Would you use this caliper? Options

[bbrock]

Hopefully it's not how far we fall but how high we bounce. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

^^^
This.

And now I feel compelled to tell "the rest of the story" as Paul Harvey used to say.

I learned about the B-stock at the end of a long road with my calipers. I'm a hard core DIY guy and since Eric has posted excellent instructions for rebuilding front and rear calipers, I got the internals from PMB and shipped my calipers off for plating. Only two calipers came home as the USPS lost two. The two that came back were left in acid too long by the plater so the bolt threads were roached. Eric reached out on my post on the World, quickly diagnosed the problem, and said if I sent him a set of rebuildable shells, he'd send me some nice plated ones.

Before I could post a WTB, World members had already jumped in to donate cores. After stripping down the cores, I sent them to Eric but I believe only two of them made it as the others once again went missing on the way down. Eric sent a full set of plated cores anyway and charged me pennies for the exchange. I'm sure he was losing money at that point.

As I mentioned earlier, the plated cores had a few gouges but the internals looked great. Sure, the gouges were a little disappointing to put on my fully restored baby, but I would be the only one to know and Eric had already gone the extra 10 miles and probably lost money helping me out. So I rebuilt the calipers, bolted them on, and posted a pic on the thread to show off my accomplishment. Eric quickly posted publicly on the thread saying it looked like I was sent B-stock cores by mistake and just as quickly set up an exchange.

A couple weeks later, I had a set of pristine cores and by this time had a lot of practice rebuilding calipers so had them bolted onto the car within an hour. It remains the most impressive customer service experience I've ever had. No complaint was made and yet, the owner of a very busy company took the initiative to reach out multiple times to help a fellow enthusiast who he has never met in person. I would say that bounce is pretty darn high my friend. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[Cairo94507]

Eric and PMB- class all the way; just great people. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[mepstein]

Eric and PMB have been my go-to Brake guys for a decade. When I worked at the Porsche shop, we decided we were a lot better off sending parts to PMB than rebuilding them ourselves. They may not always be perfect but they are professional, which means they fix there mistakes and learn from them to do better. I’ll be a customer for life. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[930cabman]

Being self employed for many years, I have found good will goes a long way in this world. PMB did a set of rear calipers for me a year ago, flawless

Hats off to Eric and his team

[Puebloswatcop]

I have purchased several items fro PMB, almost never any issues. And when there was an issue (part of a kit missing) it was handled right away and shipping was immediate. Eric and Staff are awesome.

[bbrock]

One last comment on this thread. Although it is unfortunate that the OP was sent the wrong calipers, I very much think there is a market for B-stock on 914s. There are still a lot of driver 914s out there proudly showing their battle scars and being the little workhorses that they are. Those cars don't need cosmetically perfect calipers and I'd much rather have a set of PMB B-stocks that I was confident would stop my car for years to come than roll the dice on a set of rebuilts from the local FLAPS.

[ClayPerrine]

I would like to add my praise of PMB.

We have 3 914s and a 95 BMW 540I. Out of those cars, the only one that doesn't have PMB rebuilt calipers on them is the 914-6 conversion with the big six in it. And that is my fault. I have PMB rebuilt 992 calipers for the front of it, I just have not put them on yet. I am looking for matching rear calipers to send to PMB for rebuild.

If PMB rebuilt calipers for a Jeep Comanche, I would have a set on my Jeep. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/poke.gif)

Clay

[VaccaRabite]

Yep, Eric is the man, and he always makes it right.

I've got his brakes on my 914, my 2002, and I'll have them on my 72 Westy (well, the fronts anyway). He's also building me an engine for the 914.

There will always be bumps on the road whenever you have people involved. How those bumps are handled is what will make a lifelong customer, or a company that flounders and has a horrible reputation.

I'll tell you right now I'm a life long PMB customer.
Zach

[Brian Fuerbach]

Very disappointed when I received 2 rebuilt calipers and one obviously had some considerable corrosion before being restored. After cad plating it looks like a gold nugget. The pad resting areas are extremely pitted and uneven. Pads move a lot more in the caliper than in my original calipers. Will this lead to any issues if I decide to use them?

