What's up with this guy? I got ahold of Vintage Speed in early December '03 for parts, tools, etc. They don't return phone calls or e-mails. TWICE they claimed everything was ready to ship...
He gets so over his head with taking on jobs he can't get ahead and is always way behind.I used to deal with him alot,and he always came through,you just had to bother the shit out of him to get it!!He does great work and is very knowlegeable.If you can stand the delay its worth it.
I've bought alot of suff from him for the six-duece set up I'm putting together...he has really good stuff for the most part...the only thing that I don't recomend getting from him is his throttle shafts, at least for strombergs...they're not uniform...and yes, he is slow...the last thing i got from him took about 4 weeks to show up, but it was all the right stuff, and it all worked and looked great....get your shafts from Hot Rod Carburation...just a word of advice...
I've heard nothin but good things about them, except the waiting. 32Limey bought his 6x2 from him and was pleased with it, shit I think he bought it when he was visiting from the UK. Now thats a carry on! -Jesse
He gets so over his head with taking on jobs he can't get ahead and is always way behind.I used to deal with him alot,and he always came through,you just had to bother the shit out of him to get it!!He does great work and is very knowlegeable.If you can stand the delay its worth it. I will second that BUT he did an outstanding job on my 3 duece set up and I would send them back to him again as long as I wasn't in a hurry.
Don't waste time on anything but telephone with him--all else will be ignored. For maximum value, do your best to get him talking. This old dude knows a LOT of speed equipment and hot rod history and knows many old timers in the business. He used to hang with Els Lohn (EELCO) who was retired down there. It's a shame he doesn't have a few apprentices to help keep the parts flowing.
I dealt with Charlie a couple of times and also went to his shop on a few occasions. Seems every time he is busier than before and he has a hard time keeping up with the orders. He can be a bit short on the phone, but you have to keep bugging him if you want anything in the time he promised. I had him build my flattie setup with two 94's. I had been running the setup for about a year an had constant problems with leaking and getting terrible gas mileage. I finally tore them down and found both car bodies had completely warped bottoms and one had a cracked float bowl. I had to machine the bottom surfaces to get them to seal. I agree Charlie is very knowledgable but you got to be careful and check the carbs real good when you get them. I guess it is less critical if you only buy an itake or so. And don't be in a rush to get anything...
Hey Jesse you have a better memory than me!! actually my ordeal was a long drawn out affair.....nearly a year & initially i was told 90 days, i didn't hasle him in that period at all but had to phone on a regular basis after that. The time went on i'd arranged with him to deliver to my family in Las Vegas while VLV was on so i could collect & save on the shipping & duty, well needless to say only the manifold, air filters & a cam arrived! the carbs followed much later by air to England. A little disappointed after spending $1800 , he has the business just needs more staff to cope, the word would soon spread & the extra custom would pay their way. Now to the setup; generally very pleased with the progressive linkage but difficult adjust for low idle, found this to be poor seating of the new butterflies in the venturi....needed plenty of hands on fitting to get these operating nice, a couple had leaks at lower float bowl screws....he sent me parts to correct this, & one float was cracked which i repaired. Performance is very good & i do drive the ass off of it with very little adjustment, the main thing i adjust is fuel pressure depending on town driving or fast long distance. Charlie is a nice guy but has way too much going on down there, we visited him at his home/workshop & was very good to us....even took us out for dinner, i kinda just wanted to get busy & get some action happening as i was well aware of the backlog from all the calls while we were there. Would i buy again....not sure on that one! but i definatley have 97 Heaven on my mind & would speak with Josh first.
Those carbs look the absolute bollocks tho mate ,i am gonna set up a 6x2 on my 350 chevy motor for my truck i'm just buying the carbs one by one at the moment but i'll get there.Geordie Paul does the rebuild kits but i'm gonna need some extended shafts and butterflies cadlights Keith has sent me some 94's that should arrive soon .I'm just gonna clean the carbs up and keep them looking used with some ribbed ali stacks wow they look too wild...................Mad Marq
As long as someone else (32Limey) mentioned him first, don't forget HotRodJosh. He's 97 Heaven & a HAMBer.
www.97heaven.com BTW i've had good luck ordering rebuild kits,throttle shafts and butterflies,and other small parts from vintage speed in the past,delivered in a reasonable amount of time.he even took time out to answer some questions on tripower setup that i had.
The last time I dealt with him he took forever and put some screwed up jets in my carbs *(one jet was out of a Holley 4v, which he claimed wouldn't fit in my 94s. But it was fucking in there!). I did meet him at Lowes MS later on and he was a really nice guy. I'd hang out with him, maybe drink a beer with him, but I wouldn't buy carbs from him ever again.
Bought a 94 from him and it works great. I have since found a source for carbs that cost half as much and work just as well, but his stuff is good. he's definitely very knowledgeable, but hard to communicate with.
FUCK HIM!!! Took a year+ to get a 6x2 set up and the car was built and sold by then. Had to send it back cuz it showed up busted,UPS' fault?...Still FUCK HIM. FLIP
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