Deleted Thread on 246 Items , namely AGIP window Cloths-

For those wishing to research the items required for their cars unfortunately the mods have guillotined the whole AGIP window cloth thread so input from me and others has been deleted on a whim.

Quite why the thread was given the chop after being active for nearly 2 years is beyond me, I guess the seller of an original cloth at $1500 or possibly the anti repro brigade took offence that it was a advertisement.

My money is on some little snitch (we know who you are) who has reported it.

My last post could have been construed as advertising, perhaps it was & I get you are a business and want to maximise profits but to breath life back into a 246 forum it needs participates and members willing to give up THEIR time and effort, NOT your time.

So mods why dont you just dish out a ban & delete the offending post rather than pull the plug on other contributors who have spent time and effort to respond . It seems a rather petty position and attitude to take.

So crack on, will i bother with the 246 section any longer. I doubt it.

Am I pee'd off . you bet - but not for the reason you think it is.

 

Dear Tony

I was mystified yesterday when I could not find the thread, in the Dino section. I wanted to say yesterday that I had received mine and to thank you for making the effort, as you have done before. These projects need to be supported.

I would also like to add that, I for one, count your contributions here, especially on the technical side, as valuable and are always of interest and often of use.

It would be a shame to lose you.

Mark

 

Tony, I hope you don’t really leave this forum. You are a valued contributor and I for one enjoy all of your efforts.

 

I second that! Fred

 

thanks guys, appreciate the support..... i have calmed down a bit

 

tony
this should satisfy the mods
-place a for sale ad in classifieds
- then describe your item here w a link to the ad.
bases covered.

 

Tony,

I too have been “accused” of using F-Chat for profits years ago. I left. I came back because I like the forum and friends.

I HAVE NEVER MADE MONEY OFF OF F-CHAT. I was one of the original subscribers when premium levels were available and went for Red.

I will not speak on behalf of Tony.

However, almost all things like this are labors of love with extras being sold to offset costs.

Sadly, this forum has been on its last breath for some time. Should we just completely kill it off and through in the towel (well, maybe not an AGIP one)?

So dumb

 

Shawn, I think those that have taken the time to remake items for Dino owners definately do it for the fun of it, in my case the challenge. Profit, whats that, I'll be happy to break even!! Superformance dont need to stock silly little items like these but they do because i convince them otherwise. It hits a wider audience than Fchat classifieds that end up on Page 30 in 2 hours.

I do hope the mods and owner reflect a little, without the likes of old timers on this forum, it is vacant and lost its appeal to new subscribers. Short sighted imho but hey ho!

Tony

 

I expressed interest early on, but seeing what Superformance is charging, I’ll pass. No insult to Tony, I respect the time and effort he put into the project and salute him for it, I just don’t need one that badly. But I’m glad he did it and that it will benefit some owners.

 

I recommend emailing [email protected] to ask if you can post items for sale without a subscription. However, our recommendation is to buy a silver membership ($15 per year) and post in the classifieds section if your items meet the rules. You may benefit from a classified subscribed subscription if you plan on selling a higher than allowed number of items.

I don't see that anyone snitched. Posting items for sale in non-classified sections is one of the basic rules of FChat and mods will take the same action every time.

We do appreciate your contributions to FChat and hope you continue to do so.

 

Of course you don't need it, as well as the bunch of idiotic things we all buy, without even thinking at Costco?

Less than 100GBP? A tankful of gas for a lovely piece of addenda to the glovebox.
I don't think it is an outlandish price, specially when compared to $1,500..., and of course you do not need it badly.
Well, I do.

People like Tony, and others that have contributed in producing parts to help out Dino owners
deserve a pat on the back and kudos. Does anyone think, that by producing such items, our lives
will change and retire somewhere exotic? Really?

Helping 1 (one) fellow enthusiast get his steering wheel recovered by an ancient MOMO employee, change my life?, hardly.

And, best of all, are we really cutting in into the Pros' businesses? Not.
For one, I have the ONLY fibreglass moulds available for 206, and L's, in the world, as no one will pull theirs and make a mould.
The Carbonio Bros. up in Canada with their engine bay light? Yeah right...ask them about it.

Why bother? Well, I have, and have helped a few (count on one hand) make parts available, that otherwise are unobtainium.

I cornered the market, and seriously cut into people's earnings, right? B.S.

I do not see many in the other sections, except maybe for Parker Hall
and Tom S. (both businesses) go through the pains (real ones).

Regards, Alberto

 

Thanks but with the greatest respect the classifieds are more for selling that unwanted spare wheel thats been stuck in the corner of your garage for a few years, these items are bespoke and I may sell the quota of 50 (mostly outside Fchat) over several years.

Until you invest the time, effort and money to reproduce something made 50+ years ago you will never understand the jubilation in making it and the heartache when it struggles to sell. I tend to look at the thread i started on this subject was more an advert that they are remade and available once again and no need to pay the big $$ ££ for an original. It must attract subscribers to Fchat!

