Racemate Alternators, San Diego

[Russ Noble]

Hi guys, I am having a problem with Racemate. 3272 F Street San Diego.

Briefly, I have ordered one of their combined alternator/waterpumps. They have promised delivery "in two or three weeks" since the beginning of January this year. I have been phoning them every week or two to get this answer.

Sandy who uses their pump has also tried phoning on my behalf approx weekly for the last couple of months.

I phoned yesterday to try to speak with owner John Barrett. He wasn't available and office lady Kaye (who seems incompetent and whom I have no confidence in) arranged that I would be able to speak with him 11am today. However, now all I get is an answer phone.

Time Zones are also a problem from NZ. They have NEVER contacted me back with any of my fax/email/phone enquiries. The only way I can sometimes get hold of them is phone.

It is almost impossible from this distance to become a squeaky wheel, however I was hoping to maybe coordinate five guys who would take it upon themselves to phone Racemate on their tollfree number once a week. If one guy could do Monday, another Tuesday etc.

Hope that a constant barrage of phone calls might stir them into action!

I have more or less committed myself to using their pump/alternator. A change now to a 'normal' setup would not be easy.

They have the details of my order. It is for a 32amp alternator with LHS inlet, serpentine drive on outside of alt pulley driven off Romac zero bal harmonic damper.

Their # is 800 671 1711. Website Contact

Thanks in advance,

[Dutton]

Russ,

What a disappointment! Very sorry to learn you're receiving this treatment.

I just placed a call, got the same answering machine you did, left a message using my telephone number. Who knows - with good fortune he'll call back, and I'll be right back in touch with you.

Best,

T.

[John Fitzpatrick]

I've had the same problems as you have. I've had an order placed now for four months and each time I call I'm told I'm next in line or something similar. John's had my crank pulley for a couple of months because he was unsure of its configuration, and my rebuild is pretty much at a standstill. The gal who answers the phone is very nice, as is John if you can get through to him, but at some point one wonders what's going on!

[Gregg]

Russ, I just spoke with Kay, 5:00 pm here in NY - Wednesday. I advised her you were my friend and I was calling on your behalf. Unfortunately it does not look good for you. She is blaming the company they use to cast the water pumps. Delay is on his end and they "are at his mercy". It is "the only" casting company in San Diego. Imagine that. I doub't it, but I constrained myself from telling him how to run his business and find another casting company. Kay advised another two weeks. If you can not return to conventional setup, you may be wise to order a second setup now as a spare. Hate to have your car finished and then un-useable because of a bad water pump. Who ever else is willing to call on Russ' behalf may not want to advise you are calling for him but just enquire about the availability of the pump. I would hate for John at Racemate to get mad at Russ and tell him to take a long walk. Russ will never get his pump then. As usual, the decision should be Russ'.

[Russ Noble]

Thanks Guys.

Dutton, don't hold your breath!

John, you can't be next in line. I'm told I am!

Kaye is pleasant enough, but incompetent. I rang her for a price and she couldn't give it to me, she agreed that I should phone the following day at a set time which I did. However she still hadn't worked out the price. Neither the next day, or the following day, or the day after that....All toll calls from NZ!

Gregg, thanks for making the phone call. They have been blaming casting supply since day one. You would have to wonder whether the casting company was refusing to supply for some reason.... I don't think I need another pump as a spare, there's plenty of expertise out here to repair whatever becomes faulty or broken. They say that out of the thousand or so items they have produced that they have not had a single failure.

I am convinced the product is good, pity I can't say the same about the service.....I just wish I could get a straight answer from them instead of the constant lies they keep feeding me all the time!

If this was a company in NZ I would just go along to their premises and get to the bottom of the situation. Unfortunately the extra 8000 miles to CA make that impractical, so I thought if I could arrange a daily phone call on their free calling line (only free anywhere in the US!) it might focus their energies and convince them that I really did care.

I guess hope springs eternal! I know I should pull the plug on this one, but it is an excellent product and I would rather have it than not have it and going back to a conventional setup is going to involve quite a bit of extra work and alteration.

