Subject: [Spits] Customer Contact From Victoria British Website

From: Dennis Reese <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 11 Jan 2014 12:18:05 -0800

Not long ago I purchased two wheel bearing kits for my 75 spitfire 1500 your
p/n 5-925. In the process of installing using the original hubs and your kit,
it became apparent that the supplied oil seal wasn't going to work. The metal
shell diameter is slightly larger than the hub diameter and therefore cannot
be inserted in the hub. It is also made of very thin metal that will easily
deform under any kind of pressure either from a press or by tapping with a
hammer. Apparently this has happened to other spitfire owners as several
responded to my plea for advice by saying that I should cut the felt out of
the supplied seal and glue it into the original shells. I did that and it
worked but the fact remains that you are apparently selling a part that won't
fit the original hubs (maybe new hubs are slightly different?). Most of us
know to not throw away original parts just for this reason and garages are
full of them. I've attached a couple of pictures for your information.

[demime 1.01d removed an attachment of type image/jpg which had a name of DSC_0501.jpg]

[demime 1.01d removed an attachment of type image/jpg which had a name of DSC_0502.jpg]
_______________________________________________

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Archive: http://www.team.net/archive

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From: "Nick Moseley" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 11 Jan 2014 19:58:43 -0800

Well put Dennis, and well down for giving some valuable feedback.
Best Regards
Nick Moseley

-----Original Message-----
From: [email-masked]
[mailto:[email-masked]] On Behalf Of Dennis Reese
Sent: Saturday, January 11, 2014 12:18 PM
To: [email-masked]; Spitfire Group
Subject: [Spits] Customer Contact From Victoria British Website

Not long ago I purchased two wheel bearing kits for my 75 spitfire 1500 your
p/n 5-925. In the process of installing using the original hubs and your
kit, it became apparent that the supplied oil seal wasn't going to work. The
metal shell diameter is slightly larger than the hub diameter and therefore
cannot be inserted in the hub. It is also made of very thin metal that will
easily deform under any kind of pressure either from a press or by tapping
with a hammer. Apparently this has happened to other spitfire owners as
several responded to my plea for advice by saying that I should cut the felt
out of the supplied seal and glue it into the original shells. I did that
and it worked but the fact remains that you are apparently selling a part
that won't fit the original hubs (maybe new hubs are slightly different?).
Most of us know to not throw away original parts just for this reason and
garages are full of them. I've attached a couple of pictures for your
information.

[demime 1.01d removed an attachment of type image/jpg which had a name of
DSC_0501.jpg]

[demime 1.01d removed an attachment of type image/jpg which had a name of
DSC_0502.jpg] _______________________________________________

[email-masked]
Archive: http://www.team.net/archive
http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/spitfires/[email-masked]

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From: "Joe Guinan" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 13 Jan 2014 13:08:27 -0500

Good job on at least trying to let them know of a problem wit their product. I await - with bated breath - any actual reply from VB/LMC. I really don't think they care. I used to buy some stuff from them, because I travelled through the Kansas City area somewhat regularly and could save shipping costs. Now I only use BPNW, SpitBits, and TSI. When anyone I've communicated with actually had problems with any of their parts, they WANTED to hear about it, and wanted to make sure they corrected the problem. You may pay a tiny bit more for their parts, but that expense is paid for by not having to deal with problems like you experienced. Still, little things get by everyone once in a while. A parts producer could change specs without letting anyone know, etc.

Joe Guinan
Fremont, NE
[email-masked]
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------

> Date: Sat, 11 Jan 2014 12:18:05 -0800
> From: Dennis Reese <[email-masked]>
> To: [email-masked], Spitfire Group
> <[email-masked]>

[email-masked]

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From: Doug Braun <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 13 Jan 2014 17:59:09 -0500

Given that various vendors have been selling the same incorrect part for at
least a decade,  I would not hold out too much hope.
The usual reply in these situations is "nobody ever complained before".

BTW, this sort of thing happens much more frequently for Ford Model A
parts....

Doug

On Mon, Jan 13, 2014 at 1:08 PM, Joe Guinan <[email-masked]> wrote:

> Good job on at least trying to let them know of a problem wit their
> product. I await - with bated breath - any actual reply from VB/LMC. I
> really don't think they care. I used to buy some stuff from them, because I
> travelled through the Kansas City area somewhat regularly and could save
> shipping costs. Now I only use BPNW, SpitBits, and TSI. When anyone I've
> communicated with actually had problems with any of their parts, they
> WANTED to hear about it, and wanted to make sure they corrected the
> problem. You may pay a tiny bit more for their parts, but that expense is
> paid for by not having to deal with problems like you experienced. Still,
> little things get by everyone once in a while. A parts producer could
> change specs without letting anyone know, etc.

[email-masked]