c'mon guys - help needed?! who is your favorite parts vendor
 

Hi all,

seeking opinions on best parts dealers. I have to buy parts from people ive never met in a store ive never been to!
Qualifications to include reliability, range of products, advice, internet ordering etc.
Ideally seeking input from those on the west side of the US as I have to ship to Australia but any experience with a reputable company would be appreciated.

thanks

RE: c'mon guys - help needed?! who is your favorite parts vendor
 

Hands down it is www.npdlink.com .

RE: c'mon guys - help needed?! who is your favorite parts vendor
 

Maybe you just need to upgrade to a heavier beer can. :D Looks like NPD price isn't bad at all if you have "standard" interior, about 50 bucks for the pair. But if you have the "deluxe" interior that soars to almost 200 bucks U.S. Ouch.

I have used NPD almost exclusively for my parts. They don't even have internet ordering set up last I checked, so you need to phone everything in. But they have 4 huge warehouses, including one in California, and they get the parts out the door fast. I always call the warehouse in Charlotte NC, and if I call by noon on a weekday and order over 300 dollars in parts, it amounts to overnight free shipping (I live in Blacksburg VA). They have always been great about returns on the few instances I have had to return anything. They really do not offer technical advice at all, they are just in the business of selling parts. I just like them since they are so quick at getting your parts sent out. If something is not in stock in the nearest warehouse, they will ship the part directly from the closest warehouse that does have the part in stock. Obviously it's not going to be quite so fast with everything being shipped to Australia for you.

As far as tech advice goes you probably can't do much better than what help you can get on this forum anyway.

Thanks for the pics of the GT, looking forward to seeing it as it looks now along with your 2 other classics.

RE: c'mon guys - help needed?! who is your favorite parts vendor
 

Ditto on NPD. Reliable, consistently good quality (may not always be top notch, but always good and will work with you if needed). For hard-to-find fasteners/nuts and bolts I would recommend Virginia Mustang. For kits (i.e. rear taillights, etc), The Paddock is also very good.

Good Luck

Rob

RE: c'mon guys - help needed?! who is your favorite parts vendor
 

As an afterthought... I don't know whether the major U.S. parts chain stores will do international shipping, but you could look into that (Advance, AutoZone, whoever). Sometimes common replacement parts are still being made and there is no need to use a specialty vendor.

Also it's not a bad idea to check at least 2 or 3 major vendors... once in a while for whatever reason only one vendor may have a much more inexpensive albeit incorrect version of some part or other. I've ordered a number of things from VA Classic Mustang based on the much better price.

RE: c'mon guys - help needed?! who is your favorite parts vendor
 

thanks!
i will try npd first and see how they go with international shipping.
have you ever used mustangs unlimited or any of those guys that come up first on the search engine?

I have bought wheels from Jegs and suspension and steering bits from Cobra Automotive. both were good, but dont have trim and the restoration stuff available.

i'll be offline for a few days.

will let you know the outcome
cheers

RE: c'mon guys - help needed?! who is your favorite parts vendor
 

MustangsUnlimited and NPD in that order.

RE: c'mon guys - help needed?! who is your favorite parts vendor
 

Yeah upon further review I guess I skipped several other companies I have used. I've used Mustangs Unlimited mainly for cougar-specific parts... NPD does not have a cougar catalog. I've had good luck with Mustangs Plus in California as well. They have some nice kits for steering / suspension / handling and I used those for both the 72 and the 68 cougar. Mustangs Plus also offers some unique kits geared towards the restomodder crowd and / or the racecar builder crowd as well. And sure Summit's been fine for bolt-on stuff intake / exhaust / carb / ignition. The 72 runs and drives well so I am probably just going to leave it as is until the motor or trans dies. Possible exception would be swapping in 3.5 or 3.73 trac-loc...

Good luck...

RE: c'mon guys - help needed?! who is your favorite parts vendor
 

i have requested a quote from NPD.
Mustangs Unlimited is definately the cheapest - is there a catch?
Mustang Parts House seemed to be reasonable priced and descriptions imply better quality, but the extras like trim clips seem harder to find

its really late here and i have to work tomorrow...bed is calling and SWMBO is cranky with me for spending all my time trying to spend all my money on the mustang!
catch you in a few days
thanks for all the tips
cheers

RE: c'mon guys - help needed?! who is your favorite parts vendor
 

I have used NPD not bad even though they can't understand my accent which is kinda londonish, john's mustang ok and cj pony parts nae bother. The main problem is the time to get the parts....I am surprise NPD has set up a Europe operation, because most of the vendors here in the netherlands and from what i have seen germany and belgium get there stuff from NPD!!!

Paddy