Parts Wanted? Attn Newbies:Did you look here?

[Dan Szwarc]

Please do not ask about where to buy parts without reading this thread first:

Lincoln Parts Suppliers: AKA The Usual Suspects

Please note if you have called them in your "Wanted" posts. If they don't have it, then you should post in this forum.

If you are just being cheap/traying to save some money, just indicate so. We understand how expensive this hobby can be.

[norgale]

Dan you have a great point there. However I wouldn't call "shopping around" being cheap. The parts for our cars can be very expensive that's true but very often the "Usual Suspects" are charging some heafty prices for some of these parts that just isn't necesary.
When I first got my 60 Premeiere i went looking for a set of hood hinges because one of mine was broken. I got a price of $300 for one hinge and $500 for the other hinge from one of the usual suspects. Eight hundred dollars for two hood hinges plus freight was absolutly outrageous. Needless to say i didn't buy them and after awhile I found a set on evilbay for $50 that were in perfect working condition and bought them.
It is a lot easier to help the newbies if they do tell us what they have done so far in trying to locate a part and it helps even more if they will take the time to look up the part numbers ect. so they know what they are talking about. But I would call it being thrifty with the bucks by looking around for a better priced part. No sense in spending money foolishly. It's too hard to come by anymore. Pete

[Dan Szwarc]

My point is parts are available from these sources. When someone posts a wanted ad, they should indicate they a looking for another source.

[norgale]

Agreed,absolutly.

[wyattae]

Ok, here is where I get a little frustrated. I am I guess a "newbie" as far as dealing with these early model Lincolns, but I have been helping my father rebuild older cars since I was probably 14 years old. The part that is alarming me is that here in Michigan, these cars are being crushed faster than I can find them. People are coming on this site, and others, and finding out the harsh reality of LincolnLand, Bakers, and LincolnParts Intl. are just demanding insane prices(as I agree). So, these people will just walk away from these cars or scrap them because its either too much of a hassle for them to part out theirs or its just financially impractical to fix them. I am seriously considering joining their ranks. 570.00 for a gas tank? This is what Lincoln Land and Lincoln Parts International are trying to charge me. I have been running into this time and time again. Its not that these cars are a "niche" car. Everyone I know loooves these cars. These parts guys are literally pricing our vehicles into extinction. I know the counter point,"But that raises the value of my car, thats great!'. Yeah thats great until you need to get parts yourself and then you end up having to sell your car because its just impossible to fix it. I found a trunk lid for my car for 150.00, but its a 63. I can make it work for my 61, do I want to? Not really, because its the wrong lid. I refuse to pay 900.00 for a trunk lid. This is not supply and demand if LincolnLand is buying up all the southern vehicles, and then jacking up the price when they bottleneck supply. Am I probably shooting myself in the foot by going off on these "usual suspects", possibly. But if no one voices these concerns, then we are in big trouble. I have literlly contacted Companies like BendiX and Raybestos, and they have told me in plain english, "we can build lincoln drums from 59 on if we wanted to, we have the stuff to do it, but there isn't enough demand". We need to peak up and get these companies to make what we want. HOW is it possible that I a 1957 Chevy Bel Air is cheaper to fix up totally (which I am doing as I work in my father's restoration business) with NEW parts than this vehicle. Sorry if I sound like a complainer, but I know about how much these companies are buying these parts cars for, and they are GOUGING US!!!!!!!! Maybe I should go to ford myself, get these stamping and millage licenses and just sell the NEW parts myself and put these dudes out of business, rather than see all these cars fade away into oblivion.

[Dan Szwarc]

The Lincoln vendors are simply the highest-priced places they are available, but the parts ARE available.

Keep looking for better deals if you have the time and resources.

[rld14]

It's supply vs demand.

Parts for my Lincoln are outrageously expensive, more so than for my Porsche 356. $225 each for USED brake drums? What are they made out of, Silver?

But the problem is, there's hardly any demand, and a lot of parts for the 58-60s are year specific, like the brake drums, those fit 1960 Lincolns, not 59s and not 61s. How many 1960 Lincolns see regular use? I'd bet that mine is one of perhaps 5 in the world that sees use as a transportation car on a regular basis.

[wyattae]

This is where I scratch my head... I am a business major and I can see plain as day supply is being artificially manipulated by a handful of vendors. One of my contacts down in Tennessee just got cleaned out, LincolnLand bought all 15 Lincolns that he had! Now how is that going to help any of us? I mean most scrapyards and old car guys will sell these cars for 1000-2000 depending. So if they sell 4 drums for 300 a piece, they have already cleared the cost for the WHOLE parts car! The rest is just insane profit. Shoot, if those drums were sold at 150 a piece they would still make a great sum of money and that customer will probably come back to buy MORE parts. Low demand and high supply means the price should come DOWN!!!

[onedollarbob]

Wyatt, you're over reacting. A '57 Chevy was produced in much larger numbers and was preserved in much larger numbers. I vote with my dollars--just don't buy the part--or with my feet--go find it myself in a yard or dig a little deeper to find it from somebody else.

I will say that Lincoln Land is inordinately expensive on parts that are not all that rare. They really take advantage of the ol' gag of "call for price".

