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Sisson Chokes - A Technical Study


keithb7

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that explains a bit....I have dealt with the man before....I have entertained what I called fair offers to him on some of his listings and have been accepted by him as such.   While I admit he is often a bit high on some listings....he is more than willing to sell to the naïve at that price as much as he does consider fair offer.  Never discount the source....give him a fair shake...you may well be surprised.

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16 hours ago, desoto1939 said:

 

 

This rate is not what the seller is charging it is what Ebay is charging. When you are from a foreign country and you select the United Kingdom the Ebay system automatically enters the shipping fee or $271 dollars.  

 

Ebay is the issue not the seller. Another person also had the same issue and we figured out the reason why the high shipping costs.

 

Do not blame the seller it is Ebay.

 

Try it  where is states ships worldwide on the ebay listing then go to the next screen and select a foreign country and then see what happens to the shipping costs.

 

Rich Hartung

Desoto1939@aol.com

 

The system certainly seems messed up. I am in Canada. I get quoted $271 US funds to ship it here. Within the USA, the $9.99 gasket sell price includes free, prepaid freight. 

 

Before the border closed due to covid, I would drive 3 hours to drop inside the USA border and pick up my parcels. Typically this is what I need to do to get parts at reasonable prices. 4 times or so per year I make the trip into the USA to grab gobs of packages that I have held there at a border town, at a small freight company.  The cost savings are ten-fold, compared to ordering parts to my Canadian address, here and there as needed. For the past 16 or so months the border has been closed.  Hoping it will re-open soon.

 

I'm won't solely blame the seller. The E-bay system is a bit of a mess. The seller may or may not know much about the freight issues within E-bay. I'd wager 90% of all the vintage Mopars in this world are inside the USA. Those of us here from the  UK, NZ, Australia, Scandanavia, Canada, South America, South Africa, and several other places have to find ways to justify the high costs of parts purchases and delivery.

 

@grubby65 That download is fantastic! Thank you very much. 

 

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41 minutes ago, keithb7 said:

 

The system certainly seems messed up. I am in Canada. I get quoted $271 US funds to ship it here. Within the USA, the $9.99 gasket sell price includes free, prepaid freight. 

 

Before the border closed due to covid, I would drive 3 hours to drop inside the USA border and pick up my parcels. Typically this is what I need to do to get parts at reasonable prices. 4 times or so per year I make the trip into the USA to grab gobs of packages that I have held there at a border town, at a small freight company.  The cost savings are ten-fold, compared to ordering parts to my Canadian address, here and there as needed. For the past 16 or so months the border has been closed.  Hoping it will re-open soon.

 

I'm won't solely blame the seller. The E-bay system is a bit of a mess. The seller may or may not know much about the freight issues within E-bay. I'd wager 90% of all the vintage Mopars in this world are inside the USA. Those of us here from the  UK, NZ, Australia, Scandanavia, Canada, South America, South Africa, and several other places have to find ways to justify the high costs of parts purchases and delivery.

 

@grubby65 That download is fantastic! Thank you very much. 

 

NO problem, hope it helps.

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I gave a couple of these Sisson Chokes away to the guys in my Chrysler Club about 7 years ago. If one changes out the gasket every few years, cleans and adjusts the Sisson Choke from time to time - usually at severe Season - Temperature Changes/ Winer/Summer, one should not have any trouble with them. I do keep a nice extra just in case.

About 10 years ago I snagged 2 of them on ebay for $14. It seems inflation has fixed that. LOL

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There is normal (somewhat) inflation and EBay inflation where all sellers lose the minds in a short time with Large price increases at the same time shipping prices go way up! ? ?

 

DJ

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7 hours ago, Tom Skinner said:

I gave a couple of these Sisson Chokes away to the guys in my Chrysler Club about 7 years ago. If one changes out the gasket every few years, cleans and adjusts the Sisson Choke from time to time - usually at severe Season - Temperature Changes/ Winer/Summer, one should not have any trouble with them. I do keep a nice extra just in case.

About 10 years ago I snagged 2 of them on ebay for $14. It seems inflation has fixed that. LOL

Tom, That was a fantastic price that you got the Sisson chokes for on Ebay.

 

The question is what does everyone think one of these chokes should sell for.  We all have seen the annual price increase on just regular items in the stores and also for current car and truck repairs.

 

So when you think of a part that was produced from the mid 30's to the early 1950's and were only used on the MoPar vehicles the supply not is getting smaller every day and year.

