Hey fellas, I'm finally starting to thin down the items on my "H.A.M.B. to do list" and am wanting to start concentrating on improving the H.A.M.B. Alliance vendor list. I would love some feedback from you guys as to who else you would like to see involved. I'll work my little ass off seeing if I can get it done. A few things to think about: 1. I know I've asked for this feedback before, but I need a refresher... Some of the vendors declined and others were unreachable. 2. I would like the list to stay exclusive to hot rod/kustom part and service folks only at this time... I don't want to introduce artists and what not quite yet. 3. If you know a vendor that you think should get involved, contact them! It's better when it comes from you as a member than me as an owner!
Steve Tracy from Advanced Plating was very interested the last time I talk to him about it. Were you able to get thru? His service is impecable. 800-588-6686
SHANE T at Southern Rods and Parts has always done me good as a fellow HAMBer... don't know why they wouldn't make it official as an Alliance vendor...?
Did anyone try contacting speedway motors. ? They have good prices on a lot of stuff as it is but im building a new car and of course im gonna price shop. Sometimes the savings in shipping is reason enuff to buy from someone. Dave
....that sounds way too much like blackmail..."join the alliance or suffer???" HAMB going along wonderfully Ryan. Cheers!
We have over 700 members and climbing... I have contacted Vintage Sac, but have not gotten a response from them. It would be great if you mentioned us to your sales guy next time you buy something from them... I'll take all the help I can get! Sorry, I don't have a list of all that have declined. The O'dex is a list of folks on the hamb that want their vocation listed... it does not have to be hot rod relevant and they are not required to give hambers a discount... Alliance vendors are folks that wish to support the HAMB by giving alliance members a discount and special treatment in return for free placement on the vendor page and well... a pat on the back from our members. So far, our vendors have reported a great deal of success... I know Coker has done really well.... and our members have saved a ton on tires.... Hell, most folks get their alliance money back after ordering a single set of tires. Pretty cool.
Speaking of PAT... how about Wilcap??? Sacremento Vintage Ford would be awesome too. Do we need to all get together and gang up on them to get an answer for you? Speedway is used pretty widely around here also. Would be cool to see them come on board (from a product standpoint). Not sure how they are to work with though. YES! Tire discounts rule! I've taking advantage of that one big time! Also Vaphead is about to get some orders from me as well.
Wilcap declined... But, Pat had good reasons for doing so... and personally, I love the guy.... Despite my best efforts, I haven't been able to get ahold of anyone at Speedway that could make such a decision. I'm still working though... If you are ordering from them, mention us for sure... I would love to get these guys on board.
Sacramento Vintage Ford is extremely friendly to our area of the hobby. Talk to Darrold Kohout, the owner. Tell him I sent you. He's been a big Billetproof supporter for a long time. Plus he helps out other similar events. I can almost guarantee he'd be down for it.
Ryan, this isnt exactly what u are asking... but I'd like to see more info in the alliance vendor list on what the vendors sell. I just bought a complete rear end kit from chassis engineering. First I checked the list of vendors, visited each of the websites, didnt see any alliance vendors selling the bits so I ordered direct. Then while reading another thread I saw that Riley Automotive is an alliance vendor and a reseller. I had checked their site but missed it. Now I know this is a website issue for them, or a me issue (I am not very familiar with the vendors), but if I saw on the vendor list that they carried chassis engineering I would have bought from them, supported the alliance vendor and saved myself some money. cheers ricki
Advanced Plating is high on my list How about Fatman Susp (some of us like our modern suspension under our 50's cars) - I plan to buy a front end for my 48 dodge in the next few weeks. Any of the Radiator guys (seems we all need those) Speedway as mentioned above
Fatman (Brent Vandervort) is a GREAT guy too. He's about as cool and knowledgable as they come. You can throw my name at him too.
Ok I will do that. I should be placing an order in the next couple weeks . Ill ask em and ask em again if I have to. Im sure somebody can give a yes or no answer there. When I did my last car my 32 coupe I checked with a lot of vendors and if shipping was free or a discount i did the math before ordering and went with the best deals. I put over 35k in that car and im doing the roadster but im going a little cheaper with this one. It adds up in a hurry if you want something nice and safe. Dave
Ditto that! We need some custom radiator guys! There is some trick stuff going on around here and a lot of us sure could use a break on radiators.
Anybody throw up "C&G Early Ford Parts" ? I've never used them but they look comparable to Sac Vin Ford or Mac's Also Little Dearborn in Minnesota Classic and Obsolete Old Parts - in OKC Of course Speedway
I also saw at the nats north that streamline was giving hamb discounts si i grabbed one of thier catalogs. The chicks in the catalog are hot! Hows come i dont see em listed in the alliance vendors list ? Parr and Yogis come to mind too. I hate to say it but anyone needing parts prolly uses summit and jegs for a few things too. These guys should take note .. Money is money Dave
Lil dearborn. . . yaknow, i got kinda a chilly reception from those guys last time i was up there buyin rebuild kits for a tripower im puttin together . . . the guy asked why i needed three of em, told him about the HA/GR im slappin the mill into and he got kinda pissy. i think those guys cater mostly to the "paint by numbers" croud and look over thier glasses at hot rodders and customs guys. FWIW tho, a decent place to bother might be MAS Racing in St.Paul. those guys know thier shit about parts. T
Crushproof is in- We don't re-sell much of anything ( We do too many different things to become a vendor for anyone) But I can offer a labor hickey to alliance members...say 10% on any repair under a grand, 15% on anything over a grand? Considering we are painting now, it should help some of the fellas out.
Alliance Vendor Gambino Kustoms is a Fatman distributor...the stuff I got from him was waaaaaaay cheaper than Fatman's advertised prices, probably better than they'd offer if they were an A.V. I agree, though, sounds like the companies that each A.V. distributes need to be listed somewhere (unless they already are, I haven't looked that closely). I'd like to add that my membership has already paid for itself and I haven't even bought tires yet! And, I'll throw in another vote for Sac Vintage and next time I'm in there, I'll mention the Alliance. For those who don't know, they sell a lot more than just Ford parts. Off the top of my head, I know I've purchased my last set of WWWs there, a couple cans of POR15, a ton of magazines and books (the good ones, zines too), and I know they sell Bellflowers, Zumiez, Air-ride, and on and on. Bryan
RYAN - do you have a 'sales kit' we can use when convincing folks to become HAMB Alliance vendors...? Something like... 'Y'know... there are 'x' number of us HAMB Alliance members who spend an average of 'y' dollars per year on hot rod parts, and who provide a 'z' percentage loyalty rate in the form of repeat business to favorable suppliers as opposed to experimenting with unknown vendors. So whattaya say?' Do we have these numbers or a way to gather them?
Mac's, Speedway, and Hot Rod Works. I'll order for all of them no matter what they do. Coker soon too.
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