Re: 164 driver's side door handles

["Daegrigg (Don)" <daegrigg@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

John,

Thank you for your reply.  Here is my agreement and dissent.  The triage if
you will for finding parts for 12-plus year-old cars is as individual as the
individual.  Likewise, our experiences are individual as well.  I will risk
a date stamp by noting that my first  and first-love Alfa was a red 1963
Giulietta Spyder normale (prefer the "Y" vs. "i" ) because.  So, over those
years and locales, I have developed sources and relationships to keep the
cars on the road.

The 164 is a car I am getting to know piece by piece.  I love its "song"
that reveals tribal identity with that of my departed 206 Dino.  Our 164S
acquired five years ago is running on a nearly 60 percent engine and
driveline rebuild.  On the other hand, the 164L has been replacement prone
in the air conditioning system area. For engine and drive line "used" was
not in the vocabulary.  But, who wants to pay $200 for a heater core when a
used unit can be had for $40?

The door handle that failed was the first.  It happened after it was
adjusted to take out too much play and was subject to a yank from my  son
the body builder.  Since this was the first one to fail in an inventory of
eight,  the new/used question to me was moot.  Thanks to your information on
the fatigue failure history of this part, I purchased a new one from
diFatta brothers for $22.95 (compared to Spruell at $32, APE used at $30).

This tale points up another benefit of the digest, the shared knowledge and
experience that can help keep us out of trouble and the cars on the road.
To wit,  thanks for your reply.

Don
No rant intended.
----- Original Message -----
From: John Hertzman <johnhertzman@domain.elided>
To: <alfa@domain.elided>
Cc: <daegrigg@domain.elided>
Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2003 11:49 AM
Subject: Re: 164 driver's side door handles


> Don Daegrigg writes, under the subject "Wanted:  164 Driver side door
handle",
> "If you have or know where I can get one, please email off line." and adds
> "Already tried APE".
>
> Glad to express an opinion off-line, but it might also be relevant, or at
> least arguable, on-line. Since the door handles are fracture-prone,
therefore
> virtually a consumable, and used ones stand four chances in five of being
the
> wrong color, and they take a fair amount of work both to remove and to
> install, and are available new from dealers, I would wonder why anyone
would
> look for a possibly ten or twelve year old minor part in a salvage yard
unless
> the car was a make-do beater or was just being tarted-up for an immanent
sale.
> It is wonderful to have salvage yards (especially fine ones) for expensive
> major parts of known condition and predictable life and for NLA parts, but
it
> is also wonderful to have dealers and the parent distributor willing to
invest
> in a service inventory. I'd check them first, the aftermarket second, and
the
> salvage yard third on any possibly relatively inexpensive, relatively
> short-lived parts. (My new driver's side door handle, four years ago, for
an
> eight-year old 164, cost $35.95 - cheap enough, in the grand scheme of
> things.)
>
> I'm not trying to dump on Don, but a constant FAQ on the digest is "Where
can
> I get a (whatever)", and it seems the search for a used part is too often
the
> automatic first question. (Apologies for the rant, and best wishes on your
> search -)
>
> John H.
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