 

When you see these items listed by the major parts suppliers of MoPar parts and they are the ones that have more access to these parts and they put a price of $175-$225 based on the unit and also based on the year that it will fit the smaller parts collector has to say to themselves why should I just give the same item away at say $50-75.

 

I know it is hard to ask someone to pay the current market prices but if a person that is looking for a Sisson choke has not taken their time even to go to a swap meet and look for a NOS or even a good used one and another person has taken their time, money and has purchased some of these items then the seller has a right to charge what the current rates are.  They have done the leg work and have laid out the cash for the spare parts.  So when someone has not done anything and then just wants to go to a catalog and get the part then they have to pay the going rate.

 

I have seen the MoPar and especially the DeSoto parts starting to climb higher and higher every month.  I have been in the hobby and collecting for 34 years and I knew from the beginning that when the parts were cheap to get them because the supply is declining everyday and the costs are going up ever day.

 

So my advise is if you see a part that will fits you car and it is a very good price then buy it now because after you walk by that vender it might not be there when you come back later on in the day.

 

I have found great buys at Hershey and other Swap meets because I knew the parts and also when you see the prices on Ebay or even in catalogs you start to look for the great deals.  You might not need the part today but when you do you do not know if it is even available or even the cost and can guarantee it will have gone up in price.

 

Several years ago i stop at a vendors site at Hershey and a gentleman found a NOS piece of trim that he needed for his car. The buyer said outloud so that everyone could hear him that this is the last piece he needed for the car.  The seller had $35 on the piece.  The buyer offered $25.  The seller said the cost is 35.  The buyer kept pushing the seller for a lower price and everytime the buyer opened his mouth the seller increased the item by $5.00.  It got to th epoint that the cost was around $70.  The seller asked for them back.  The seller then took the piece and snapped in in half and then told the buyer that he di d not care that he did not make the sale.  The buyer was totally upset.

But you can only push so hard and the seller has the right to refuse your offer.  So I learned a valuable lesson that day make a fair offer and if the seller does not want to negoiate and you really need the part then you have to pay the asking price.

 

If you want to join in on the dance then you have to pay the admission price.

 

So many local sellers look at Ebay to get an idea on a selling price and they might or might not adjust their price to be lower or might even be higher but the owner of the part sets the selling price and if someone wants to pay it and if they are happy then everyone is happy.

 

Just my $1.00 worth of input and I have been vending at Hershey for 30+ years so I do know the game that is being played.

 

Rich Hartung

desoto1939@aol.com

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It will probably get to a price where people will refuse to pay and convert to a manual operated choke. Only the purists will pay the high asking price.

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3 minutes ago, maok said:

It will probably get to a price where people will refuse to pay and convert to a manual operated choke. Only the purists will pay the high asking price.

I’m getting close to that point. 

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Keithb7: I know what you are saying.. How far up can these prices go.  There will be a point where no one could afford the parts.  I see the samething with all of these High Performance Cuda and Hemi engine cars.  With the advent of  electric cars coming in about 15 years are the people that paid those high prices ever going to break even or even lose when they try to sell the cars again.

 

I guess there is a seat for everyone but how far can they continue to rise is the real question.

 

Rich Hartung

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these cars you mention have been out of the realm of the average car owner for so long it makes no difference.  Years ago these were trading heavy among the deep pocket collectors and one or two got caught when the bottom fell out....they are again repeating to some degree this trend and I suspect the bottom will cave also once again.   

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My 1936 DeSoto was originally equipped with the automatic choke. It was replaced long ago with a manual choke. Truthfully, I've never given it much thought until reading this thread. The manual choke works fine. The modification while not hidden is actually rather inconspicuous - a small knob fitted on a custom bracket is located conveniently under the front of the dash. While It is apparent I won't find one on ebay, If I come across a Sisson choke for a reasonable price at a swap meet I might buy it, but it's not high on my priority list. My 1937 Chrysler does have the Sisson choke and it works just fine. ? 

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Rich,

I bought my extras long ago. I have had 1948 Chrysler Royals since 1973. My first 1948 Royal cost $600. These old buses are only worth say 15-18K finished. (Chrome and all)

So I ask a silly question why would anyone pay $225 for a choke? or $475 for a Fulton repro sunvisor or $$375 for mud guards? or $275 for a clear shifter knob? I wouldn't.