Once again, thanks guys. All suggestions welcomed.

Cheers

[Pete.]

Hmmmm John Barrett isn't also known as Robert Logan is he?

[Russ Noble]

Haha Pete.

No, he hasn't asked for a deposit!!

[Gregg]

Russ, I would have someone local drop by and find out the real story. Perhaps he is waiting for a large enough interest/order to justify the foundry costs. I doubt a good businessman would wait six months to have castings made if he had a lot of customers waiting on his product. Let me know if i could be of further service however I am on the east coast while Racemate is on the west coast.

[Ron Earp]

Don't we have some San Diego members that could swing by? I know about where that is located, but I'm in NC and not scheduled to go to CA for about a month or so. I'll stop by at that time if needed.

I called this folks over a year ago to get alternator pricing and info. I liked the product, but at that time I was told it'd be a couple of months so I didn't order. Price was high too, but in retrospect after futzing around with alternators and front covers and brackets maybe not....

R

[Bill D]

A member who owns a BEC GT40 lives in SD. I can't remember his name though (old age I guess)

[Cushmancompetition]

Russ, we used to run them on our race cars and had to get away from them for reliablity reasons. I am sure I have some stuff left around the shop and could possibly come up with a complete unit if you wanted a used 1 to get you by untill the new unit comes in. I know we had a spare water pump with mount and also a box full of the alternator parts and 2 regulators. I am off to a big race this weekend but can check out my inventory when we get back on monday. You can get all my contact info on my website Home thanks, jay

[Dutton]

Russ -

Like Pete, when I read you note initially, Robert Logan crossed my mind as well. Although the treatment you've received is quite sad, it's good to know that you haven't suffered through a lost deposit as well.

I tried calling again yesterday afternoon, probably an hour or so after Gregg got through. You're dead right about Kaye - very friendly and very incompetent. I didn't mention your situation when I spoke with her, rather I was just tossing questions about 'my' installation and what options were available. Interestingly, I received the standard two-week out response to my inquiry as well as the rest of the rehearsed reply but, after talking with her a bit and asking more questions about a Ford small block install, she did tell me that there are water pumps and alternators on the shelf and that, depending on the configuration needed, could be combined into a single pump/alternator assembly. I have no idea how many different configurations are available so whatever they can do right now may or may not be suitable for your install. Also, keep in mind how well she knows the product.

As for the missing Jon Barrett, perhaps a missing persons report should be filed with the San Diego PD...

Best,

T.

[Russ Noble]

Thanks for that Jay.

That's good enough for me.

If they're not reliable I don't want one. Their reliability claims were one of the reasons I opted for this setup!

Jay, what do you find to be the reliable solution? This car is being built with endurance racing in mind.

Guys, don't bother hassling Racemate for me, in the meantime. I think I'm going to cancel my order shortly.

Thanks for all the feedback.

Cheers

[Russ Noble]

Thanks Dutton,

You've got the standard reply.
That was the answer to my initial enquiry almost verbatim.

Everybody else be warned.

Cheers

[Russ Noble]

Have just canceled my order with Racemate.

Thanks to everyone for their efforts, Sandy, Dutton, Gregg, and particularly to Jay for the heads up on the reliability issue.

Now, back to the search engine for conventional w/p and alternator options.

John, if I was you I would think twice about this product.

Thanks guys,

Cheers

[Pete.]

The previous and the help Ross is getting on the suspension issue really shows how valuable this forum/family is. Russ could have been stuffing around for weeks yet if he had not got your feedback. Everyone give yourselves a pat on the back. Especially you Ron.

[Cushmancompetition]

Russ we had problems with tig welded armature brackets braking free and them throwing the belts. We lost a very big race we were leading and never let it happen again. I do not know of any of the guys we race against who had problems with the chevys. We switched over to 16 volt batterys and no alternator but that wont work for you. Let me know if I can help.

[Straight 8 Racing]

Russ, what were the criteria for this product, are you tring to save space ?

[Russ Noble]

Jay, thanks for clarifying the details. What w/p do you use?