waynesturbo

im after new uprated bushes for my late 91 rx7 tt, there seems to be no one in uk were i can get them from but they should be available from usa or oz but cant find them, can anyone help me please

alwan16

try www.corksport.com

if they can't get them you might be able to get them from the mazda dealer as they actually has mazda part number that start with F128 i believe....

DamonB

Say again? 91 TT? No such thing.

black99

No but there were 92's (look at his location) and chances are he's talking about the build date on the car when he says late '91 tt


Not to start an argument but why throw a thread off arguing over a couple months.

That aside you might want to check with a japanese importer to see what mazda's price on the bushings you need are over there or perhaps to see about getting some aftermarket bushings in japan from FEED, Auto EXE, etc.

Maybe try jt-imports.com to see what he can do ?

TireSmokin7

There is a guy on the forum that sells a bushing kit infrequently at best. He has said he doesn't want to sell them any more but he also said he would if he can pre sell 12 sets. I think Jason from the RX7store was interested in buying the 12 sets and carrying them but nothing has shown up on his sight yet. Who knows if or when Jim will sell them again but I know he doesn't want to give up the homework he did to let someone else sell them. What’s that tell ya. His name is Jim LaBreck his forum sign on is jimlab. This is the really funny part, he calls his bushings Unobtainium! Is that great marketing or what! Try his web sight at http://home.earthlink.net/~jimlab/. Good luck. If all else fails you can find a set of Unobtainium bushings being resold in the classified third gen section every now and then.

Steve

DamonB

Because a couple months is a huge difference. A 91 would be a turbo FC; a TII. These are single turbo. A "TT" is twin turbo and that was only on the FD which was not built until '92.

There is a big difference between an FC and an FD. Now this post is in the third gen section which is for FD, but there were not any FD's built in 1991. If it was made in 1991 it's an FC, no matter what part of the world you're in.

Therein lies the problem as I see it

jimlab

I don't know... what does that tell you?

TireSmokin7

Jim, I would tell you but then you would probably do just the opposite to spite me. Are you going to sell them through the RX7 Store? I noticed you didn't comment on that part of my post. What’s the scoop Jim?

Steve

jimlab

Jason has pricing. If enough people pester him, I'm sure he'll put together a buy, and then the bushings will flow. (sort of a Dune thing... )

DamonB

I'm sure there is no evil conspiracy; it's business. Jim will pay to have the parts made at a slight profit to the machinist. A vendor would then buy them from Jim with a slight profit going to Jim. The vendor will then sell them at a slight profit to Joe Schmoe FD owner. Meanwhile Jim will have to pay up front because the machinist doesn't work for free and Jim is only going to make sets for which he has firm orders from the vendor.

Nobody wants to pay up front for bushings and then have them gather dust on the shelf. This board is absolutely full of people who see neato things and insist they will buy them at once. Then when you put the parts on the table in front of them you find their pockets are full of nothing but good intentions and lint. Good intentions don't pay bills You can't gauge demand by how many people WANT them, you can only gauge demand by how many people will PAY for them. The ones who pay are always far fewer.

Jim's sold a lot more of these bushings than I thought, but at what point does the market become saturated? Seems that pretty soon everybody who wants a set will have a set. Then the prepaid ones are left over sitting on a shelf gathering dust... Unless you make everyone pay in advance and then make them on a case by case basis in batches at a time.

It's tough on vendors to stock parts for sale over the counter on demand. The vendor has to pay for the parts and he then needs to sell them somewhat quickly. If he's not selling them quickly he's not a vendor; he's a bank

TireSmokin7

DamonB, I can't argue with your generality's of how most venders operate but I think Jim is an exception to the rule. It is my understanding that Jim only sells them after he has collected the total cash amount for the dozen or so kits just like a group buy. He is the only vender that I can think of that doesn't stock anything to sell in between these group buys. Maybe that’s why I have such a hard time thinking of him as a "real" vender verses a hobbyist that makes parts in his spare time in the garage and sells them here. While technically a vender they are not relying on our dollars to put food on the table but parts under the hood for there own cars. Each has a right to set there own profit margin. I see NO evil conspiracy in either. The point I was pushing Jim for before was if he truly had no intention of selling the kits anymore to publicly publish his data so someone else could/would supply us the bushings. Not to start a discussion on his ethics or margins. From his comments I believe he does plan to continue to sell the kits. Either to us directly or through the RX7 Store. Probably when the whether gets a little warmer for the track rats and a few others recover from the Christmas spending you’ll see the bushings flow. What do you say Jim, how am I doing? I never saw the movie Dune

Steve

poss

iTrader: (5)

I don't always agree with Jim. And I don't think Jim would have a problem selling bushings after they are produced so in turn I think the whole group buy thing is a little bit...rediculous (although I'm sure there are some fairly healthy costs involved). BUT I do agree with him keeping his specs to himself. I'm sure he has spent a fair amount of time taking measurements and designing his bushings so I can see why he doesn't want to be giving away his "hard" work.
Remember, nothing is stopping you or anyone else on this forum from:
-taking your own measurements
-developing dimensional and material specs
-coming up with an original design
-fabricating (or finding someone who will for a reasonable price)
and selling your own bushings for a profit

A little competition never hurts the consumer

Just my $0.02

jimlab

Pretty close.

I don't consider myself a "real" vendor either (not yet, at any rate), and I never wanted to have "parts on shelves". The group buy arrangement suits me because I have no inventory and no overhead. The kits are paid for before they're produced, so I don't have to worry about being stuck with several sets of bushings. So in that sense, you could think of me as a hobbyist with projects that occasionally result in the production of parts for sale to other hobbyists.

Here's (sort of) where the "bushings will flow" came from...

"A secret report within the Guild. Four planets have come to our attention regarding a plot which could jeopardize spice [bushing] production. Planet Arrakis, source of the spice [bushings]. Planet Caladan, home of House Atreides. Planet Giedi Prime, home of House Harkonnen. Planet Kaitain, home of the Emperor of the Known Universe. Send a third-stage Guild Navigator to Kaitain to demand details from the Emperor. The spice [bushings] must flow!"

In Dune, the spice produced only on Arrakis allows (among other things) the guild navigators to see the future and fold space, i.e. move from one location to another without moving, like folding a map until your origin and destination touch. Cut off the flow of spice and space travel (quick space travel, at any rate) grinds to a halt. Frank Herbert was a genius.

DamonB

I think these guys smoke too much spice

jimlab

It was the 60s... everyone did.

volley1

Why doesn't some other company do the research and start making a kit? Just sucks when you can get a set of aftermarket bushing for a freaking Chevy Cavelier (sp?) but you can't get them for a real sports car like the FD.
I can understand that Jim doesn't want to lay cash out for the bushings ahead of time. He doesn't seem to want to be a vendor, and that is cool. I just don't get why someone else doesn't get into the business. These cars are 10 years old and all of them will need bushings replaced sooner or later. I just hope when I have the money I can actually find a set.
Anyway, thanks Jim for being the only person that has taken the time to provide a option for bushings for the fd community. I hope Jason gets in on this and starts making kits so they are more readily available for the people that need them.