mitchell O/D

I talked to Steve today and put myself on the list to get his OD-about 79 months out. Not in a hurry so no big deal. I am just squirrelling away large parts as I pay for them. And then in about 2 years time Barb goes down for a frame off resto. I will have all of the major parts except for paint and body work paid for.
 
1930artdeco said:
I talked to Steve today and put myself on the list to get his OD-about 79 months out. Not in a hurry so no big deal. I am just squirrelling away large parts as I pay for them. And then in about 2 years time Barb goes down for a frame off resto. I will have all of the major parts except for paint and body work paid for.
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Off topic: What engine do you have in your '57 Country Sedan. I have a '55 Ranchwagon. My "Hot Rod" has a '57 312" Y-Block.
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1930artdeco said:
I talked to Steve today and put myself on the list to get his OD-about 79 months out. Not in a hurry so no big deal. I am just squirrelling away large parts as I pay for them. And then in about 2 years time Barb goes down for a frame off resto. I will have all of the major parts except for paint and body work paid for.
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That's 6-1/2 years.
 
1930artdeco said:
Carl, Ooops yes 7-9 months out./QUOTE]
That's encouraging, when I spoke to Steve and got on the waiting list in May he told me 6-9 months. So it seems that he's been able to stem the bleed. Maybe I'll get mine in the next several months. I won't bug him until the end of the year.
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I got some at the shippers or even on their way too New Zealand ,However with our $ only worth 58 cents American plus freight, plus 15% tax they will be expensive but worth every penny, Great service from a hard working team ,
 
I talked to Steve in February of this year. I am on the back up back up list. Hopefully I will be on the normal back up list soon. I am in no hurry as my other car has a Mitchell in it.
 
Has anyone recently visited their facility? I am curious why there is such a long lead time. Some have speculated that they lost key employees during the pandemic and recruitment for replacement is difficult in the central valley of California as it is mostly farming country. There is also the issue of supply from China for some critical parts they use.

I knew both Glenn and Sue Mitchell years ago before they passed. Very nice people and a very good product. I hope Steve and Cindy will be able to maintain the business.

Tom Endy
 
Tom Endy said:
Has anyone recently visited their facility? I am curious why there is such a long lead time. Some have speculated that they lost key employees during the pandemic and recruitment for replacement is difficult in the central valley of California as it is mostly farming country. There is also the issue of supply from China for some critical parts they use.

I knew both Glenn and Sue Mitchell years ago before they passed. Very nice people and a very good product. I hope Steve and Cindy will be able to maintain the business.

Tom Endy
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Tom, When I talked to Steve this last Saturday he told me that yes, they lost some employees during covid and is having a hard time hiring new employees. He also indicated having a hard time getting some raw materials and of course the price of everything has gone up.
 
Hi Everyone,
This is Steve and Cyndi's son (Not the Cowboy). I figured it was time for them to have an account to interact with the community and help answer questions if it was ever relevant. I also decided it was time to get the Company Cars (29 Coupe, 31 Fodor, 36 V8 Sedan) up and running again and I'm not nearly as handy so also might need to post on here for some help.
Most of what everyone above has said is pretty accurate, since my Dad is more than happy to spend an hour talking "shop", but I wanted to let everyone know a couple silver linings.


Production Rate and Wait List

1. The wait list is as long as everyone says. It currently is about 8-9 Months. We aren't any happier about this than anyone else. It's been a combination of factors, thought most of it has simply been staffing. We previously employed up to ~8-9 employees and currently if you count my parents we have 5 and only one of those can do any sort of machining.​

2. The silver lining is that we have actually spent most of 2023 changing the production model to have the vast majority of our parts custom made by an assortment of outside suppliers, and then only doing quality control, finishing, assembly, and shipping at our Colusa facility. We are struggling to find any small independent gear cutters, so thats the one task we are still doing 100% in house. This is already allowing us to make back some ground. We really would love to get down to ~6-8 week wait time and we are getting creative to accomplish that.​

3. The waiting list process is simple. You can call (though honestly it's tough to keep the phones manned right now as both Steve and Cyndi are on the floor) and make sure to leave a message, email Mitchmanfc @ Frontiernet.net , send an inquiry on the website, or heck you could even message me here. Please make sure we have the following info Name, Products you want, Make and Model of you Ford, a Phone number, and a email. We will add you to the list and let you know your current position number and an approximate wait time at that point. If you don't know exactly what you need or have more questions all of the same apply. Though for more specific questions, you'll likely have to call and talk to Steve. He's not really computer guy.
When you are roughly one month out from expected delivery, we will give you a call and work out payment details. In most cases we will take a $500 refundable deposit at that time, in some cases we might be be able to take full payment and get someone into an existing production run.
If you aren't actually ready for the unit at that time there are a couple options. We can take your deposit and schedule you for when works for you or if you still aren't sure you want to invest in a Mitchell product we can bump you down the list a month (or another multiple of a month, though we can't promise that will work out perfectly) and we will just call you back then to see if you're ready. You'd also likely be able to call in during that prtiod and we could do our best to short list you into production.


TOO LONG DIDN'T READ : Email us to get on the waiting list, it doesn't cost anything until you actually get into production.

​

Cheers and Please Reach out if you need anything with your Mitchell Products. I'll be manning the emails as much as possible moving forward to try to take the strain I can off my parents.

Blair Mitchell
Mitchell Manufacturing
 
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Tom Endy said:
Has anyone recently visited their facility? I am curious why there is such a long lead time. Some have speculated that they lost key employees during the pandemic and recruitment for replacement is difficult in the central valley of California as it is mostly farming country. There is also the issue of supply from China for some critical parts they use.

I knew both Glenn and Sue Mitchell years ago before they passed. Very nice people and a very good product. I hope Steve and Cindy will be able to maintain the business.

Tom Endy
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Just to expand on this. Everyone is doing great and I've actually been using the couple months I have between some career moves to help them get more organized and efficient. My super long message explains better the production model change and thankfully most of the supply chain issues have resolved for the time being. I think my mom told me that Bearings where nearly impossible to source during the peak of Covid.
 
Blair, thanks a million for posting this long but eloquent and complete explanation. As you can probably tell, we here on the Barn are great fans of the products your family produces, and wish you well in these challenging business times.


And welcome to the Barn!
 
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