Contacting John Pirkle's Business

[Al R.]

Does anyone have any info on how to contact John's son or whoever is looking after his business since his untimely passing ? I 've left numerous messages on John Sr.'s voicemail, but they have not been returned and I do not want to lose my alternator that I sent him. Any help would be greatly appreciated as I'm sure other NCRS members may also be wondering. TIA Al Rains

[Scott K.]

Re: Contacting John Pirkle's Business

Funny you should ask. I happened to contact them just this morning inquiring about their service.

I spoke with Mrs. Pirkle. She answered the phone at the main number. At the end of the conversation, she suggested that I email her son at his email which is "thepirk@aol.com".

I just emailed that address this am -- but have not gotten a reply and will probably try again in the morning by phone to follow-up.

[Al R.]

Re: Contacting John Pirkle's Business

Thanks Scott, I'll try both the number tomorrow and the e-mail address and see what happens. I'm just getting a little worried.

[Al R.]

Re: Contacting John Pirkle's Business

Update: Mr Pirkle did contact me and assured me that my alternator was in good hands and that he was getting back up to speed on everything.

[Doug L.]

Re: Contacting John Pirkle's Business

Mrs Pirkle gave me John Jrs phone number. That may be the best way to contact him. I'm traveling and don;t have the number with me or I'd give it to you. He is up to his ears trying to reorganize so probably won't respond to e-mails.

[Peter B.]

Re: Contacting John Pirkle's Business

Al,

I also talked to John Jr. about 2 weeks ago and ordered a restored and dated alternator and starter for my 67...I lost points at the NorCal Regional due to these being incorrect replacement parts. John checked his dated originals and had what I needed for both parts. He also said they do not restore and put items on the shelf, they restore upon order and payment and delivery may take up to 8 weeks at this time. I want correctly restored original parts so based upon the comments in the archive I placed the order. We need to give John the time he needs to reorganize and get back into production.

Pete

[Ridge K.]

Re: Contacting John Pirkle's Business

Al,

I also talked to John Jr. about 2 weeks ago and ordered a restored and dated alternator and starter for my 67...I lost points at the NorCal Regional due to these being incorrect replacement parts. John checked his dated originals and had what I needed for both parts. He also said they do not restore and put items on the shelf, they restore upon order and payment and delivery may take up to 8 weeks at this time. I want correctly restored original parts so based upon the comments in the archive I placed the order. We need to give John the time he needs to reorganize and get back into production.

Pete

Pete, how did the judges see the starter date? I've always been curious about that.
Can one scoot far enough under the car, or did the judge use a small mirror/light with handle from above?

Thanks,

[Terry M.]

Re: Contacting John Pirkle's Business

Pete, how did the judges see the starter date? I've always been curious about that.
Can one scoot far enough under the car, or did the judge use a small mirror/light with handle from above?

Thanks,

One (even one of my size) can get ones head under the car behind the passenger side front wheel to see the starter number, date and finishes and the casting date for the cylinder case. A light is necessary, of course, but any judge worth his salt has his own light of preference. If the car has side mounted exhaust the situation becomes a lot more difficult, and sometimes is impossible. F41 will also exacerbate the situation. We will sometimes ask the owner to turn the front wheels hard left to allow a little more access to the starter, engine mount, engine ground details and passenger side of the cylinder case.

I have one friend who takes a photo of the area with one of the less expensive digital cameras and then judges starter details from the camera's zoom capability in relative comfort.

All in all it is doable -- it just takes time and determination to do a good job.

[Glenn B.]

Re: Contacting John Pirkle's Business

My notes on this subject...

I shipped my alternator core on August 10, 2011 from Oklahoma. I have made numerous calls before and after Sr passed. Being the understanding person I am, I was respectful and patient. At no time during this process did they call me with any information about my alternator.

I started calling last Friday and three times this week (leaving messages) and finally reached Jr on Tues and demanded my core be located and returned to me immediately.

He did find the core and called me back on Tues night.

He indicated the core was "in process" but could not provide a definate completion date. Since he had labor invested, he wanted to finish the job and needed a deadline.

I said two weeks.

Very nice people, but 3 months and no communication?

Hire some help, customers are a luxury some automotive related businesses do not have right now.

We do not run our remanufacturing business that way.

[Mark D.]

Re: Contacting John Pirkle's Business

Glenn,

You do sound very understanding...and patient.

Mark

[Ridge K.]

Re: Contacting John Pirkle's Business

One (even one of my size) can get ones head under the car behind the passenger side front wheel to see the starter number, date and finishes and the casting date for the cylinder case. A light is necessary, of course, but any judge worth his salt has his own light of preference. If the car has side mounted exhaust the situation becomes a lot more difficult, and sometimes is impossible. F41 will also exacerbate the situation. We will sometimes ask the owner to turn the front wheels hard left to allow a little more access to the starter, engine mount, engine ground details and passenger side of the cylinder case.

I have one friend who takes a photo of the area with one of the less expensive digital cameras and then judges starter details from the camera's zoom capability in relative comfort.

All in all it is doable -- it just takes time and determination to do a good job.

Terry, thank you for the reply. At 200 pounds I've shimmied under the side on many old Corvettes I was considering for purchase, but didn't realize you could read the starter date stamping. Perhaps freshly restored starters are much more readable.

I hadn't thought of the zoom on a digital camera. Good idea there.

Fortunately for me, all my dates are in order.......

[Mark D.]

Re: Contacting John Pirkle's Business

I remember judging with Freddie Grimm. All you could see were his feet sticking out from underneath the car.

[John D.]

Re: Contacting John Pirkle's Business

As most of you know John Sr. was not well for many months before his passing.
Someday the same thing is going to happen to me(us) and I am positive the outcome is going to be a disaster with my restoration business.
I feel for John Jr and if he had my part I wouldn't worry at all about it.
If you are not able to live with this then the answer is simple. Don't call, don't email. Just send Jr a letter asking him to return the item. John D

[Ridge K.]

Re: Contacting John Pirkle's Business

As most of you know John Sr. was not well for many months before his passing.
Someday the same thing is going to happen to me(us) and I am positive the outcome is going to be a disaster with my restoration business.
I feel for John Jr and if he had my part I wouldn't worry at all about it.
If you are not able to live with this then the answer is simple. Don't call, don't email. Just send Jr a letter asking him to return the item. John D

Very well said, John....

[Glenn B.]

Re: Contacting John Pirkle's Business

Please!

Spend one day or one hour - whatever it takes, calling every customer and explain what "the plan" is for their order.

Simple yes!

99% of customers will be thrilled.

Glenn