 | -- 10-10-2010 @ 3:36 PM |
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Sorry to hear there are layoffs in your business, its time for americans to buy AMERICAN MADE products. Big businesse are sitting on billions they will probably start spending after the election and the first of the year hopefully that will put Americans back to work.
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| 51f1 | -- 10-10-2010 @ 4:00 PM |
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Bob, sorry to hear about the layoff. Hopefully that will work itself out shortly (after the election)? Shogun1940: Unfortunately, not many American-made products are available for our old cars and trucks. All of the suppliers, including Drake and Carpenter, in order to compete, get a lot of their parts (probably most) from China and India, and some of it is junk. I don't expect that where they get their parts will change, so we have to demand that these suppliers provide us with quality products. I have written letters and made telephone calls to complain about product quality. Have you? Richard
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| 1942deluxe | -- 10-10-2010 @ 5:21 PM |
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I was at Hershey Friday and almost every vendor said their business was down.Dennis Carpenter had no parts only catalogs in an effort to save expense.Did buy some things from Drakes and visited with Bob for a few minutes.I manage a small Ford dealership in the coal region of Pa. and can tell you this recession is far from over.From what I'm seeing the "toy" money spending has drastically slowed.Best wishes to you and I hope you're back to work at Bob's soon!
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| ford38v8 | -- 10-10-2010 @ 5:49 PM |
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Bob, the downturn is over for Wall Street, they are making fistfuls of money now, and don't give a hoot if the rest of us are working or not. Don't expect a turnaround soon for the working man. Sorry to be a pessimist. Alan
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| 48-710 | -- 10-11-2010 @ 4:17 AM |
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1942 deluxe, Greetings from Down Under.Australia looks to have come through this down turn better than most. I have a engine reconditioning work shop in a small rural town with 5 guys in the machine shop and 4 in the spare parts.Unlike yourself, it's the "toys" that are around 65-70% of our work at the moment.And with our dollar at around 98-99 cents to the US dollar things are looking up.For us at least. Keep your face to the sun and you won't see the shadows. Regards, Gary
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| 37RAGTOPMAN | -- 10-11-2010 @ 5:19 PM |
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I was at HERSHEY,and was the best year for me,as far as sellling parts,in a long time, I think BOB DRAKE has some good things for the V8'S and I am sure plenty of people are running with his parts and are gratefull that he reproduces the parts, but my experience with his business is with the dual wipers, THAT CONVERTS SINGLE TO DUALS, that he sold to me for a job I was working on for a customer, it was on a 36 FORDOOR.the customer was passed by a truck from the opposite direction, and the WIPER ASSMBLEY blew off the car, these were made in TAIWAN, and very poorly made, weak springs,. I called them on this issue, they said that was the way they are made and would not do anyhing for me, I thought it was NOT very good CUSTOMER RELATIONS. NEVER DID BUSINESS again, it was not that the only parts were bad, but did not want to stand behind them, so if I bought a more expensive part would they do it then? just my 3 cents worth,37RAGTOPMAN I would pay extra for AMERICAN MADE PARTS, maybe he venders should mark the parts in the catalogs were they are made like Snyders does for A and T Parts maybe if some of the venders would consider having parts made in the USA,they could sell them and they would last, SNYDERS has items made in the USA, YOU PAY FOR THEM, but they are worth it, I always try buying ORIGINAL FORD PARTS,I know these will fit correctly,and work well, sorry that you were laid off,things have to turn around you have to keep a positive , if everybody says it is bad no one will spend any money,holding back, I have a business in MAINE selling antiques and collectibles, and always say things are pretty good,even if not the best, try spreading good new not bad news, it will catch on,THINK POSITIVE,,,,
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| MOXIE | -- 10-11-2010 @ 6:09 PM |
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I have nothing good to say about Bob's. I always thougt his parts were quality but most of the stuff I got from him was junk or did not fit. And it took months to receive a refund.
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| 1942deluxe | -- 10-12-2010 @ 5:47 AM |
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Thanks Gary,2010 has been better than 2009 so I hope we are thru the worst.My brother is a tool and die maker and one of the jobs he did was repo 57 Chevy grill bar and hood bullets.GM still had the original dies which they would lend to a vendor for 10% royalty on the sale.I asked him what the cost would be for each die if you had to start from scratch.165-185,000 if you wanted American close tolerance and 125-135k if you wanted third world.When he started in 1978 there were over 3000 shops like his now about 350.I agree life goes on and so far the sun is still coming up every morning!
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| Gene N. | -- 10-17-2010 @ 5:41 PM |
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My two cents Prices have gotten way out of hand and Bob's is no exception Some of the guys I know of just are going to use what they have especially in street rodding, thats one reason rat rods are being built today I understand everyone wants to make a living but these guys want to make a killing I doubt very much that I will buy from Drake's again Good luck in finding work
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| supereal | -- 10-18-2010 @ 7:41 AM |
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A sign of the times is Drake's expansion of street rod parts and even some Chevy stuff to keep the doors open. We all have experienced problems with foreign parts, but looking back on my decades of involvement with old cars. we should be glad that any parts are available, at all. When I started, we had lots of junk (salvage) yards, and when they were picked clean, Drake, Carpenter, and some others stepped up. We owe them thanks for their interest and investment. Extended back orders from most vendors in recent times signaled a change in the field, and I suspect we may look back and find that now may be the "good old days".
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| parrish | -- 10-18-2010 @ 7:53 AM |
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I remember when we had to: wait for the new Hemmings, find a "parting out" ad, send an SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope) with a parts request, wait 2 weeks for a reply, try again. The internet and the new suppliers (China manufactured or not) have made the hobby much more popular which can only benefit all of us...
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| supereal | -- 10-18-2010 @ 11:06 AM |
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The Internet put the printed Hemmings on the sidelines, as there was a 30-60 day lag between the insertions and the publication. On-line items have become the bait of the frauds and quick buck artists. Be very cautious about your method of payment, particularly on high dollar purchases. Use a third party, such as PayPal, etc. And, as always, when something seems to be too good to be true, it almost always is!
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| Stroker | -- 10-18-2010 @ 11:26 AM |
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And before Hemmings, EFV8, Hershey, or swap meets- it was lot's o driving, looking for salvage yards, buying whole cars, just to get a couple of critical parts. Haunting old-time rural Ford dealerships, networking with other owners. A few places like Ford Parts Obsolete, in So. Cal in the fifties, but boy their stuff was expen$ive, or so we thought. NO ONE outside of Argentina made "repop" parts. Much easier today, but I'm not sure it's as much fun. I believe Drake and Carpenter deserve much credit for making very high quality trim parts available at a time when none existed. Today, it's all about survival, and I hope the trend towards having everything done in China is replaced by the kind of quality that got Drake & Carpenter established and respected. I don't like what I'm seeing coming across the water, as it makes any enterprising creative person considering tooling up for a quality domestic replacement part think twice. The really good stuff radiates "passion".
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