Date:         Tue, 4 Apr 1995 16:11:21 -0400
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         drew@interport.net (Derek Drew)
Subject:      Delta Six/Camper Parts

I called Delta Six Industries today to order spare skylights. 

You all know Delta Six is the supplier to VW of most of the campmobile parts
for our vans. Delta six bought these parts in the USA and sent them to
Europe where Westfalia put them on the vehicles before they were shipped
here new. 

Anyway, I think (hope) that everybody knows never to order any campmobile
parts from a VW dealer but rather to order them from a local RV place, from
Camping World (Bowling Green, Kentucky) or from Delta Six. 

Anyway, I got the real story on Delta Six today and why they now call it
Euro-American now. 

It seems that the company used to be run by a guy named Pete who selected
these parts for Westfalia. He turn turned the company over to a very elderly
gentleman and a born-again christian woman. (I remember a couple of years
ago ordering stuff from this woman, by the way.) Anyway, apparantly the
woman was ripping the elderly guy off and embezzling funds and as of this
writing is sitting in jail. Pete took the business over again, and now they
call it European American. Delta Six still exists for tax reasons but isn't
servicing VW Van owners any more.

Pete sounded glad to be in charge of the business again and lamented that
the woman had not got a good dozen years jail time. Euro American still uses
the same phone number that Delta Six used to use. 

Pete sounded happy that a new edition of the parts catalog that he publishes
is due from the printers this friday. This catalog is really nothing more
than a printout of the relavant parts fiche pages. 

I asked Pete whether he was going to lose interest in the business since it
depends on VW Van owners knowing him whereas most have no way of contacting
him. He said this wasn't the case, as 99% of his business was selling
directly to VW and VW's dealer network.

Anyway, he quoted me $97 for the skylight hatch so I bought three of them
for myself, intending to put two of them in the attick and one on my van. 

I complained to Pete about the fact that these skylights fail so regularly
after a few years of use and he admitted this was a problem. But he said he
instructed the manufacturer to add in some compound--DBLAHBLAH, or
something--which would enable the skylights to las longer from now on. He
said he had sold out of the entire stock of the earlier, inferior, skylights
and was selling the newer, upgraded skylights from now on. 

I noticed an ad in European Car for some place with a similar name selling
the skylights for $130 so $97 seems like a good price. And the dealers
charge about $180 or even more.

I had been planning to organize a mass order of the skylights--he said I
could have them for $85 if I ordered 25 of them. But I judged the bother of
organizing this with our list members not worth the trouble to save $12
minus shipping. so I am just passing on here what I learned.

90 syncro westy
Derek Drew
drew@interport.net (preferred)
DerekDrew@aol.com (if interport is down)