Folks Of Interest What ever happened to PAW ?

Performance Automotive Warehouse (I think).......They had a great big catalogue...great prices and then...poof!?!
Been gone a LOOONG time but I just wonder what killed 'em....Summit?? the internet? When I built my SBF the first time I got most of the stuff from them.
Anyhow..............
6sally6

 

They also had a great selection of early Hemi parts as well.
I have often wondered what happened to all the patterns for those parts.

 

PAW was a good resource for early Hemi parts and even complete rebuilt crate early Hemi engines. That is what I remember most about them.

Funny that this thread came up now, just the other day the topic of PAW came up in a conversation I was having with a few friends. I did a bunch of searches and found a little information, not much, but a little. Seems that the original owner either past away or retired. The business was turned over to the old manager of the warehouse down in southern California. Well that didn't last long as the dude ran that right into the ground. The warehouse was sold and PAW moved into a much smaller building still in southern California, and went online doing about 90% of there business on E-Bay. In Sept of 2010 if you did a search on PAW a notice would come up stating that they were only selling thru there E-Bay store, and the name of that E-Bay store was "Early Hemi Parts" I believe that store is still there and has a very small footprint. They have listed now only (8) items all early Hemi engine bearings.

To me it is sad that we as Hot Rodders lost this resource in early parts, but that's just the way things are sometimes. As HemiDuece mentioned I also would like to know what happened to the patterns for some of the Early Hemi parts. The one part I miss most of those damn Chrysler water cross overs, but it looks like Hot Heads has either found that old PAW pattern or has done the R&D on one of there own as I purchased a aluminum water crossover from them yesterday.

 

When I lived in Simi Valley, CA PAW was just over the Santa Susana pass in Chatsworth. Can't even count how many times I was in there buying stuff and it sure was nice having them so close. There was a Super Shops in Thousand Oaks too. Sure do miss those places.

 

PAW was a great resource for parts (and complete engine kits) for people who wanted to build their own engines. Over time, more and more people started buying crate engines ready to drop in.

 

PAW couldn't compete with the Big Box vendors. The last time I was there they had closed all 4 stores (which included the warehouse) and moved into a very small location west of warehouse. Lasted maybe another year then gone.

 

I believe they still have an online store, though it's not as good as the catalogs were. I still have one of their catalogs from years ago; good for reference when looking for things like pistons. I also still have one of their Super Stock cam and kit for the SBC. Another similar company was CDW, California Discount Warehouse. I bought a stroker 305 to 334 kit from them; took forever to get it because they did't have any 400 crank cores. Then, they did't do a precision balance, that I paid for; I had the kit in storage for close to 15 years before getting around to using it, so it was too late to do anything about it. Finally put it together for my DD truck. It's even getting hard to find an automotive machine shop locally. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

I bought 427 Chevy short block kit from them back when they were open. The machining was pretty good and the parts were as advertised . I built it for my nephew. It ran great in his 66 Malibu.
Too bad when a good thing goes away.

 

Built my first FE {c 1981} with parts from them, still got PAW stickers all over my air compressor.

 

I built an an engine from one of their kits in the 80s....worked great, until we finally figured out that one of the connecting rods was bent.

I haven't been too keen on them since.

 

I'd love to find some of their old stickers.

 

Until Super Shops turned into just a tire and wheel store. Back when they started as San Bernardino Racing on Baseline St. in San Berdoo they were a speed shop but after they became Super Shops they went down hill. IMO

 

You mean somthin' like this? PM me your address and it's yours. It's about 3 1/2 x 5.
I still have a 231 V6 Buick engine kit from them. The 196 (from a Monza) that I installed in '93 ('72 Vega GT) won't quit, so it waits...
That project got shuffled back anyway when I got my '39 Chevy coupe.

 

Nice move.

 

Last catalog I got from them had the blinged out Blown SBC on the cover , DROOL!

 

A buddy of mine bought an engine kit from them... all of the rod bearings were loose in a larger box. He was able to send them back.

 

I dont remember what I bought from them, but I came across a couple of their stickers a few weeks ago in my sticker box, and was wondering what had become of them. I chalked it up to not being able to compete with Summit.

 

Still have a catalog

 

I use to work at Performance Automotive Wholesale for 10 years. Started 1980. I was in the machine shop. Nicknamed (monkey). Keith E. Harvie was the owner and Big Brian ran the warehouse. I loved working there. J
It was home away from home. I wish I could connect with someone who knew me.

 

I had split with my racing partner by the time he scored a 460 Ford stroker kit from them. It went out to a 496... he had a local machine shop do his block prep and a lot of other work to it. Well, it blew up at Islip one night and anyone that was these still remembers it. My brother was right behind him running 3rd and came out of the cloud of oil smoke to finish 2nd.

 

Strange, I think about them every time I look at my toolbox......

 

Man,,,I loved PAW,,,,,,I remember when it was Wholesale,,,and then later,,Warehouse .
I bought a lot of stuff from them,,,a lot of parts !
They had such a large catalog of parts,,,,,everything I bought was big block Mopar .

My best friend bought a lot of SBC stuff,,,,,,a complete set of heads,,,,2.02-1.60,,,,Z28 castings,,,screw in studs .
They were awesome,,,,he ran the hell out of them .

I bought some stuff from Summit as well,,,,,but about 90 % of the parts I bought came from PAW .

California just has so many cars and parts available,,,,cores,,,,you could find anything you needed.
I guess it always will be that way,,,,a lot of people out there and millions of old cars still around,,,,,some about a hundred years old,,,,,still available for service.

You lucky dogs,,,(car guys),,,,(I worry about the rest of it .) Lol.

Tommy

 

I too wondered what happened, good parts at good prices. I'll check the link Moriarty posted. But also recall picking up a engine at a machine shop in the early '90's and seeing a box with "PAW" on it., talked to the guys there and they said it wasn't the same "PAW" I was talking about. The one they used was just jobber parts for factory rebuilds.

 

The link is to an Ebay store selling eight (8) bearing sets.

 

Hopefully it works for you.
If there’s a problem, it will be because the thermostat and then the hose housings is “moved” forward (more like shoved without regard) towards the fan and almost in the middle of the fan. By the time you add a 90* housing onto the crossover you’ve lost enough real estate to measure it in fractions of a foot.
Most of these builds fight hard for 1/8” here and there.



The other one moves the hose as far away from the fan as possible tucking it tight to the block and as far to the side as possible. You could come straight up on this one.



It’s kinda nice for most builds but
Really handy-Tory for a blower

 

Vicky, Yea I was concerned about the same thing, but just could not live with that ugly billet thing. I had one of those on another Hemi and always second guessed that choice as I just hated the look. I mocked this one up last night on the engine and it looks like it is going to work just fine, got my fingers crossed.

One interesting thing about he PAW ads you posted, and that was the price. I paid $129.00 for this one from Hot Heads and it is polished, simple because it was all they had at the time. Interesting to see that the PAW one was as high as it was all those years ago. Interesting...

 

I’ve been laxidazicly trying to get the super charged one I’ve been working on produced. The price point will be just too high and kinda took the fun out of it. I might try again involving China.

 

I went there several times after they downsized. Loved their showroom. They had a T/F dragster overhead, dressed up engines everywhere, best of all was the green blown Olds. I wonder where it went.


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Bought lots of stuff from PAWS. Their GM catalog was larger than an old yellow pages directory. Bought a complete 350" sbc 671 blower motor. They couldn't have been more helpful to work with. It dyno'd at 525hp before the rear tires started losing traction..(old tires)...still have the catalog and it is a great reference tool.