Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

Paul Wells is a site sponsor and great to deal with. He is listed in the vendor section. FWIW Pat

spl310 wrote: Sun Apr 18, 2021 10:26 pm i hear a lot of people lamenting the difficulty of placing an order with Dean.

I know its hard. I feel bad about not being as available. I am currently working to get two people in here 30 ours per week 4 day work week for each $45,000 per year with paid vacation and subsidized medical.
One person Monday through Thursday and the other Wednesday through Saturday. So we would basically be open 6 days. I would then leave the secure order form open 7 days a week.
How's that sound?
Know anybody?

Dean

Datsunparts.comInc wrote: Mon Apr 19, 2021 8:38 pm

spl310 wrote: Sun Apr 18, 2021 10:26 pm i hear a lot of people lamenting the difficulty of placing an order with Dean.

I know its hard. I feel bad about not being as available. I am currently working to get two people in here 30 ours per week 4 day work week for each $45,000 per year with paid vacation and subsidized medical.
One person Monday through Thursday and the other Wednesday through Saturday. So we would basically be open 6 days. I would then leave the secure order form open 7 days a week.
How's that sound?
Know anybody?

Dean

https://www.dol.gov/agencies/vets/hire

spl310 wrote: Sun Apr 18, 2021 10:26 pm i hear a lot of people lamenting the difficulty of placing an order with Dean.

I posted this as a bit of bait. I wanted to hear from folks on the forum about their perspectives on vendors. I should apologize here publicly to Dean as it certainly appears that I was rolling him under the bus - that was not what I intended. Dean, accept my apologies. Let me say that I think that Dean does a PHENOMENAL job! Dean has been a HUGE source for everything Roadster for eons and has often been first with new products or improved products. I think that it is bittersweet that he is easing towards retirement. I am happy for him because it is well deserved, and at the same time I am sad for the roadster community as the potential for a huge void in the support is looming. I hope that Dean is able to get some help to keep things rolling along. I have heard positives and negatives about every vendor. Some of it is deserved, some is not, and some is just catty based on personality biases.

We as a group really would be lost if it weren't for the vendors. They find manufacturers to produce new products to keep the cars on the road. Dean has been responsive to suggestions to improve his products. Yeah, the 300 orders per month can be disappointing if you send your order after that, but as a one man show, holy cow! I've heard people complain about the signature requirement for packages. I am usually perplexed about that as it is very clear when the order is placed and it is to protect everyone involved. I can say that everything that I have bought from Dean has been a great product. Whenever I hear someone asking where they can get X part, I try to point out the vendors that I know that have it - I find that more productive than just saying see the vendor list. I find that I most often point to Dean unless it is some obscure part that is not reproduced and only a few odd bits are left.

I really hope that he gets some support in the way of a couple of employees. Isn't there a Roadster guy out there that needs a job?

Again, I was not trying to throw Dean under the bus, but in retrospect I did a poor job of trying to get some discussion going.

I bought a set for a 67.5. They’re beautiful, almost too nice. I bought them from Dean though (guessing it’s the same manufacturer).

As far as our vendors, we’re lucky to have the support we do! Chevrolet probably built more Camaro’s in a week than the entire roadster production. To say the production of these is limited is an understatement. We have an amazing group of individuals keeping us on the road. To ALL of our roadster vendors, thank you!

cole455 wrote: Wed Apr 28, 2021 5:41 pm As far as our vendors, we’re lucky to have the support we do! Chevrolet probably built more Camaro’s in a week than the entire roadster production. To say the production of these is limited is an understatement. We have an amazing group of individuals keeping us on the road. To ALL of our roadster vendors, thank you!

THIS!! Vendors that are spearheading getting parts reproduced need to be celebrated!!

Personally, I think it's about time that we start to understand that our cars are starting to reach some level of desirable. Not 2000GT desirable, but desirable. We have seen some amazing sales figures and the global interest is starting to include our little cars. And we should start to accept the position we are in. When I bought my 1st 70 back in 76, one could go to many scrap yards with a variety of roadsters lying around the yard. Last one I saw was 3 years ago in Glendale, I should have brought more bits.
But our world is not Autozone/O'Reilly's. Oil, brake pads, bits and pieces. Our world is moving towards a bunch of unobtanium, especially when we are looking for pretty bits. Our vendors supply what should makes sense. They are in business to make money and support their love. Ask the community if they have a ????? ( just got one ???? from greg) and they will respond mostly for those Items that it makes no real sense to stock. We have cheap cars that are to likely to cost us some serious money to enjoy. So let's us embrace our vendors and those enthusiasts that have bits to spare.

Just an Update. Burton made a new Production run for 68-70 Sets. I just received mine and they are beautiful. Very well wrapped and in plastic liners as not to get scratched. I'd show pictures but I want them safely wrapped up until I install.

The Web site says "out of Stock" but he said he has a lot, and might not have updated the site:

http://www.burtonantiqueautoparts.com/s ... y=20706091

I purchased a set from Dean, beautiful product and great service!

To clear things up. The following has been personally communicated to me by Vera, owner of Burton Auto.
She had mistakenly left the late year aluminum trim kit up for sale on her web-site.
People had used the shopping cart and paid with Paypal.
So as to not disappoint the purchasers she threw together some sets to complete the orders and then removed the listing. I almost forgot. In addition, Her may stay is Ford interior pieces and she said she is way behind and they are giving priority to these products before all others.
No one wants these kits more then I do. From 2015 to 2018 we spent $48,000.00 net cost buying these kits. After reminding her of this today she said "The best I can do is to revisit the project this Winter" I have a standing order for another $20,000.00 worth of these kits.

Here are some kits I have left: https://www.datsunparts.com/2721 https://www.datsunparts.com/2724

Dean