<VV> Carpets- Clark's Corvair

Wed Jan 27 10:43:11 EST 2010

All, I have also talked to Mark at Clark's. He is Clark's general manager. 
He stated to me that he has heard back from the manufacturer and it appears 
they have agreed to make a one off custom molded carpet for Carl. Just to 
clarify, molded carpets do not have holes cut in them. It is the buyers 
responsibility to cut the holes for the accelerator pedal and the dimmer 
switch. As always Clark's have gone above and beyond to help out a customer, 
it just took a little extra time to convince the manufacturer to produce a 
custom carpet. Carl, I hope you get your carpet soon and I am looking 
forward to meeting you face to face in June.

Jamie Reinhart
CORSA Central Director
2010 CORSA Convention Coordinator
2010 CORSA Convention Car Display Chairman

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "BBRT" <chsadek at comcast.net>
To: <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 9:14 AM
Subject: <VV> Carpets- Clark's Corvair

> Folks,
>
> I emailed Carl and then talked with Mark at Clarks Corvair.
>
> Mark offered Carl a cut & sew carpet as Carl mentioned. Carl at this point
> would still like to try and get a molded carpet.
>
> As I understand it, Mark has called their mfg and asked if they can get a
> bare molded carpet and when. He is expecting an answer today or tomorrow.
> Mark will have an answer shortly.
>
> If Clarks cannot get a bare carpet then Carl will have to decide whether 
> he
> will accept the cut & sew or not.
>
> Clark's is doing everything they can to try and fill the order and satisfy
> the customer.
>
> Regards,
>
> Chuck S
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: <airvair at earthlink.net>
> To: "Tony Underwood" <tony.underwood at cox.net>; <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
> Cc: "Carl Arlette" <arlettecarl at hotmail.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 9:50 AM
> Subject: Re: <VV> Frustration with Clark's Corvair
>
>
>> If I may put in my two cents worth, as a customer and also as his 
>> supplier
>> (on some parts), so I talk to Cal often. Cal gets his molded carpet (as
>> does Wall's, and probably anyone else who supplies molded LM Corvair
>> carpet) from ACC, who like Cal's wiring harness supplier, is notoriously
>> difficult to deal with. They have the attitude that since they are the
>> ONLY
>> supplier of said goods, it's their way or the highway, so any requests
>> outside of the way they want to supply said part gets a big "go ****
>> yourself" response. In other words, it's not Cal who's inflexible, but 
>> his
>> suppliers.
>>
>> I purchased a molded carpet (thru Wall's) back in '93. At that time, I
>> noted (among other things) that they had put the binding for the center
>> strip of carpet (which is attached to the rear piece, and lies between 
>> the
>> buckets) on the rear section. Totally incorrect, as ALL binding goes on
>> the
>> FRONT piece of carpet. I mentioned this to Lon, and he passed the info to
>> ACC. Their response (if memory serves me right) was as I mentioned above.
>> They neither cared nor wanted to be accurate.
>>
>> Pretty sad when manufacturers of parts for the old car hobby take that
>> attitude. But then, they know they have you over a barrel. The Corvair is
>> not like something really popular, like a Camaro for instance, where
>> everybody and his brother can supply the same parts, simply because the
>> market's that big. Only then can the market encourage the best, most
>> accurate reproduction parts. We Corvair enthusiasts thus often have to
>> accept what is offered, and to his defense, Cal does try to offer the 
>> best
>> parts possible. But like any businessman, he often has to compromise
>> accuracy and quality, just in order to have SOMEthing available. He
>> regrettably can only control that on parts he himself manufactures.
>>
>> -Mark
>>
>>> [Original Message]
>>> From: Tony Underwood <tony.underwood at cox.net>
>>> Subject: Re: <VV> Frustration with Clark's Corvair
>>>
>>> At 04:15 PM 1/26/2010, John Kepler wrote:
>>>
>>> >Am I expecting to much from Clarks?  I would hate to see how Clark's
>> would
>>> >deal with a difficult modification!
>>> >
>>> >Frustrated from 'down under'
>>> >
>>> >Gee....expecting a non-standard, custom part at an "Off-the-shelf"
>>> >price!
>>> >Yeah...you're expecting too much.  Sorry you folks in Oz have to drive
>>> >on
>>> >the wrong side of the road!
>>> >
>>> >BTW...what the hell makes you think what you want isn't a "difficult
>>> >modification"?
>>>
>>> ...isn't this a bit harsh?
>>>
>>> If it had been me, I'd have been wondering why a custom carpet
>>> wouldn't have been available as well.   Wasn't the request made with
>>> allowances of plenty of lead time?
>>>
>>> There can't be that many middlemen between the guy who slices a
>>> length of automotive carpet off a roll to make a Corvair part, and
>>> the fellow in MA who stuffs it into a box for shipping.    If a
>>> contractor is so arbitrary that they can't be bothered to respond
>>> positively to a request by Clark's to make a carpet without the pad
>>> attached, it's simply unfortunate and a bit of an example of how
>>> customer service has dwindled to a trickle in today's domestic
>>> manufacturing for niche items like carpet specifically made for a
>>> 40-50 year old car.
>>>
>>> ...unless that carpet is coming from China... ;)
>>>
>>> Clarks might not be at fault here and may be getting a bad rap, if
>>> it's the contractor who can't be bothered to make a custom
>>> piece.     Seems that the flak needs to be fired off in that
>>> direction and maybe not at Clark's.    Where I work, we supply odd
>>> things to customers in the construction business and we'll go out of
>>> our way to do custom work to keep a customer happy.   Of course we
>>> don't have a lot of middlemen....
>>>
>>> Maybe the resident Aussie needs a proxy here stateside to work in his
>>> best interests to see if something can't be worked out.    It would
>>> make a great human interest "see what we can do" piece for the back
>>> pages of a Clark's catalog, regarding a custom carpet made for a
>>> Corvair from "dahyun undeah".  (tongue in cheek talk-funny reference
>>> )  Probably a likely candidate for a Communique article for that
>>> matter...  if it's timed right and it's a slow month and the
>>> Communique is a bit light on tech articles.   The right greasing of
>>> the wheels of progress and a bit of attention in the direction of the
>>> right person might turn this into a satisfactory situation that might
>>> be good for everyone.
>>>
>>> tony..
>>>
>>
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