The Perception of Value By Glenn Cheaney Let us assume that every rebuilder that reads this uses the same param- eters I do when assessing the quality ofa unit. Would I use this rebuilt on my own vehicle? The answer can never be no! Because we have the ability to produce a decent, long life unit, we would like to feel appreciated for our efforts—both by expression and by being paid well for our expertise. I also assume that everything I build, some- one, sometime will take apart for some reason. If they do, all I want them to see is quality. For more than 20 years I have used our friendly local plating company. I know for a fact that a premo-looking reman can get 10 to 20 percent addi- tional money for the perceived value. It doesn’t work any better, but when your customer sees the plated parts on the outside, and inside if necessary, he feels like he is getting his moneys worth. It’s the same as the used car lot. The better looking car is worth more. Perceived value! I love to hear a cus- tomer exclaim that my rebuilt looks too good to go on his old whatever. He is then psyched for the bill. I plate everything that’s plateable. A gentleman recently asked if it’s ex- pensive. Not really, the platers I have used charge from 15 to 20 cents a pound. Isn’t it time consuming to sort? Not really, a person that’s already fa- miliar with the various parts can sort very quickly. A person who’s unfamil- iar sorts by size and type until they do become familiar. It takes time to clean parts. Time is money. You send in the rusted, cor- roded, greasy, oily, etc., parts, and they send them back to you all cleaned and looking new. I plate everything that I have spares for. Therefore I disassemble cores to get spare parts. If I don’t have used spares I will buy new parts to put them into the system. When we have a stock of commonly-used components al- ready plated on hand, it’s just a matter of collecting what you need for that job, and putting removed parts into the plat- ing to be sent out. I use this system wherever I can. But be cautious once you start using plated parts in your work because the cleaned parts never look quite the same again. The shops I have been associated with for the past several years have been primarily into industrial, farm and marine. The various types of chemical and water damage to the internal com- ponents are deep in the metal. Cleaning by conventional methods doesn’t look too bad in the short term but in a relatively brief period the parts start to return to an unsightly state. Pump motors are as prone to se- vere rust as any unit out there. Plating the com end frames, field shoes, and even the field case on occasion will extend the life of this unit a great deal. The other thing is the customer has to see what the inside looks like. A lot of these units come in without the DE housing. He already knows what it looked like when he brought it in, now it looks better than it did new. These are just my humble opinions. Ihave built stuff both ways. One has to do what one has to do. There are a lot of great rebuilders that don’t do things the way I approach the task. I like to think that as time went along my skills and observations have al- lowed me to perform my job to a greater degree of adroitness. I try never JUNE, 2001 to get tunnel vision. I wish I could say Iam true to this all the time. If I have the opportunity to discover anew way to improve my skill by realizing some- thing obvious I should have noticed 30 years ago or someone pointed out to- day, it’s been a good day. One thing I would like to add. Probably every rebuilder but me knew the answer to this problem, but there may be one other poor soul who hasn’t solved the Mitsuba motorcycle/ATV starter quandary. It free spins great, the color is good, the brushes are OK, etc., yet it won’t start. OK, then it has to be something else—battery, cables, etc. Wrong! Look closely at the brush holder. You may see three grounding tabs that are arced up. Then check the CE frame and you may find three small bosses arced also. Bend the metal tabs up a little and sand and sand the bosses in the CE. Problem solved. Feel free to drop me an e-mail with questions or suggestions. Glenn Cheaney (gcheaney@aol.com) is an electrical rebuilders consultant, Naples, FL. Page 1 of 1