BIG lead time from SFS

[S2central.net]

I was speaking to SFS about a little order of 60-70mm straight reducer hoses (for the now infamous MarkH 'O' ring mod) to supplement some Samco hose kits going south of the equator. They have NONE on the shelf in any colour and tell me its 8 week lead time on these cos its such a popular item.

They obviously ain't got the most order management process on the planet. I hope to speak to the gaffer tomorrow, but its giving me the heebees about using them for custom 3B hoses - if they are 8 week lead time on standard items then I dread to think what it would be on custom ones.

Might go with Samco on the 3B hoses after all. Tooling costs will be lower than ABY as two hoses are common, but we would need a formal group buy to cover the costs up front as per the ABY kit.



Any strong opinions from the 3B owners out there ?

I know that Samco could turn round the first 3B kit in 6-8 weeks for trial fit, then we'd be looking at 6-8 weeks for a batch of 10-20 kits.


Paul

[Rob W]

Either way the turn around time is not gonna be quick,i would stick with Samco as they did the ABYs previously right? Was there a specific reason for changing to SFS?
sorry if ive missed something obvious,but as of Saturday at Gti my mind has refocussed on the Samco situation.

[S2central.net]

Either way the turn around time is not gonna be quick,i would stick with Samco as they did the ABYs previously right? Was there a specific reason for changing to SFS?
sorry if ive missed something obvious,but as of Saturday at Gti my mind has refocussed on the Samco situation.

I was gonna go with SFS on the 3B for two reasons -

1. To spread our bets across two companies just in case one went out of business - leaving us high and dry on a deal.

2. Because SFS did not force us into eating the tooling costs on the hoses. Samco quite rightly identified that the S2 is a speciality vehicle and they would have no sizeable market for covering such costs themsleves. This means that Samco do not own the tools and cannot sell hoses to anybody else.

Please don't get me wrong about SFS - I have no beef with them and have had great service and products in the past from them - so has Mark & umpteen others with the 60-70 hoses.

I just think it might be better to stick with the devil we know on this now. The ABY hoses fit a treat and there were no surprises about hidden costs or manufacturing delays with Samco.

Paul

[S2 Ant]

Just on a separate note, who owns / has possession of the tooling bits for the ABY hoses, as they will be something that I and I think a few others will want at a future date but not yet.

[S2central.net]

Ant - technically speaking I own the ABY turbo hose tools. They are in the possession of Samco - but can only be used on my instruction. Future purchases will of course be done - probably one or two a year - depending on demand. I was thinking of getting a 2nd order into Samco for July time... watch this space.

Paul

[Greg_S]

Personally i think SFS will be better to go with. After speaking with them about doing mods to the hoses for one of specials if people use different sized turbo inlets for instance they are far more helpful the Samco were. And there charges for carrying out such work was alot more reasonable.

And as has been said they will more than likely accept the cost of the tooling so that it isnt passed on in the kit price like samco did.

Greg

[S2central.net]

Neither of them will be cheap for one-off items. I think Samco were just completely open with you regards changing the MAF hose because they had intimate knowledge of the expensive tool in question having made it for the sample set already.

The purported price of hoses from SFS would be cheaper if they eat the cost of tooling, but those prices will only be valid if they sold enough of them. They took a view of demand based on the flurry of 60-70mm adapters, but that does not define the true market size for complete 3B kits.

The tooling cost on 3B kits should be a little lower from Samco than on the ABY because of the common shape of two hoses (P.pipe to IM and Turbo to Intercooler).

Paul

[martinjs]

When i ordered some pipes for my intercooler i was told by sfs there was a 5 week lead time, this was at the start of april and because they had loads of orders to finish for the end of the financial year. Remember they are quite a small company and think they supply a lot to the motorsport industry.
I guess they still have a back log of orders to get through, and that demand is far outweighing supply.
thay are a great company though and were very helpful when ive made my orders.

martin

[S2central.net]

Yeah Martin - I have nothing against them at all, but Samco do appear to be much more clued in operationally. I'll speak to the gaffer at SFS tomorrow and see what confidence I can get from him on doing this...


Paul

[APNess]

I've ordered a fair few hoses from SFS recently (I couldn't wait any longer for the samcos!) and every time I've had the 'lead time' thing on anything out of the ordinary (I've bought two 70-60mm jobs - one for turbo and one for i/cooler) from SFS - victims of their own success?

Unrelated to using SFS for the 3B hoses I know, but if you need 'off the shelf' hoses (SFS either don't have them as stock anymore, or are not interested in supplying them to Joe Public) you can try their 'official distributors':

DL Products 01245 400530
Burton Performance 0208 5542281
Think Automotive 0208 5681172

I used DL and they had the ones I wanted in stock, luckily, so I've been able to use my car, in a fashion (haven't been able to confidently 'gun it' for weeks now). Getting a longer stainless T piece made up tommorrow and I should *fingers crossed* be sorted for my hose requirements now. If not, I have a stanley knife and the samcos coming soon, hopefully...

PJ

[Beetie]

I'd definatly have a set, and im not really bothered too much on lead time as long as we get a set as good a quailty as the ABY samcos....

[newsh]

I'd definatly have a set, and im not really bothered too much on lead time as long as we get a set as good a quailty as the ABY samcos....

Me too, which ever way it goes I need a set of 3b hoses and a 60-70.

[Beetie]

Ive got the Mark H intercooler hose mod (can we abbreiveate that to MHIHM!) so wont need that!

[audiman]

I have been waiting so long for this to happen that i have now made up my own hoses. I was getting thru so many std hoses, that i had to do it. All I need now is the PP -> IM and Turbo -> IC. The later of these will need to be a custom hose. The other can be bought as a separate from Samco i take it?? Or do we need to buy a complete kit?

[Beetie]

Tom, did you manage to change that 50mm hose, or is it still ok?