The truth is any modification we do to a vehicle, homemade or aftermarket can be a huge liability issue. A friend of mine use to be a crash investigator with the State patrol. Anything that could be considered aftermarket or homemade had to be reviewed and noted just right in their reports. It could make all the difference in how the Insurance company, any lawyers or the courts would view liability. And I am not just talking Hot Rod stuff either. For example, if you had an accident towing any kind of Trailer with what appears to be a homemade hitch you could be in deep shit even if the hitch didn't fail. It could be construed that the trailer wasn't tracking right and could have been a cause. So, if you're fabricating anything make every effort to make it look factory and not just good enough. Insurance investigators are not the clueless fools many people think. Not being political here. I was in the collision industry for a long time and dealt with a lot of insurance companies and how they change their way of dealing with losses over the years. So just keep in mind when you're building your projects it is not just your safety that is involved out there. Risking everything you own and other people's lives in order to save a few bucks is not a wise decision now a days. The same goes for manufactures. Which I am sure is why many of the companies we have relied on in the past are calling it quits. Larry
Had a girlfriend back in the day that was an accident reconstruction specialist and investigator for insurance companies. She knew cars, and was an excellent fabricator and welder in her own right. It was her job to discover anything that could have contributed to the accident. While she was mostly looking for OEM manufacturing defects, she knew to spot any "home jobs" too. Most people do not understand that if you are in an accident, and it is discovered that it was caused by a part that you made that was unsafe, or out-of-compliance with the law, they can void your policy. She said that did not happen often. What she did say that, and this goes out the "I don't need front brakes!" folks, when it came to brakes, that was the first thing she checked, and that was the cause of many clients being immediately dropped.
Update guys. Scarebird is now closed, and according to Mark, is "getting rid of stuff". I was able to order the bearing spacers I needed, and they invoiced me direct, with a "don't dawdle" as we will be done soon.
^^^^ I believe so. In an earlier e-mail to me, Mark indicated some kits would be available from "another vendor".
This topic makes me want rebuild 1955 olds 88 brakes back to stock treadle vac 4 drum specs, considered good back in the day vs. Mount some g body pedals dual MC etc to a metal plate bolted to the firewall....
I tink there's a "special place" .........for lawyers. They have ruined many a business(and some customers looking for that 'jackpot law suit' ! Grrrrrrrrrrrrr 6sally6
Scarebird is under new management and ramping up production. Good to see they made it through. https://scarebird.com/index.php?route=common/home
That is good news. I have their disc brake conversion on my 61 Olds and it works well. They make a quality product in my opinion.
Scarebird is a Pontiac guy and regularly post over on the PY Forums. He has said over there that there is a new owner working on things Scarebird is a great resource on the forum. Hands out free info all the time.
He did carve out quite a niche for himself. He does put together some odd combinations of parts that work. His bracketry is clean as you could hope for.
Good update. Let's hope the "new" product line continues with the old favorites. Got another Buick to plan for.
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