Rear strut braces for sale on Ebay?

[Humpty's Revenge]

Don't know if this has anything to do with John the Antique?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mitsubishi-Legnum-VR4-Rear-Polished-Alloy-STRUT-BRACE-/300574285090?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item45fb9f9d22

[John TheAntique]

Not mine. From the shape it looks like someone has copied it.

[Nutter_John]

That really does look identicle to the ones you designed and got made up

There based in Aylesbury so not that far from us , wonder if it was a member on here

[Atik]

That seems very dodgy. Dont suppose you have any sort of official patent or trademark John? Could you claim intellectual rights or something over them? Thats really really dirty for someone to be out there selling your work!

[Nutter_John]

well looking at the advert the seller is a guy called Dominic Baker and the only member I can think of that lives in the Aylesbury area called Dominic would be DomB

[Humpty's Revenge]

Did JTA sell one to him?

[Atik]

Oh man. That is bad if that is DomB selling them!

[TAR]

Dom B runs his own engineering shop in Westcott

The address of XDiscs is...... Westcott

:happy:

[Nutter_John]

Ah so it is Dom B then

[Dom B]

Hello Gents,
yes i'm afraid it is my company. It is not an intentional gaf. What happened was that we needed several braces a long while back after john had sold out of batch 1 of bars. At the time we didn't know that there was a batch 2 coming. I run an engineering workshop and it is my living so naturally i thought i may as well make them myself as i have all the materials and equipment. However as with anything when it is your living, side jobs always take second place so the only way to make them viable is to make a batch of them to try and cover the cost of producing them.

The design is not an intentional copy either. I had seen a vague picture of Johns, however i have never owned one or seen one in the flesh. When you try to make a strut brace the the legnum you are very restricted. The turnbuckle is from our other alfa romeo bars which is all cnc machined, i have no idea what johns are like but there arent many ways to make a bar and turnbuckle. The foot shape is entirely mitsubishi from the cutout in the shock tower (nothing else will fit in there) and the welded toes are about the only shape and size that you can get under the plastic trim and out of the tower, space is very limited.

I was aware of johns bars well after we had already made the batch so i made a point of not undercutting them matching the price and no lower so the members with an allegiance to John and the club could buy his and when they are all sold they could buy mine if they wanted so i could get some of the money back from making them.

It doesn't make any sense a club member making bars in a garage aside from the prototype unit when an engineering company can make the whole thing. However i don't want to tread on any toes, if money wasn't so tight these days i probably would not sell them for the sake of the hassle. I've already started receiving abuse on ebay from cvr4 members.

In respect of not wanting to upset anyone, perhaps i could do a deal where i make the units and sell them to john for him to sell to club members, instead of him having to source parts, materials, suppiers etc every time he makes a batch, then they are always available and not just in batches, or another idea would be to donate percentage markup from my own strut sales along the lines of what john makes after production costs to john himself or the club or split both ways etc out of respect to the club or the club members. Just a thought, any ideas. PS just for the record, the quality is top notch.

[chris g]

Good of you to come on and explain that Dom...

Maybe not everyone agree with the situation but giving you abuse is a bit much...

Perhaps the members/owners on here could refrain from such behaviour, let's hope so...

[Dom B]

The whole conversation does give me a bit of an idea. It strikes me that all over the country there are people individually trying to make all sorts of parts, sourcing materials and suppliers struggling with no machinery etc. However on here thers are vr4 owners who are skilled painters, engineers, electronics experts etc. Surely there is a lot of room to get members working with members more regularly rather than paying multiple outside suppliers. I know it does happen to some extent in bits and bobs. I certainly have lots more VR4 bits coming but i cannot write about them here (i don't think) as i am not a trader.

[TAR]

I also feel that abuse is unneccessary especially when the facts are not know. As you say, the way the product is made is a fairly universal so its not unusual for someone else to get the same idea.
I also commend you on your offer above to John as you really dont need to justify your position to anyone.

:happy:

[John TheAntique]

Hello Gents,
yes i'm afraid it is my company. It is not an intentional gaf. What happened was that we needed several braces a long while back after john had sold out of batch 1 of bars. At the time we didn't know that there was a batch 2 coming. I run an engineering workshop and it is my living so naturally i thought i may as well make them myself as i have all the materials and equipment. However as with anything when it is your living, side jobs always take second place so the only way to make them viable is to make a batch of them to try and cover the cost of producing them.

The design is not an intentional copy either. I had seen a vague picture of Johns, however i have never owned one or seen one in the flesh. When you try to make a strut brace the the legnum you are very restricted. The turnbuckle is from our other alfa romeo bars which is all cnc machined, i have no idea what johns are like but there arent many ways to make a bar and turnbuckle. The foot shape is entirely mitsubishi from the cutout in the shock tower (nothing else will fit in there) and the welded toes are about the only shape and size that you can get under the plastic trim and out of the tower, space is very limited.

I was aware of johns bars well after we had already made the batch so i made a point of not undercutting them matching the price and no lower so the members with an allegiance to John and the club could buy his and when they are all sold they could buy mine if they wanted so i could get some of the money back from making them.

It doesn't make any sense a club member making bars in a garage aside from the prototype unit when an engineering company can make the whole thing. However i don't want to tread on any toes, if money wasn't so tight these days i probably would not sell them for the sake of the hassle. I've already started receiving abuse on ebay from cvr4 members.

In respect of not wanting to upset anyone, perhaps i could do a deal where i make the units and sell them to john for him to sell to club members, instead of him having to source parts, materials, suppiers etc every time he makes a batch, then they are always available and not just in batches, or another idea would be to donate percentage markup from my own strut sales along the lines of what john makes after production costs to john himself or the club or split both ways etc out of respect to the club or the club members. Just a thought, any ideas. PS just for the record, the quality is top notch.

Thank you Dom. As far as I am concerned you have done nothing wrong and I do not require nor indeed am I entitled to any form of compensation. The outsourcing of parts etc is very simple for me and the production process is through my established restoration workshops so I will continue to make batches as in the past on a regular basis. As I posted earlier in the year I will start the next batch around October time.
Your kind offer is very much appreciated. John