I was talking to my speed shop engine builder etc who’s been at it since the early 80’s and very successful. We got talking about how much worse it’s gotten regarding parts availability. Is there some kind of affiliation between China and the companies above. Evidently kinderhook is a parent company of RWB who has evidently acquired several aftermarket companies. Just wondering what is really going on??? Heck I think he even said dart blocks are near 2 years out. Wtf

I've had excellent service from RWB. The lead times have been a touch longer but a lot of that is due to huge increases in demand. For the most part they have been getting me everything I need to get engines out the door. They also show up at my door more frequently now, and I always appreciate a face to face with someone up the ladder...as long as its not interrupting work. I've had a positive experience from the big RWB machine.

Compared to other companies I think they have managed this very well. Some of the companies have insane lead times and in the middle of waiting have hit us with multiple price increases before you ever see your initial order...I wait 20-60+ weeks for rods. RWB hasn't jerked us around on pricing and for the most part has been regularly delivering product. Each brand within RWB has faced some unique challenges that are unrelated to the supply chain. DART is a whole separate issue that needs dealt with. They had issues long before this supply chain issue. I cast my own heads and other parts and we ran into labor issues at one point....fixed it real quick and are back on track. The feedback I have gotten from owners is that it is more related to labor and less to materials....and more issues here on our own soil than overseas.

The small job shop engine builders are suffering because they order parts individually for each project that comes in. Companies get any kind of stock in and the big guys are buying ALL the inventory as soon as it comes in. They have the money to do it and then they have the parts to cover their orders AND supply the guys that can't get the stuff and they get reasonable margins being the only people that have them. If you can't get parts, start calling the larger shops or warehouses and expect to pay a bit more.

Face to face is pretty amazing unless your talking zoom chat. Lol. Seriously it’s getting more and more difficult to just talk to somebody. Still glad I bought all my new build parts when I did. Right at the beginning of Covid before any real impact took place.