TOPIC:

If you are talking an actual hot tanking at a machine shop, I really don't think that is good for aluminum. From my understanding, some have some pretty nasty chemicals and some even induce a charge into the solution, like electrolysis. Transmission shops use what resembles a BIG dishwasher that can fit the entire case and hard parts into it, then run a timed cycle with soapy hot water pumped through high powered jets.

www.stingraypartswasher.com/stingray-parts-washer-videos.html

I have also read about people cleaning TV circuits boards in a dishwasher. perfectly fine, as long as it is all dried and IC's blown off good.

That said, if you can fit the cases into a dishwasher, and run it through a cycle or two.. it would be Squeeeeeeeky clean! Do this while the wifey is at the store.
I have also consider grabbing one of the CL freebie dishwashers and using it for car and bike parts. I don't have one, nor a need for one other than parts cleaning.

Oh, I forgot.. as far as auto parts stores are concerned .. I buy my auto parts at NAPA. i do google most parts, and normally NAPA's pricing is comparable to the cheap Chinese counterfeit auto parts / stores like the Zone.. except NAPA doesn't sell junk. There is a reason the parts cost more.

Buying stuff at the zone DOES give you LOTS of practice doing the same repair time after time, again. Practice makes PERFECT. You soon realize you need to buy your parts at NAPA.

I like NAPA but they are expensive. Was in a hurry to replace the brakes on my kids Nissan Sentra and wound up paying something like $175 for a full set. Could have ordered off Amazon for 1/3 that. Still grates on me then I think about it.

Nessism wrote: I like NAPA but they are expensive. Was in a hurry to replace the brakes on my kids Nissan Sentra and wound up paying something like $175 for a full set. Could have ordered off Amazon for 1/3 that. Still grates on me then I think about it.

Part of the expense is in a high overhead and light bills employees and rent to pay. You can't compare a mail order company like Amazon (pays slave wages to it's people) to a brick and mortar store 2 blocks from your house. Remember JC whitney? Order stuff and month later it shows up. THEN it's for a 53 Rambler and doesn't fit. Not much help when the car is sitting in your driveway. The response times have improved with modern technology, but the hassle of returns and exchanges remain the same, if not worse.
That and all the "practice" you get from doing the same repair every year, rather than doing it once, and having it last another 100K miles and all that fun forgotten. OEM brakes last a LOOOOONG time. `100K miles. or at least out of warranty. AZ brakes make it a year or MAYBE 2.
You get what you pay for, and auto parts are the epitome of that fact. 1 repair at $175.00 once, or 5 repairs X $75.00 = $375.00, not to mention the joy of already having the tools and experience fresh in your mind.

I put these rotors on last winter, with OEM pads. I was charged $75.00 for both (~ 1/2 list price actually) 2 blocks from my house . They are the ultra premium grade NAPA rotors. They still look like the day I installed them. and will remain as such for a long time. These will be the last rear rotors I have to purchase. That does not happen when you enter the Zone. NAPA pricing also varies with how much you buy, if they know you, or if you have an account, of which I don't.

I really should go back some time. I wanted to go pretend to be kama'aina again before I forgot where everything was, but that ship has sailed.

There used to be a combination Kawasaki-Harley dealership close to Honolulu. Generally I would order something and wait for it to come in - we didn't have Amazon at the time. Speaking of which, how do they treat HI? I imagine Prime 2-day shipping is out, but do they charge a lot to ship to you?

There also used to be a place called Cycle Sports Waipahu on Farrington, but it appears to be gone. According to Google Earth the building was the Oriental Furniture Outlet in 2011.

[ a few minutes later ]

Okay, I checked: the Kawi-HD shop is still there. It's Cycle City Hawaii on Puuloa.

Anyway, I didn't have any real issues getting stuff I needed but my needs were not complex. The Barnett Kevlar clutch for the 550 was probably the most involved bike project, but my friend and friends of his friends who were drag racing cars seemed to do all right.

JC whitney is still around, the warehouse is couple towns over from me, they still sell cheap stuff although their prices don't always reflect that
This is an old sign that is out front of their Utica warehouse , it is from the Chicago store , when someone had a custom job they were doing that was the place to go.

"bluej58" post=790354 JC whitney is still around, the warehouse is couple towns over from me, they still sell cheap stuff although their prices don't always reflect that
This is an old sign that is out front of their Utica warehouse , it is from the Chicago store , when someone had a custom job they were doing that was the place to go. "

Oooohhh! Beautiful old Kaw sir!

Yes, JC Whitney still pops occasionally on google searches, except in my mind they sell stuff goofy parts, like flexible exhaust tubing, and X-Ray vision glasses. I probably have one of their catalogs laying around SOMEWHERE. The parts descriptions always seem vague and deceptive , and what you order is more than likely not what you had in mind.

Damn, I remember when they were Warshawsky. Guess I'm old.

When I were a lad they were a decent place to get parts for air-cooled Volkswagens. In particular I remember a full carpet set for a Beetle that was both inexpensive and surprisingly nice.

Nerdy wrote: I really should go back some time. I wanted to go pretend to be kama'aina again before I forgot where everything was, but that ship has sailed.

There used to be a combination Kawasaki-Harley dealership close to Honolulu. Generally I would order something and wait for it to come in - we didn't have Amazon at the time. Speaking of which, how do they treat HI? I imagine Prime 2-day shipping is out, but do they charge a lot to ship to you?