I would be very disappointed as well Brian. Very sorry for the mix-up. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

That is a "B-Stock Blowout" caliper that appears to either have been put on the wrong inventory shelf or pulled from the wrong inventory shelf. We restore thousands of calipers per year and quite often, these are the cores we are left with. Usually we can make lemonade out of lemons by selling these calipers for a fraction of the price, (this caliper would sell for roughly $40.00 in the open market. Still having "excellent" internals (to answer that question) otherwise they would be thrown out for metal scrap. How they ended up in your hands is a mystery that we've struggled with all day yesterday. The two inventory shelves are on top of one another so... we assuming that's how it happened in haste to get the order out the door to Pelican. I apologize for the inconvenience. Please stand by as our team has a care package coming your way. We know it takes time and effort to deal with a situation like that so I've put a little something in the mail to reduce the sting.

Hopefully it's not how far we fall but how high we bounce. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

As you can tell from my screen name, I'm Eric Shea. I founded PMB Performance in the winter break of 2004-2005 right here in the pages of 914World. I'm also an admin here who assisted Andy, Mark, Gint, and others in creating 914World as we know it. I'm extremely proud of my involvement here and extremely grateful for Andy and others for making this the most badass place for 914 lovers ON THE PLANET. Fun fact; I was in the Music Industry at the time working as the Associate Publisher for Guitar Player and Bass Player magazines. One of our biggest competitors was "Guitar World" and I always thought that was a great name. It encompassed the "World-Wide" aspect of what we were trying to do. The suggestion stuck. Now you know the rest of the story.

I have 19,115 posts as of this writing. Learning, living, loving and helping all things 914 in these forums. I'm hosting Red Rocks Classic this year and 914's are a "Vital" part of our shop and our existence. We're the number one caliper restoration facility in the world because of you. We restore calipers for Porsche Classic, Mercedes Benz USA and countless others... all because of a small thread in the Vendor forum here. I thank you. We're the largest supplier of 5-lug conversion kits to the market. We make and supply countless specialty items for our cars. I own 3 914's and 914-6 variants (6 if you include the parts cars (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) ). It's safe to say I eat, live and breath 914. To see a thread where we've disappointed a fellow 914 owner is, frankly, quite devastating to me personally.

I want to thank the members in this thread for not throwing me under the bus, as the urge to trash a vendor is strong. Brian exercised great restraint in his post as did many of you. The fact is, that caliper did slip out of our facility in an A-Stock box. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)

This is my "Breakwerks" team. Each and every one of them came out in the parking lot and stood behind our product and I stand behind them. If you'll notice, each one is a human being. All capable of making a mistake. That said, I'm proud of them and I love them like the family we are here on 914World. Will they make more mistakes? Many! As will I, every single day. Their faces told the story when I showed them your thread. They care. We've disappointed a customer. Not an overly exciting day. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)



We've taken measures internally so a caliper of this caliber never gets in a box destined for a A-Stock order again. I've reached out to Pelican Parts to rectify this as well. We've even questioned the practice of putting our name on "B-Stock Blowouts" moving forward.

This is a pair of A-Stock 914 rear calipers that I pulled off the shipping shelf and it is indicative of the quality of the products we sell day in, day out whether it's a 914 or a factory 917. You all get the quality that has delivered both Pebble Beach and Amelia Island podium finishes. Rest assured.



Brian, thanks for posting this thread. Call us if you ever have an issue we my company again. Holly is "amazing" at taking care of customer issues. Van, thanks for pointing me to the thread. With the daily business grind and Red Rocks 2022 looming on the horizon, I don't get out much these days. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

Eric, Thank you for the clarification. I have been in automotive manufacturing for 35 years and understand the challenges. I appreciate your response and dedication to the 914 community, and thank Holly for getting my hard lines to me before last weekend. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[Brian Fuerbach]

Arrived home last night and found a UPS package from Eric Shea and the crew at PMB. Eric sent me a set of gorgeous front calipers with hardware, pads and a nice letter signed by everyone at PMB. Never would have expected this, but it is very appreciated. Above and beyond, thank the whole crew.

[930cabman]

I would bet Eric understands "what goes around comes back around in this world" Simple concept but many of us on the planet don't subscribe to it.

It's all about me abounds in the world these days