[LithiumCobalt]

I agree wih most of what is being said here. One thing everyone should remember, howeve, is that Lincoln Land has got some pretty expensive overhead. I'm not trying to defend their practices, becabuse I too think they are too expensive, but I can see the need for a little higher markup. I have been getting a lot of my parts from Tim Nill. He's a smaller operation and thus less overhead and cheaper parts. He's not always the fastest guy, but he's never disappointed me with substandard parts either. For used parts, he is my first choice. For new parts; I always buy from Rock Auo or locally. The specialty stuff, you just don't have a choice but to bend over and pay th usuals.

Lastly, i think that shear numbers play into the parts expense. The reason Cadillac parts of similar vintage are one quarter of the price is because there were four times as many made. I am already growing tired of this and I've only owned my car for six months.

[911dz9r]

I am new at this,So I am reaching out to my Lincoln Boys.
I am looking for the Roof Rails Seal for my 62 Lincoln Continental Convertable. My Roof Rails Seals were missing.
I am hoping someone out there has an OLD set they took off or a NOS set they are willing to sell.
If you have a Old set,any condition I will buy them from you. I am hoping that I might end up with
a decent set of Roof Rail Seals. The Usual Suspects Roof Rail Seals that are on the Market today are JUNK?
So is there anybody out there with an old 61-62-63 LCC that is sitting and the Roof Rail Seals are Old and Dried out
and has a set they removed and would sell them Cheap to me,I am in need of your Roof Rail Seals.
Thanks for your Help. Bob

[NicSanford]

I had to call Lincoln Land to find a wood grain lighter to replace the one that got stolen recently. Apparrently they don't have it listed on their site. Thanks Dan!

[JAB]

The business of selling parts for our Lincolns is just that, a business.

There is no conspiracy to manipulate parts prices.

If there were lots of good condition deck lids or gas tanks, or any other such parts for that matter, Lincolnland could not sell them for the prices quoted above.

Usually when you have your car in the shop, the mechanic cannot wait 5 months to find the needed part. They need to be able to call a supplier and order the part. Accordingly, the supplier goes to a great deal of effort, time and expense to keep a supply of these parts coming through the warehouse, so they can meet daily orders. Out of 15 parts cars purchased, only one or two might have the part needed. Once that part is gone, the SUSPECT has to purchase another parts car, and they are just not that common.

I am in the business of selling Lincoln parts and buying up Lincoln parts cars. I spend almost all of my time on the phone with customers, searching for parts cars, parting out cars and packaging orders. I am not as expensive as most of the Usual Suspects, and I am not getting rich.

The reality of this business is that you have to keep a large inventory of parts in order to fill orders. If I purchase 10 parts cars, all of the gas tanks will be rusty, all of the radiators need recoring, and all of the fuel pumps need to be rebuilt (and probably only 4 of the cars will have the correct 3 port Carter). I then have to go to the time and expense to have the fuel pumps rebuilt, the tanks taken off and recoated. The radiators all need to be recored at a cost around $400. This is real work and requires an investment of time and money.

Supply and demand means that if the price is too low, then your inventory gets snapped up and now you can't fill orders (and if you can't fill orders, you don't make any more money). You then raise the price to the point where you can balance incoming orders with actual supply. If you can make some good profit, then god bless you.

For those of us that have the time to wait around for a part to show up on Ebay, or search 20 junk yards for just the right, part for $20, don't fool yourself. That part actually costs $20 plus 30 phone calls, 2 hours on the phone, $40 in gas, and 5 hours messing around in junkyards. We consider this fun! But if you need the part by next tuesday, get real. The actual cost from a supplier, for immediate gratification of your parts need, is much higher, and is not rewarded with the thrill of the hunt.

Sometimes we can be disappointed that the process is not as fun as we thought, and is far more expensive than we had hoped. The "Usual Suspect's" only crime is that he may be bringing bad news. Don't blame the messenger.

John Brewer
Brewer Classic Lincoln
303 562-8368

[Dan Szwarc]

I get tired of the price bitching, myself.

[rld14]

John,

Great post.

You know we do bitch about parts pricing for these cars at times, and there are some suppliers who, IMO, price gouge (Someone in the deep south with an attitude problem that shall remain nameless comes to mind).

However, I think that you have to recognize that the market for Lincoln parts is small, especially for the 58-60 cars. If it wasn't for the values of the Convertibles there would likely be nothing reproduced for them. I remember talking to someone about brake drums, which are unique to the 60 and my friend being incredulous that they weren't being reproduced. Well, they made, what, 25k 1960s? How many are left and still roadworthy and being driven? I doubt more than 300 and I suspect that the number is probably closer to 150.

If you want parts for a Mustang/Camaro/57 Chevy they're relatively cheap because everyone seems to have one and there's lots of competition and reproduction parts can be made in huge quantities. It's the same with my Vauxhalls; some parts simply do not exist for those cars and those that do are expensive. For all of my whining I haven't found a situation yet where I simply can't find something that I need for my 60.

And if you think Lincoln parts are pricey, check and see what Porsche 356 stuff costs and those are cars with a nearly FIFTY percent survival rate!