Discontinued parts

[andre#4]

One time about 8 or 10 years ago I needed a pulley for my power steering pump. It broke at the shaft attachment point. Anyway I called my parts guy at the chevy dealer where I got all my parts for dealer cost, and he said it was discontinued. Then he called me back 5 minutes later and he said there was an 800 telephone number there in his catalog next to the part number, with instructions to call the number if this discontinued part was neeeded. Well, the parts guy called the number, and found out that the company he had called had 1001 of those pulleys in stock, and that the customer would have to call if they wanted one.

Anyway, I called, and asked how much it was... something like $17.00! I think the gm cost was going to be $60-$100. So I bought three of them since they were practically free, and I knew they fell apart spontaneously from apparent metal fatigue.

Anyway, does anyone know what this company was called or what that phone number was? Now I have lots of discontinued stuff I want and I can't find it. I have those pulleys 1000 miles away in my dad s house and hopefully there is a return address or something but I wouldn't bet on it.

Any ideas about this company or another like it? It seems that when GM discontinues a part, they do not necessarily sell off the remainders. In this case they had over 1000 left when they discontinued. This was a weird pulley because the belt went upside down on it. It may have only been used on the turbo v6.

 

[TURBO1]

There's a few places that buy up a lot discontinued parts from all makes, just Google "GM Discontinued parts" & see what come up. Also call your local GM dealer & see if they can use their parts locater, that may help.

Example: A couple months after buying my TTA, I wanted to replace my original 20th Anniversary spark plug wires with the correct GM/AC Delco replacements. I found out those were discontinued also (non 20th anniversary logo). I spent 2 weeks hunting down the replacement set. I was in contact with a GM dealer in Oregon, who used a different parts locater than what others were using, they found me 1 AC Delco plug wire set left for the TTA. It was located at this place:http://www.bbautoparts.com/ in the Bronx, NY.

I couldn't believe he had it, after 2 weeks of hunting, I was like::WOOT:
I received them in the factory sealed box & wires in the sealed bag inside. It was mint. It got me thinking I may not want to use these now, if these were one of the last sets remaining.

Anyway give then a shot, if your looking for something thats hard to find, they may have it. Good luck in your search!!!