Since you asked about suppliers, I might as well tell a story about one you've
listed, Dave Bean. They are an outlet for some of the various Trick Racing,
uh, Stuff produced by Tilton Engineering. I'm a Triumph guy, though their is
a building a few blocks away from my shop that is filling up with Elites,
Sevens and Elevens, even Caterhams and a Xanthos, but that's another story.
Anyway, I was looking to get an aluminum flywheel for my Spitfire autocross
car a while back. I talked to a fellow at Tilton after I perused their info,
asking if part number such and such would accept a stock Spitfire 1500 clutch
cover. No problem, he says, and he suggests I buy it from Dave Bean. My
parts business, the Fat Chance Garage, doesn't do nearly enough business to
warrant a wholesale account with Tilton. Not yet, anyway.
I call Dave Bean, ask similar questions about flywheel such and such. The
fellow on the phone assures me Tilton is correct, a stock Spitfire clutch
will bolt right up. A short time later, it arrives. Now, if you've ever
seen my shop, my shed, my garage or my various storage locations, you would
know I have a few Triumph parts laying around. Nowhere in that mess can I
dig up a clutch pressure plate that fits that flywheel. Mark 1 Spits, Mark
3, 1500, GT6, TR-N, whatever. Nothing works. I am bummed. The flywheel
sits on the shelf for a season of racing. I stumble across it late one
night, thinking I should deal with it.
It just so happens I am planning a trip to California shortly after I unearth
the flywheel, and stopping by Bean's to exchange parts could be the hot ticket.
So I call to see if they will be open the day before Thanksgiving, and will be
able to assist me. No sweat, they say.
I arrive, a bit later than I had thought, after driving through some country
that REALLY made me wish I'd been in my street Spitfire, rather than the
Jeep. So it goes. The door is locked, the place is nearly dark. There is
one person inside, who probably wishes I were not there at the door. It was
a woman named Dian, who was just there doing some computer stuff before
heading home for the Thanksgiving weekend. Well, this is already getting too
long, I'll try to pick up the pace. She lets me and my parts in. I have the
flywheel I bought, and a Spitfire clutch I want to use. We open several
boxes pulled from the little shelf unit holding maybe $10,000 worth of Tilton
flywheels. I'm impressed with the inventory, but not with the flywheels.
None of them fit the Spit clutch. Dian gets on the phone, trying to track
down various persons who might know what is going on. She finally finds
someone, I can't remember his name, who says that Tilton only makes two sizes
of friction insert, the Spit clutch cover won't work, you need the 8" English
Ford pressure plate, blah blah blah.
So, this past season I've been running an aluminum flywheel, which could have
been a nightmare, but was bought from a company that employs a woman who knows
about customer service.
mjb.
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