"Vic Smith" wrote in message
...
I can't recall what options you had to get your injectors, but
excepting dealing with an asshole and mistakenly sacrificing your
banjo bolts, seems you got the job done.
My options, once I capitulated to sending off my old ones, as I was
going to
be in the states for only a few more weeks, were extremely limited.
However, I'd started with Southeastservice.net. They have a
rebuilding and
stocking location in NC, not a driveable distance from where I was in
GA,
and their location was a couple of hours south of me. That's where I
got the
BBs and washers, they promising to stay a few minutes longer if
needed
because I was coming just before they closed on Saturday, the day
before I
was to leave. They had 4 in stock, praise the Lord, which solved my
immediate problem. I really just wanted to see what Foley would do;
they
proved their reputation among cruisers many times over, in the end.
When I
called to see what might be done to get the missing parts,
introducing
myself nicely (no more than identifying myself, really), he
interrupted me
before I could even say hello, and hung up on me. His hanging up on
people,
as you may have seen, is SOP with him.
In my initial searching, I struck out on finding anyone with stock, or
who
could provide any real assurance that they'd have me back in business
by the
time I had to leave. In desperation (preferring to get them serviced,
if
they didn't need rebuilding), I called all the tractor places, truck
places,
and any other service places which showed Perkins in their ads. All
said
they shipped them off to the Southeast plant in NC, which is why I
STARTED
with them before, hoping to find one who could sell me two more in
stock (to
go with the two new spares I had).
I'd called TAD, who I've had a good experience with in the past, but
they
were closed. Asshole was the next on the list. Wish he'd been closed,
too,
cuz I'd have called TAD back in the morning! :{/)
Did you ever find a source other than Foley that you could have used
or will use next time you're fixing your Perkins in an exotic
location?
If I were willing to deal with international shipments, and have a
spare
set, as I now do, there are legions of Perkins distributors who would
be
glad to help me if I took the old ones out and sent them off, using
my
spares until their return (to go into spares). One such was the guy
in
California who told me of the GA distributors (after closing on the
same
Friday, but CA being 3 hours earlier, I was able to get one), and gave
me
not only the right part numbers, but told me not to pay any more than
the
RRP of $3.16 (which was what I was charged in Southeast.
And, going back to my original target (servicing), had I abandoned
that and
just resigned myself to rebuilts, I have no doubt that Southeast would
have
done a stellar job. I'm going there in Lydia's July run for her
grandson to
get the other 4 BBs and washers, and pick their brain about what
other
spares they might have which would be prudent for me to have...
You should publicize it.
Heh. If you read my stuff regularly, you know I do go out of my way,
in
many of my log posts, to praise (and link, with emails, too) helpful
vendors. This is just the flip side of the coin :{))
OTOH, in general, as Dr. Diesel was proud to point out in his BBB
response,
the 4-154 is an obsolete engine, and parts other than the BBs which
are
generic to the many engines which use the same injectors are
sometimes
unobtainium. In another venue, someone took me to task for what (he
thought) should have been a very simple job. He then went looking to
see
how easy it was, and admitted that it was far from simple. Despite all
the
farm tractors which also use the same engine, getting parts - such as
a
fresh water pump - is sometimes literally impossible NIB, and
difficult in
rebuilt and/or used. It's why, on lists which are specific to boats
using
the engine, any part-outs are usually snapped up immediately.
In any case, I really expect (other than discussions such as this)
this to
be the end of it. They're not going to even think (posturing to the
BBB
aside) about legal action, and I've had more than $100 of fun with
the
experience :{))
L8R
Skip
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