The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks who's best in parts

O.K. , I'm wanting every ones to tell me where do you get the best parts. is it from LMC , BROTHERS, ECKLERS. i've gotten parts from those three and liked them all. thanks

....BEST? Most all repop stuff will come from one or two suppliers. Some vendors have went the extra mile and are having some stuff repopped and then also selling it to other vendors.

Best advice is to shop around. Take a look at each vendor on each item. You will find literally BIG difference's in the same part!! Shop around, put it in black and white and thats about the best you can do.

American Classic has provide us help with the Stovebolt server and deserves some interest there. Others of coarse would be JimCarter, American Classic......

If you work on old trucks long enough you will probably have good and bad experiences with all of them..... in my opinion!

Don't forget to figure in freight, sales tax and time when choosing. Eckler's is in my home state of Florida so the freight is cheaper, but I have to pay sales tax, but I get the parts the next day.

Then there are the sales. Eckler's, Bob's and a few others constantly run 10%, 15%, 20% off sales, so waiting a few days for a sale to pop up pays.

John, Eckler's and Bob's is new to me. I'd like to give them consideration among all the rest. Do you have actual links to their business?

When I first rebuilt my truck in 1998 I bought about half the 60-66 specific parts from American Classic, and the other half from Chevy Duty (now Classicparts).

http://www.classicparts.com/

Both are reasonably priced and provide quality parts and excellent service. Several years ago American Classic instituted a minimum order policy, so they lost my small order business. Now I buy virtually all my 60-66 unique parts from Classicparts. I’ve also purchased a couple of Corvette parts from Eckler’s. They are very expensive, but have top quality products that sometimes cannot be sourced anywhere else, and offer excellent customer service.

From what I’ve seen Brothers and LMC are the price leaders, charging more than anyone else by a wide margin. The only item I’ve purchased from LMC was their clear dome light, since they make it and it cannot be obtained anywhere else. The item was excellent and order processing on my order was good. Unfortunately I’ve read many threads in the truck forums that complain LMC has the worst customer service available, and many of the parts they sell are offshore brands with significant quality issues. I’m not sure this last issue is fair, since I think most suppliers get their parts from the same limited manufacturers.

I’d suggest obtaining a catalog from each of the suppliers (many/most are free), and compare prices (or compare online) for any items you want to purchase. That’s what I did before I started spending most of my money with Classicparts. In my experience they are almost always the least expensive and I’ve never had an order or quality problem with them. I receive email specials from Bob’s, but even their sale pricing is about half way between LMC and Classicparts, so I haven’t been able to buy anything from them to determine how they do. Here are the links for Eckler’s and Bob’s:

http://www.ecklerstrucks.com/

http://www.bobschevytrucks.com/

It would also help if you live close enough to any of the suppliers (or they attend a car show in your area) to go look at their parts before buying to determine the quality level of parts they offer.

Well put. My shop is 20 minutes north of LMC, 20 minutes south of Classic Parts and 20 minutes west of Jim Carter, so I have the pleasure and convenience of dealing with all of them, both, as a customer and as a vendor. I find Classic Parts to be my choice, when it comes to patch panels and LMC, when it comes to variety of parts offered. Jim Carter is the go-to source for hard-to-find, NOS and some used items.

In any case, I have found good, used parts, superior in quality, fit & finish, to any of the body panels, the suppliers are currently offering, bar-none.

I purchase fuel sending units and turn signal harnesses from www.truckandcarshop.com. Their price, quality, fit & finish on these items, is superior to others I have purchased. Since we specialize in '60-'66 Chevy/GMC trucks, Panels & Suburban Carryalls, we do some volume, so quality, fit & finish is more important than price, in most cases.

I just need a set of the amber parking lamp lenses for 1966 Suburban.

Jim Carter = 59.95 set
Classic Industries = 20.50 each
Classicparts.com = 16.95 each
American Classic = 12.00 each

Maybe there is a difference, but I can't see any.

I've had great luck with Brothers and Performance online.

review board for vendors at 67-72chevytrucks.com - which covers all years and makes chevy/gmc trucks

i sure do

truckandcarshop.com always have what i want, very knowledgeable, good prices and fast shuipping.