Plastic FC seat surrounds

[mcl1959]

I have to trial fit these on a car and then return them to Rare Spares with my report. At that time manufacture will begin (as long as the trial fit goes OK) I would estimate 6 to 10 weeks from now but I don't have a specific time frame yet.

Ken

[graham_fuller]

Thanks Ken we all really appreciate all the work you do with rares for us. They will look great on our cars.
Cheers,
Graham

[weddo]

Ken
If the final product is as good as the proto type looks, I would buy two sets
regards
Weddo

[TTV6FC]

Fantastic Ken.Definitely up for a couple of sets.

[NES304]

WHERE CAN I PUT MY NAME DOWN. HERE OR RARES?

[mcl1959]

Nes - here's where it gets interesting.  The participating clubs who have made this deal happen - that is Victoria and NSW, are basically funding the enterprise, and as such, members of these 2 clubs have the opportunity to purchase the surrounds at a special price which is much lower than the normal Rare Spares price. I would suspect that if there are any left after members of the 2 clubs have all had the opportunity to buy them, then others may be able to purchase them, but there is no guarantee that there will be any left if the boot badge example is anything to go by.  All clubs were invited to participate in this venture, so there can be no complaining that we did not make the offer. If you are not able to purchase a set at the special club price then purchasing direct from Rare Spares is the next best option.
Ken

[Wayne]

Hi All
 Is there any date on when these will be ready.
THANK YOU
WAYNE

[mcl1959]

Wayne still waiting on first shipment to arrive. I expect that it will not be very far away.

Ken

[Kathy]

Ken

I'm a little disappointed that throughout this post you make cynical remarks about not getting support from other Clubs and also that other Clubs had the opportunity to purchase and now they miss out.  Yes, we had the opportunity - but we simply do not have the funds to enable us to bulk purchase.  We had two members wishing to purchase but you made it quite clear in your earlier post that that "was not much use".

The ACT Club has a membership of under 40 with a membership fee of $40.   I'm sure you are aware of the costs of running a club - you do the math.   We essentially live from pay to pay and we simply are not in a financial position to stock a range of spare parts on behalf of our members.  

Don't forget, our Club only has about 10 or so FE/FCs of which many have either already been restored or have been modified with other styles of seats.  

The ACT Club is not like Victoria and NSW with a much larger membership base and FE/FC model specific.  I, and I am sure the rest of our Club's Committee, would appreciate a bit of understanding before comments like yours are made.

Maybe it is for these reasons that other Clubs didn't come to the party too.

Thanks
Kathy
Treasurer
FE-HR Holden Owners Club ACT

[mcl1959]

Kathy, I can appreciate your position, but the Victorian and NSW clubs have worked hard to raise money for these projects and our membership fees are lower than yours
The Victorian membership fee is $35.

The job of car clubs is to promote the rebuilding and use of the models that the club caters for including both modified and restored vehicles.  Part of this is to make available parts which are no longer obtainable. Sitting back on our hands and saying "we don't have any money for that" gets you nowhere.
Rare Spares have come to the party after many years of not being interested in reproducing parts and if we told them "sorry we're not interested" then the deals will dry up!!
So whilst I have sympathy for your finances - it is all a matter of priority. We have built a business out of making and supplying parts for early Holdens and we offered other clubs a way to get in on a small time basis to build some revenue for themselves.

If after our members have had an opportunity to purchase the items and there is still stock left, we will offer them to other forum members.  But I am sure you will agree that belonging to a club entitles you to privilidges and if that means our members get the first option to buy rather than non club members then so be it!!!

Ken

[RET]

Kathy, I don't think anyone would reasonably expect a club the size of ACT (for which FE/FC models are only a percentage of the total membership to begin with) to participate in a venture like this on a large scale.

Having said that, let's not get too sensitive about it. Ken has put a lot of effort into making these projects happen, and the support at a national level from the FE-FC clubs has been less than stupendous. There's a lot of "put me down for two sets" style posts here on the forum, but that's not exactly commitment. (Believe me, there's plenty of people who "committed" to buying boot-pins when I proposed them that never actually bought a set.)

I think it's also worth pointing out that the agreement between RS and the two clubs who chose to get involved is a commitment to purchase the items following any testing and QA that needed to be done, when they were ready. In other words, we did not have to put any money into this enterprise up front. The NSW Club polled our members, took names of people prepared to buy a set or two at the discounted rate, rounded the figure up a bit and let Ken know how many that would be. Those additional "rounding-up" handful of sets is the limit of our exposure in this exercise. There was no prepayment or significant carrying of inventory involved, so it is indeed a shame if that misconception has led to other clubs not participating in this venture.

Our previous agreement with RS to buy the boot badges meant they sold the badges to us at a significantly discounted rate, such that we were able to make a few bucks on them, and our members still save quite a bit of money compared to the RS list price. The NSW Club made a few hundred bucks and our members collectively saved even more. Members of clubs who didn't participate have ultimately paid more for their boot-badges when they've bought them retail. It will be the same with the seat surrounds.

cheers
RET

[graham_fuller]

I'm sure if there are members from other states wanting these parts that the NSW or Vic club, if they had spares would be happy to sell them to your members. And by the by we are all very gratefull to Ken for the efforts he puts into having Rares remake these parts for us at a good price.
Cheers,
Graham

[Kathy]

I think my point has been missed.  My "disappointment" is with Ken's criticism of Clubs for not taking part.  

Clubs should not be criticised without first knowing and/or understanding the situation those Clubs are in or the reasons those Clubs decided to not take part.

Comments such as "sitting on their hands" or "sorry we're not interested" etc are very unfair and unsubstantiated.  

Also, I am not having a go at the hard work that Ken and others have put in to make this happen.  I just find it disappointing that assumptions have been made that the Club's don't care.

All I was trying to do was defend my Club's position and the negative comments that were made.  And if that makes me sensitive then I'm happy to wear that tag.  I'd rather be sensitive than not care about the Club to which I'm a member.

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

Yep, you have to be careful when saying things about clubs, all clubs have "movers and shakers" that keep things going, then there's the "gunnas" and of course the "hangers on" who are just in it for their own benefit.

Anyway, we are straying off-topic now, this discussion is for elsewhere on the board or PMs.

[weddo]

I am a member of the Tassie club which has had a name change (Classic Holden Car Club - Tasmania) and we have had to open up our membership to all early model holdens  :-/ because the FE-FC vehicles only numbered 5 (of which I have 3 of them)   This means we are unable to participate in the funding of any reproduction parts.
I recognise the valuable effort that other clubs have made in the developement of these items and also respect the fact that any discount in price to these club members is warranted. Our reward is in the fact that we now have items not prevously available.
As an avid FC fan I have allways been willing to purchase through R S any item that is required for our vehicles.

regards
Weddo

[NES304]

Can't we just buy direct from the club and stop all our feelings getting hurt.

I said I'd buy two sets and I will. (not for personal gains but for my next project)

I am VERY grateful that some one from the NSW club has offered to purchase a set for me when they are produced and forward it on.

Just my thoughts...

[KFH]

I would like one set and willing to put my money up front.

Keith

[Wayne]

Hi
 Any news as when they will be ready to buy?
WAYNE

[50plus]

Hi, would this be something l could use on my fe. as well,?? replace my busted up ones , paint these black ones the right colour , and fit my old chrome rails?? would that be o.k? if so put me down for a set, Thanks

[NES304]

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