MBT Order -How long can you wait?

[SuperRSi]

I ordered a front set of adapters last year for a German Look Manx we are building. The order was very specific on the calipers we chose to use (Porsche S4 late 928) and soon we heard they would be shipped. Months later in Feb 02, when I had heard nothing, I e-mailed Uwe Braun (the B in MBT) and received in return a rather terse email that the parts were in California and why had I not paid for them yet! So 20 Feb 02 I sent off the money to Chris Fitzgerald in CA. Chris is a great guy that it seems works on Blackhawk helicopters somewhere in the old Yugoslavia. They use and abuse him as their middleman. More on this later. Long story longer the parts came about a month or so later.
The MBT brake adapters and hubs were in the "white" bare metal castings and the modified spindles had less paint on them than I usually do. A far cry from the nice cadmium plating in their catalog and website. And then when I examined them futher they were for the wrong brake calipers. I emailed Uwe Braun again and got another nasty email stating that they never received a clear email telling them what calipers we were using. We mailed the parts back to CA and waited and waited. When earlier this week i emailed all three men of MBT and Chris Fitzgerald, only Chris responded. It seems they are waiting for a load of parts to plate the proper parts and are not interested in bothering with this one order. Chris says he is finished dealing with them. Needless to say they told Chris a minimum of three to four more weeks before they are plated and shipped.
My question for all is why should we have to deal with this. By the way, Chris says that Kersher sells the MBT parts in their kits. So stick to them. You can call them on the telephone or fax. Do NOT go direct to MBT unless you are planning a finish date in 2006.

[lightning bug]

I purchased my parts from MBT also, but through Chris. He is a great help. I bought 993 adapters and some e-brake parts etc. I waited about 3-4 weeks for the adapters, which I expected. The only thing I had to wait for (about 4 more weeks), were the e-brake adapters and the M/C parts. You're right about the hubs. Mine were also bare and my spindles were also. I expected the spindles to be b/c I knew they were used but the cores I sent had a better finish on them. Again, no biggie. They can be painted. Chris DID ask me if I wanted them powdercoated and I declined. You had a little better luck than I. I couldn't even get in touch with MBT directly. Someone else referred me to Chris. I don't understand why someone doesn't make these kits in the states Its aggrivating enough ordering parts from overseas, especially large items like these. Someone like CSP or even Topline should look into this. The Remmele kit is, well, you have to buy the Remmele kit. There aren't any more options. Someday I guess.

[SuperRSi]

from Germany. Chris says that they will be arriving here in Texas sometime in the next few weeks. About one year after they were ordered and eight months after they were first paid for. Service with a smile.:hehehe:

[SuperRSi]

Well they came in. The spindles were painted black and then someone, it would appear with a hand grinder, ground away the area to make clearance for the Porsche S4 caliper adapter. I will forward a photo hopefully this weekend. The area ground out is, of course, in MBT quality bare metal. The adapters and bare hubs are in a oh so uneven kind of cadmium looking plating. Not what $600. should bring. Not German quality that I am used to. Sadly the same day that these came from Germany, my CB Performance brakes front and rear for my convertible came in. Much nicer quality kit and it came with two sets of instuctions, one to get greasy and one to hang on to. All seals, and parts were included. The MBT kit on the other hand had NO INSTRUCTIONS, no bearings or hints of what bearings or brake rotors to use, no parts other than the ground spindle and the S4 adapter and bare hub. When placed next to the CB hubs that came with studs for Porsche wheels, the MBT stuff looked like home made, help me here Alex, CooSchizten... Stay away folks, stay far away from MBT. I am now thinking of grafting a 928S4 front suspension on the tube chassis anyway, but that is another thread...

Thanks,
Randy

[Alex]

Super RSI,

I am sorry to hear that. The bearing size should be stock beelte bearings and the rotor you should use is the 928S4 one.
The more I hear about the MBT kit I am so happy that I got the Remmele kit.
Is there a way that you could send me a pic of the kit in 640X480?
What else do you need to know?

Alex