Discontinued parts and their impact on the community

[slipstream808]

Well WOW. Been a while since I've posted on here or made a new thread (other than one a few weeks ago).

But as I was going down the road the other day a deer hit me. No I did not hit the deer as it seems that he came out of nowhere and hit my driver's side rear quarter panel. I thought he was coming into the damn window!! But anyways, I looked at the damage and realized that it was torn up and I needed to replace that panel. There was no other way. Then I got to thinking, "Did I want to??" I mean the car doesn't look that pretty right now. Its basically a '90 AWD beater while I'm in school. I have my '98 Spyder that is in good condition so I'm not too worried. But still I could help but thinking over whether to fix it or leave it be.

I guess my problem with fixing it is that I'd want to fix the rest and parts are becoming more and more discontinued. As a community this does not help us because people like a pristine looking car that is stock in appearance (usually for us) and doesn't look all beaten up. Where do we get these discontinued parts then? A junk yard but then there is rust and especially rubber degredation we have to worry about. And only so much TLC can go into a used item before it's as good as it gets and sadly never be like new.

As these cars get older and older and the parts get harder to find, I fear for the community as a whole sometimes. I'm afraid that it will start to die off. I look at cars from decades ago and I wonder if there will be anything like that for us down the line, with the ability to go to Year One or where ever and get the parts we need for that window stripping or and interior trim piece.

Any inputs and thought on this subject? Or even better a way we can get a manufacturer to pick up these discontinued parts and start making them again (even if in small quantities)? As for me... I'm off to work on the car.

 

[1g_tsi_awd]

JNZ tuning?

 

[slipstream808]

Weeelll... I'm done with my car for the day.

God knows I've ordered from Eric before on numerous occasions. I appreciate them being one of your best sources of OEM parts, but the guys at JNZ get notices of items not being manufactured anymore a lot. At least that's what Eric told me this past winter. So still it's an uphill battle.

 

[Ludachris]

JNZ tuning?

JNZ and others can only sell what's being produced. If the parts cease to exist they can't be sold. It's a problem that all cars face.

The fate of our cars is in the hands of the people who buy them and Mitsu headquarters. Unfortunately, I don't see future DSMers spending money on making their cars pristine. The mentality in this community has always been to do things as cheap as possible at the expense of having a good looking car. That's why you see so many damn DSM beaters. How are DSMers going to buy replacement parts to make their car look new when they won't even clean the 5 layers of dirt and grime in their engine bay?

 

[sag1441]

hehe i just got a slave cylinder from mitsu and they informed me it was one of two left that any dealers have access to in the country.

 

[RipperXX]

Speak for yourself. I will search junkyard after junkyard and under every rock I can find to replace X part with a nice looking one.


How do you think the hot rod guys do it. Some of thoughs mint cars, people spend years on years building them. It's not a over night thing.

 

[slipstream808]

By no means do I think it's an overnight thing, trust you me!

I just see that if it comes to that, then many will shy away and I can't blame them. It can be a nightmare sometimes. Still rewarding enough for me, though.

And by the way, RiperXX... SEE YOU IN THE JUNK!!

 

[wishihadatalon]

All I want is new window moldings. I can't even count the amount of times that I have thought about selling my car just because of window moldings and weather stripping Everything else I take care of but these things were bad from previous owners letting the car bake in the sun

 

[Ludachris]

All I want is new window moldings. I can't even count the amount of times that I have thought about selling my car just because of window moldings and weather stripping Everything else I take care of but these things were bad from previous owners letting the car bake in the sun

I'm right there with ya. There's no way we're going to find those in good condition anymore. And no aftermarket company will ever produce anything to replace them.

 

[RipperXX]

Actually if the episode air's again, on "Two guys garage" there is a company that if you send them any weather striping piece thats still in tact they can duplicate it for you and make a near perfect copy. Thats all they do, there whole buisness is making discontinued weather stripping .

 

[blcknspo0ln]

I'm right there with ya. There's no way we're going to find those in good condition anymore. And no aftermarket company will ever produce anything to replace them.

I could have sworn machv.com sold moldings

I agree with Luda though, the percentage of DSMers who actually care about how their car looks is probably really scary. I for one always have to have a clean car, so I can see myself being "that guy" who still has his 95 talon in mint conditinon 20 years from now

 

[slipstream808]

I for one care about my Spyder. The Talon not so much but that's becuase it would be a ton of work on the body (its a beat up and rusty '90 TSi) and no where in the next 5 years (in college) do I see myself being able to do the work it requires. And it's only gonna get worse off in that time frame as I drive it in the winter and daily commutes for college. It probably wont even last for that long.

As for the Spyder. Well that's another story. I'm more commited. But truth is it needs body work from the abuse the previous owner put it through. I hate being a "younger" (24) guy in school and all because the future is too uncertain and the present is just too poor. I'm very afraid sometimes that by the time I get out of school and into a decent job (i'm going in the movie industry so God help me there!!) it'll be too damn late and parts just wont be available.

So I come back to wondering "do I want to put all this time and effort into a "lost cause" cause my car wont be the way I like it?" - fast and stock sexy!! I'm a DSMer for 4 years now and that means I'm just stuck in the game I've come to love. I guess I just wish I had more cash/time and had come across this whole DSM extravaganza earlier.

 

[Liquidpen]

Good luck trying to get a 1G auto trans pump from the dealer.. discontinued, mirage rear calipers discontinued, dodge colt parts ha..

I see new parts everyday discontinued when I ordered things for AMS. (i work there)