There also used to be a place called Cycle Sports Waipahu on Farrington, but it appears to be gone. According to Google Earth the building was the Oriental Furniture Outlet in 2011.

[ a few minutes later ]

Okay, I checked: the Kawi-HD shop is still there. It's Cycle City Hawaii on Puuloa.

Anyway, I didn't have any real issues getting stuff I needed but my needs were not complex. The Barnett Kevlar clutch for the 550 was probably the most involved bike project, but my friend and friends of his friends who were drag racing cars seemed to do all right.

Come back soon before the price get out of hands! Gallon of milk is $5.00 ( and we complaining that the gas is too expensive. Almost 3.75 for 87) and forget about staying in the hotel unless you're ex-military and use Hale Koa. BK meal set is $10 (just type in zip 96817 and find out,. And please don't tell me it's $9.99!).

Jokes a side, yeah, the Cycle City in Waipahu is long gone and I prefer them over the same Cycle City on Nimitz as they didn't spike the merchandise as the one on Nimitz (just to give you a hint. I bought a 89' ZX-7 brand new from Waipahu store because they charge me, at the time, 7,200 for the bike. Nimitz store wanted 7,900 for the same bike! ) . Yeah, Cycle City still available, but you should check out the price! I need to sell my Kidney just for some of the minor stuff! I was a loyal customer of Cycle City when they had a store on the seaside of the Nimitz highway. They now located on the Mauka side and things have changed a lot.

Amazon is great. They offer free shipping to the island as well. Just don't have many options. BTW, Campbell industrial park raceway is long gone. We are without racetrack for, like 15 years. My son was like 4 or 5 when we lost the track. He's 19, almost 20 now. Cops are busting all these kids on the streets, but who can blame them? I was once stupid and reckless too!

old_kaw wrote: Oh, I forgot.. as far as auto parts stores are concerned .. I buy my auto parts at NAPA. i do google most parts, and normally NAPA's pricing is comparable to the cheap Chinese counterfeit auto parts / stores like the Zone.. except NAPA doesn't sell junk. There is a reason the parts cost more.

You guys really need to come to the islands. People say we live in paradise. Well, you DO PAY for living in paradise. Yes. I do buy most stuff from NAPA. Not recently. I can get most of the stuff from Amazon. Why? Kids on NAPA don't know what's 86' Monte Carlo SS. Can't blame them My car is OLDER than most of the counter person. (my car is 32-years old, at this time). Have you see anybody older? I sure haven't. Yes. Even at NAPA.

Good indication? They always ask me what year is my car, what make, model, and engine size instead of the part number I give them and always tell me " that part don't fit your car". I've seen maybe two over the year that knew what I was talking about.

Ojisan rider wrote:

old_kaw wrote: NAPA's pricing is comparable to the cheap Chinese counterfeit auto parts / stores like the Zone.. except NAPA doesn't sell junk. There is a reason the parts cost more.

You guys really need to come to the islands. People say we live in paradise. Well, you DO PAY for living in paradise. Yes. I do buy most stuff from NAPA. Not recently. I can get most of the stuff from Amazon. Why? Kids on NAPA don't know what's 86' Monte Carlo SS. Can't blame them My car is OLDER than most of the counter person. (my car is 32-years old, at this time). Have you see anybody older? I sure haven't. Yes. Even at NAPA.

Good indication? They always ask me what year is my car, what make, model, and engine size instead of the part number I give them and always tell me " that part don't fit your car". I've seen maybe two over the year that knew what I was talking about.

I refill drink cups older than half of the people working at QT here. lol

I feel your pain on the cost of living in the middle of a big pond, my friend. Supply and demand used to be taught in school classes, but so was drivers ed, which in this area seems to be another of the driver requirements that got tossed in the weeds.
I would definitely have problems too if I could not run to the local transmission parts wholesaler as I do, it they were not there. I grew up on a rural farm, and going to the store could often involve driving ~100 miles to a supplier to pick up something that I now have 5 minutes away where I live now. Such is life. It builds self sufficiency, resourcefulness and character.

In owning older cars myself, I tend to accumulate spare alternators, belts, etc. I also know where to source other things if needed. YES, I use eBay for most of my 37 year old kaw's parts (FREE shipping!). When it comes to fixing my truck, I try to order things in advance, but even the best laid plans can go amuck while trying to amass parts for something as yet sight unseen, such as internal parts. I do some pretty complicated repairs at times, and ordering mistakes can be made.

I can't even call my local Kaw dealer here, for some ungodly reason to TRY to buy an overpriced oem part .. I get put on hold and the phone never get's answered. I can drive there faster (3 miles away), only to find some twit sitting at the counter alone, eating a sandwich. (actually saw this a while back) I guess the phones don't have ringers. lol

When I was there, premium/super unleaded was $2.00/gallon, and we complained about that.

My friends and I used to go to Hawaii Raceway Park, out near Waianae; they had street nights where you could drive your car to the track and do the 1/4 mile. A few years ago I dug up an old videotape from a track night there and had it converted to DVD - the track announcer was pretty funny. 'Campbell Industrial park' doesn't ring a bell but HRP has been closed for a long time. One night I ran my GPz550 - when you raced there they would give you a number and write it on the windshield (bikes) or on the window (cars) in white shoe polish. I still have the GPz fairing with the number on it.