Dennis Bickford sells the clear knobs for $35-40 etc. etc. etc. One would be totally upside down on the car lickedy splits paying those prices even if one does all his own labor. so trying to justify today's high ebay pricing is a mute point to someone my age (64). I would not pay those prices - they can keep their stuff. Even Andy B in Boston sells stuff at much better prices. Traveling to Hershey from Huntersville NC , Hotels , Gas, Meals, etc. one could spend a thousand dollars for a Sisson Choke. Call me parsimonious  if you must, however, I don't think something as simple as a Sisson Choke should go for 1/60 the cost of a finished 1948 Chrysler Royal. But I guess that is up to every individual.

Tom

 

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I googled Sisson Choke (2040 Mopar) has one for Plymouths) $89 in good working order with a asbestos gasket.

No need to pay $275 on ebay. If your car is worth $15,000 that would be 1/54 the value of it. Incredible and outrageous in my way of thinking.

I would buy the $89 one if it is needed. I do not need one.

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3 hours ago, Tom Skinner said:

I googled Sisson Choke (2040 Mopar) has one for Plymouths) $89 in good working order with a asbestos gasket.

No need to pay $275 on ebay. If your car is worth $15,000 that would be 1/54 the value of it. Incredible and outrageous in my way of thinking.

I would buy the $89 one if it is needed. I do not need one.

 

I wouldn't trust that 2040-parts site.  First off, It's supposedly in Utica, NY but the map is labeled in Russian, secondly it's a web aggregator, it crawls the web looking for what you think you are looking for.  Finally, it never appears to remove it's results when they are no longer valid, you are probably looking at a posting from years ago, likely an old Ebay one.

 

This one might work, but do your due diligence.

 

https://www.ebay.com/p/1023886263?iid=293409591434

Edited by Sniper
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Tom and T120:  I feel your pain in what you are saying.  Just look at how the prices for a lot of the items have gone up over the past several years.  For some unknow reason the dealers that have the old MoPar parts have now discovered that these parts have a higher value or selling factor.  The older Mopar parts are now catching up with the rest of the antique car parts.

 

Also have to remember that with the GM and Ford stuff you had more options and parts being manufactured for them and also repro parts.  You can basically build a Model A from a catalog where with our MoPar cars have to go to get either good quality used parts and or NOS.  So if you have some specific parts for your MoPar that are very scares and of limited numbers the costs goes up to purchase them.   So as everyone in the world tries to purchase as cheap as possible and then seller higher, but the market will only bear what it can and then you sit on the parts until they decode to lower the price..  I have collected parts over the years that I might make some profit on them some such as the Detroit U joints for the Pin and Trunnion bodies and internal parts.  But most of these were at a very resonable cost just to have spares incase I needed them.  But I will not give them away hope to make some profit when sold.

 

But when people are complaining about the repro items from China being of such poor quality and then cost is not cheap then what are you paying for, bad parts or pay more and get the good old original USA made quality parts. 

 

Rich Hartung

 

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12 minutes ago, Sniper said:

 

I wouldn't trust that 2040-parts site.  First off, It's supposedly in Utica, NY but the map is labeled in Russian, secondly it's a web aggregator, it crawls the web looking for what you think you are looking for.  Finally, it never appears to remove it's results when they are no longer valid, you are probably looking at a posting from years ago, likely an old Ebay one.

 

This one might work, but do your due diligence.

 

https://www.ebay.com/p/1023886263?iid=293409591434

Sniper look at the lisiting closely  Cost $95 and note the Addiaitonal cost of $62 for a grand total of $157.  Also you get to add a couple of pictures for free with Ebay. He has not taken the time to show a picture of the item, WHY. Maybe it is a scamm.

 

Here is a nother good one a vendor shows the inside the glove box tire pressure decal for the Dodge which is the same for the other MoPar family cars.  He is listing it atver $100.  I have contacted the seller and all his listings have the same price and his reply is that this is just a placeholder and they will be adjusting the price but they never chnage the price to be the truce selling cost.  I think some sellers never do any kind of searching to ebay to see what other vedors are selling the same item. Ex ample Headlight lens for my 39 Desoto  see them range from $25-to over $100 per lens go figure. 

 

Rich Hartung

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20 minutes ago, desoto1939 said:

Sniper look at the lisiting closely  Cost $95 and note the Addiaitonal cost of $62 for a grand total of $157. 

 

Not sure where you are seeing an additional charge of $62.  I see $95 for the choke and $14.99 shipping.  $109.99 total in my cart.

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