Thread: Where to buy parts for my 57 Chevy Bel Air

So as some of you may know I've been building a 1957 Chevy Bel Air over the years at a slow pace. I've been getting alot of my pieces from Eckler's and Danchuk (both online retailers) and some from energy suspension (bushings).

I recently saw a large increase, approximately 45% in the price of shipping and I would sometimes get what's called "border fees" for purchasing specific items such as the bushings and side mirrors.

What my question here is, are there any retailers that some of you have had experience with that are closer to Montreal (just across the border if New York) or do any of you know any Canadian retailers for these parts? I know of a local store but their prices are ridiculously off. Ex: Hood torpedoes for 675$ a set when another company has them for 185-275$.

I did a bit of browsing on the net and really only saw these two retailers as being my only choice. If that is the case than so be it but I'm curious as to where some of you guys might have got parts for your american cars/classics/rods/etc...

Thanks in advance.

The Canadian Gov't hates when their citizens do ANYTHING to their car. Restoring an old car? FU! Modifying your ride? FU! Building a replica? FU! I would either open a PO Box in NY or become good friends with a forum member in NY. Then just drive across, pick up the packages and drive back. The only thing you cannot bring into Canada is a complete car. Outside of complete cars, there are stupid laws that keep certain items from being shipped with say a kit car. For those types of items they have to be done individually if I remember right. I've been around the Factory Five Racing group for years and the Canadians in the group always do something creative to get around the import laws / taxes. FFCars.com is their forum and they have plenty of knowledge on how to deal with these issues.

Originally Posted by FastFords

The Canadian Gov't hates when their citizens do ANYTHING to their car. Restoring an old car? FU! Modifying your ride? FU! Building a replica? FU! I would either open a PO Box in NY or become good friends with a forum member in NY. Then just drive across, pick up the packages and drive back. The only thing you cannot bring into Canada is a complete car. Outside of complete cars, there are stupid laws that keep certain items from being shipped with say a kit car. For those types of items they have to be done individually if I remember right. I've been around the Factory Five Racing group for years and the Canadians in the group always do something creative to get around the import laws / taxes. FFCars.com is their forum and they have plenty of knowledge on how to deal with these issues.

I'll see what I can do. It's getting ridiculous. Shipping on the front bumper kit used to be 33$. Now it's 166$. This is only for ONE of MANY pieces that I must order. This is also not including the fees to bring over. It's ridiculous.

I'll continue to search for options because 100$ here and 100$ there extra adds up to alot of money for me.

Whenever you can save money, it helps pay for other parts you need. I'd consider becoming friends with someone in NY that lives not too far from the border. It will save on shipping and maybe even taxes. I know that this method has been done before in the FFR community.

Yea I'm definitely going to look into it. A 2,500$ purchase is turning into a 4,200$... ridiculous.

BRINGING BACK THIS THREAD FOR THE FOLLOWING...


So I had a few people PM on this subject and for Canadian buyers, I have found this website with rather competitive pricing..

ultimatechevyparts.com. They are based on Ontario I believe and save customs fees so the small premium on the products are worth it.