My 2 cents worth is you have to shop. I have looked at CD, the hose connection I needed was from the water pump up to the expansion tank. CD was more expensive without shipping and taxes then the same part from Corvette Central including exchange
shipping and taxes. Got the parts in about 2 days from CC.
Weatherstrip... I checked CD, Eckler, CC, mid America, Rock Auto, Zip. Prices were all over the place and quality was not clear.. I wound up going with Corvette Rubber Company . Made in USA, great quality and perfect fit. Cost was midway between cheapest and highest,
A lot of basic parts like brakes are easily sourced locally as was a water pump. Prices and quality from Rock Auto are good, and quoted in CDN dollars, you pay only the total on your invoice at checkout and delivery is a few days. In general CD always seems to have the highest prices and the longest delivery times.
This is good advice but .....here is my take:
1. At least 6-8 times per year Corvette central and Top Flight has 10-15% off sitewide and if you see free shipping, click on details and it will say "US Customers free shipping CDN customers 10% off order."
2. The three best companies for Parts/quality/price are imo as follows:
- Price/Discounts/Sales/fast shipping =
Corvette central
-Instock/Inhouse manufacturing(door panels etc)/discounts =
Top flight
-Quality/Restoration/diagrams/advice =
Paragon (don't look for discounts unless $5K and up)
Why I like Corvette Central: Good quality parts, fast shipping (UPS), price at checkout is what you pay! plus (using Visa/MasterCard) 34% so if you subtract 10-15% Sale from exchange just add 20% to get the CDN price, to your door within 5 days or less in my experience).
**Side note to Corvette Central: 2 weeks after my last shipment, I received a $30 credit?, the reason was that UPS charged them $30 less for my last order, so we gave it back to you! Would I have preferred them putting it back on my Visa, yes! but I'm just glad they were honest. I'll take $30 credit any day!
When I need parts, I check those websites plus Corvette depot in Canada, and let me tell you CD is considerably higher and they don't disclose where the parts are coming from! I think their business model is based on 30-35% dealer discount from most corvette suppliers, they add another 20-50% on top then hit you with huge! shipping charges. And imo the quality of many parts are suspect.
I have compared many sale prices at CD and they are still higher the CC.....