who should i be buying my parts from?

[BammBamm]

I have been buying most of my parts from Vick's and some from autoricambi. I know iap has closed but there are several other guys selling spider parts. Who has the best prices and quality of parts?

[DieselSpider]

Buy local whenever you can is the way I see it however this can become a religious type discussion.

Local you stand a chance of getting parts the same or the next day for about equal prices to the on-line vendors with many parts from well established national brands carrying lifetime warranties.

To me it is:

#1 - Local

#2 - Allisons, AR & Vicks (no particular order)

#3 - Midwest, FiatParts(if they ever put their site back on Sonic as advertised) & SpiderRoadster

#4 - MrFiat (way too expensive), Rock Auto (not a good track record of sending out the right parts)

[RRoller123]

Buy from those with the best overall combination of service, quality and price. Vague? Of course. "Vendor bias" has been a sore point here and has caused a few to leave the forum. To each his own.

That being said, without my endless queries to Mark, and his consistently fast answers to my questions, my Winter project would have stalled out long ago. Thanks, Mark, I very much appreciate all the support!

Csaba and Ramzi at AR also provide an excellent combination of service, price and support, and deserve our continued business!

[narfire]

If I didn't have to deal with the lousy exchange rate at the moment, I like AR and Allison's. Their advise here is very appreciated so I thought it best to reciprocate when I need some Fiat bits. I used to go to IAP years ago.
I can get some bearings and things from the local jobber store ( Lordco) They carry Beck Arnley clutches and belts as well.
Chris

[fiat218]

Yup i agree with the names that are said
I am buying a couple of panels from mr fiat at this time, no one has them

[nibbes123]

Jim there is a place in Canada called Wolf Steel panels in Quebec, they make panels and can also make one with your custom measurements .
Nick

[4uall]

http://alfaparts.net/fiatspider.html

[fiat218]

he said he could press them out for the top one 250.00 mr fiat is cheaper

[klweimer]

Autoricambi for all those stock items you need

Allison's for performance

Vick's if they have something on sale (not pistons)

Midwest-Bayless for things I can't find elsewhere (like a pre-reamed aux shaft bearing)

Personal opinion

[njoconnor]

I was very surprised at the number of vendors out there when I started the 72's rebuild 4 years ago, and I had the same who/what/when questions. Using Excel, I set up a spreadsheet with a tab for each major area needing work (interior, suspension, brakes, etc). Then I listed the parts I needed for each section, and set up a column for each of the vendors (with their sites hypertext linked in the top row). Went "shopping" at each vendor, and entered prices (and later added a column for hypertext linked parts numbers), with shipping info in note boxes on the side. Took a while (hey, mid-winter 2013, and the car was under a blanket in the back garage), but when I was done, I had a clear idea of who had what (stocks and items vary quite a bit), and I could estimate costs for each section of work and for total cost (very helpful when Patty got tired of waiting and said "Get it done").

I did not always go with the lowest price on each item; often a slightly higher priced part could be accompanied by a unique part to that vendor. I'll admit the majority of the parts came from A/R (especially when I "helped" them out with their annual "inventory chores"..., but the car would not be running without critical pieces from everyone mentioned above, as well as Chris Obert (who tends to have some really hard to find stuff), and non-Fiat specific vendors ( convertible top guys, seatbeltplanet, etc).

Shop around, compare, and go with what makes sense to you. Everyone I've ever called at the vendors has been helpful, quick to suggest alternatives if needed, and responsive in shipping the correct parts as fast as possible. Jump in and "Get it done!".

Neil

[Ramzi]

.... things I can't find elsewhere (like a pre-reamed aux shaft bearing)

I try to stay out of these sorts of threads... But I have one slight correction.

I believe we have about 500 set of these currently in stock. We purchased the only remaining stock from Italy about 2 years ago.

Thanks
R

[klweimer]

OK Ramzi. Fair enough, I should have known!