Best Regards
Tony
PS - there is person who frequents this forum who has previous so I stick by my first assumption

 

Had a few people receive these from SF, when you buy them PLEASE make sure they have removed the SF stock label from the bag, it should not be on there and will destroy the bag if removed. They have been told to stop doing it!!
Tony

 

Perhaps supply them double bagged in the future.

P.S. This is why I don’t typically offer my reproduction products through third parties. I loose enough money and sleep without any help from someone who doesn’t care or know what they’re selling.
OTOH, most my reproduction parts range from about $500 to several thousand a piece and many I will never be able to recover my initial investments, let alone enjoy some profits.

 

Thanks Timo. Great minds think alike - I have already told them to exactly that.

I dont think they actually realise the value of the reproduction is in the AGIP plastic bag not the contents.

Tony

 

Edit (to better convey what I meant to say):

 

Yep been there as well Timo especially when i made the Dino service signs some years ago. I think thats the only item i remade that sold out in the first few weeks and actually made a little money out of them.

I agonize over the carrier service, most are useless and parcels destined for 3 day delivery to the US are now taking up to 10 days.

Tony

 

Most items/part I've reproduced, sold and shipped worldwide in past 30+ years are or have been more practicality oriented for the actual use of vintage cars and include things like windshields, backlites, side glass and various mechanical components or systems.

Depending on buyers preferences, shipping large, fragile items like these can take now take weeks or even months* to reach their destinations and become a bit agonizing, but my packing methods in past 25+ years have proven to be adequate with zero issues of items received damaged ("knocking on wood").

While I have reproduced variety of small, detail oriented items like metal tags for distributors, generators, starters (even provided authentic, correct font/size stampings for them, if desired), etc, most essentially are or became money loosing propositions, but I just primarily wanted to provide something for my clients, fellow enthusiasts and other car owners/restorers with damaged or missing such items.

And to make things even more discouraging are the businesses or individuals who eventually decide to make similar items, but produce and sell them cheaper, i.e. usually lacking adequate details & quality, to appeal to car owners more focused on saving a few $$'s than authenticity & quality.

*To ship something via ocean freight to other continents used to take from few weeks to couple of months, but now apparently can take 4-12 months, which is why I keep a small, on-hand stock in Europe of some of my products or convince long distance buyers to use & pay for air freight (which in most cases ends up actually costing less, not to mention saving a lot of time).

 

For full disclosure, I admit that I too have taken liberties/opportunities to reproduce items already available from others, but merely to provide more authentic and/or much better quality product.

On few occasions, I’ve even asked the “others” first, out of curtesy, if they would be willing to improve theirs, so that I wouldn’t have to do any of it.

But never have I tried to make something cheaper/less quality than existing products, even if I could.

 

As someone on this forum said many years ago, Nuvalori i think, that last 10% in quality takes 60% of the time to get right. Something like that !!

He is right, its takes a mammoth effort to get it spot on especially in low volume production. These bags are a classic example and cost lots and lots of $£ to get them printed.

Quality sells in the end

 

Colin at Superformance has assured me this practise will now cease.......he is a classic car petrol head like all of us on here so i hope we can rely on him to get it corrected.
Tony

 

What exactly entitles one with a membership. I all my enthusiasm, i got myself a silver and rossa subscription simultanuously. The initial reason being a mome collector and i once had a rare momo wheel which i figured could be of interest here. Later on i kept subscribing although i hardly ever list anything for sale.

The other day, a guy here asked for a white stitching monte carlo wheel which he couldn't find. a Few days later, after going through the stash at home, i dug up 4 white stitching OE ferrari wheels and i replied to the thread with a picture of those wheels. My post got deleted by an admin, as apparantly, the link in my signature to my IG page was being seen as commercial. Ive been collecting momo wheels for almost a decade now and IG is the only place where i share my collection. While people worldwide have found me there in the past, obviously i have sold wheels over IG, just as i have here. However, if i wanted to make a commercial thing out if it, it would be looking way different after all these years. On top, i got a 3 day ban.

I have collected around 4 or 500 momo wheels, including many rare ferrari wheels. Some of which i have double or more, which is my rule of thumb for being open to parting with one. However, even though i have a subscription, i dont tend to list those wheels here. I prefer to sell to people who take the time to create a WTB ad or actively reach out. So i am a little confused, one can not link to an IG page which is rather a source of information being created out of passion for something, rather than it is a commercial thing? Strange...

 

Replying to a WTB ad should be pretty straightforward. "I have XXXXX. PM me and we can talk details."

If you reply to your social media where you have a list of other things for sale you will be looked at as a commercial seller.

 

Just a heads up, some are asking about the chamois cloth. The reproduction is the actual AGIP plastic bag and the logo that replicates the original.

Its best to leave as is and unopened.

Best
Tony

 

Will accept an exchange? My bag has the label attached.