Question about Suppliers

I have been getting emails from AHSpares.co.uk. Has anyone used these folks? Wondering how real their parts are. Also, for the SU rebuilds Joe Curto up in NYC.

I have used them for years. Most everything is of high quality. Best source for tops and tonneau's

AH Spares that is.

Agree with Stevenbn2- used AH Spares for many years and great source for parts. They supply many parts to Moss as Moss simply puts their part number right on the AH Spares box/bag.etc. I always factor in about 15% for shipping costs from UK plus the daily exchange rate.
Regards,
Mike

After reading Reid's comment thought I should add that my comment about Moss getting many parts from AH Spares was not meant to be critical as Moss is still the biggest supporter for our Healey's and all LBC's. Only meant to imply that the quality of AH Spares parts is good enough for them to resell to other vendors we use !

Eagleye said:

I have been getting emails from AHSpares.co.uk. Has anyone used these folks? Wondering how real their parts are.

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Not sure what you mean by "real," but AH Spares Ltd. is, I believe, the oldest AH parts supplier. That company is actually a descendant of the parts department of the Donald Healey Motor Company and was established by Fred Draper, who bought the parts stock - that he had managed as an employee of Donald Healey - when the company was liquidated. Of course that was a long time ago, but in any case AH Spares is one of the largest and most-trusted parts suppliers for our cars.

We are blessed to have several great companies still supplying parts for our cars. I would personally recommend any who advertise in HEALEY MARQUE magazine (full disclosure: which I edit and publish) as they also support the hobby with their advertising and sponsorship of club events, as well us supporting us in other ways. As they say in Texas, "Don't forget to feed the horse that gave you a ride."

For example, as I write this there is a Moss Motors banner at the top of this page. They are helping to pay for this forum. You likely benefit from this forum. You take it from there.

I have used AH Spares for everything so far. Their service is amazing. Order on Friday receive the following Tuesday, even occasionally, Monday. Not bad for shipment to Australia. Very happy with them and the quality is excellent so far.
Matthew

I made my first purchase from AH Spares in 1977. In those days you had to write a letter enquiring the price & availablity, then wait for the prompt reply by post. Then you had to go to the Post Office for an international money order (credit cards for the masses were still in the future in Australia, for the likes of me, anyway). The money order was then sent to England by post with the parts order. Shipping was by sea so that took several weeks. We did this happily as parts supplies in Australia had dried up and the breakers yards had crushed all their old Austin A70 donor cars. It was a thrill to be able to obtain brand new parts!
I visited AH Spares premises in Tachbrook Road in 1978 and received a warm welcome. Even though we now have "The Healey Factory" in Melbourne (who I frequently use), I have stayed a loyal customer ever since!

I've ordered from both AH Spares and Joe Curto. Reid sums it up as only an editor can do. Joe is also responsive.

I too have bought many parts from them over the years, and even sold them an engine. If you're in the neighbourhood you can even drop in and inspect the stuff before you buy it....

pan said:

I made my first purchase from AH Spares in 1977. In those days you had to write a letter enquiring the price & availablity, then wait for the prompt reply by post. Then you had to go to the Post Office for an international money order (credit cards for the masses were still in the future in Australia, for the likes of me, anyway). The money order was then sent to England by post with the parts order. Shipping was by sea so that took several weeks. We did this happily as parts supplies in Australia had dried up and the breakers yards had crushed all their old Austin A70 donor cars. It was a thrill to be able to obtain brand new parts!
I visited AH Spares premises in Tachbrook Road in 1978 and received a warm welcome. Even though we now have "The Healey Factory" in Melbourne (who I frequently use), I have stayed a loyal customer ever since!

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I was also at the Tachbrook Road shop in 1978 where I bought my copy of "Austin-Healey - The Story of the Big Healeys" that had just been published. Been a customer ever since. Here's the old shop:

HealeyRick said:

Here's the old shop:

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GREAT picture! It is really emblematic of the olden days when parts were so scare and AH Spares was a godsend. By the mid-1970s the BMC (well, BL) dealer stocks were drying up fast, and it was before several companies began to reproduce so many parts. We cannibalized a lot of cars in the 1970s in the quest for parts to keep others running.

I first visited AH Spares in November 1985 (it as a dark and stormy night), but I received a friendly greeting and was happy to see so much activity including a couple of containers being filled with parts for shipment to Moss Motors. By then the parts picture was definitely improved, and it frequently amazes me that it only continues to improve (haven't they all been restored, at least twice, by now?).

If I'm not mistaken, the last of the original AH Spares crew, Gordon Barton, retired just a few years ago. He was a direct link to the Donald Healey Motor Company. It was somehow comforting to buy Healey parts across the counter from a former Donald Healey Motor Company man. Bob Hill, the nephew of Fred Draper, the founder, was still the boss when I was visiting in the latter 1980s during stopovers between the USA and east Africa.

Thanks for the memory Healey Rick! That's the place all right. Narrow frontage but it was a very long shed, I recall.
By the way, did you also go to 'International Healey Day' in 1978? I got a ride there with Martin Wagner who was the organiser of the first Classic Car Show at Alexander Palace or "Ally Pally" as it was called.
The reason for my trip down memory lane was to to emphasise the length of time that AH Spares has been around and their links to the Donald Healey Motor Company.
Alwyn

I can say nothing except good things about AH Spares! From parts to tops they have been an excellent source over the years.

pan said:

did you also go to 'International Healey Day' in 1978?
Alwyn

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Didn't get toInternational Healey Day, we were there on a belated honeymoon. Rented a new MGB-GT and spent two weeks driving around the country. (The TR7 we were supposed to rent was "out of service". Go figure.) Did get to see some car related stuff though: the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu; historic racing at Donnington Park as well as the fantastic museum there; stayed in Leamington Spa at the Regent Hotel where Princess Victoria once visited and saw the old Cinema as well as AH Spares and Warwick Castle as depicted on the Healey badge. BTW, saw you are from Ipswich, Australia. Note the scenery in the video below. It was shot in Ipswich, Massachusetts in the US