A few words about Midwest-Bayless & Mad Matt

M

mbusman

Big Bird
I know Midwest-Bayless might not have the cheapest, rock bottom prices, but they are fair and the vast inventory Matt has keeps our X's rocking.

Many of you have probably called on a Saturday or Sunday, stumped with a problem and chances are good that Matt answered the phone and gave the technical support that solved your problem. Who else includes technical support in the sale?

That happened last year when Rudy was helping me with something and he called Matt for the answer. Recently, I went to get out of Big Bird and when I pulled the inside door handle, I heard a pop and there was no resistance pulling the handle. I pulled the door card, pulled up the plastic liner and removed the door handle. I could see the rod that opens the latch in the door jamb that had a 90 deg. bend at the other end, but nothing to attach or insert it into. I did find one small piece of broken plastic in the bottom of the door. I went on the MB web site and found what I believed to be a plastic clip that I needed to connect the rod. I emailed Matt, referenced the part number and my problem to confirm that the clip is what I needed. After confirmation I ordered the less than $3.00 clip and some other stuff.

The order was supposed to arrive on a Monday, but actually arrived the Friday before. Saturday, I wasted a couple of hours trying to figure out how the clip inserted, connected with the rod, and straight wire coming off the spring. Frustrated, I emailed Matt for help as the manual doesn't cover trivial stuff like brittle, 36 year old plastic clips in door handles. Matt sent me back some photos showing where the clip attached, where the spring wire went, and where the rod goes, including rotating a lock down part of the clip to secure the rod. Today I went back and got the clip into the door handle, everything in place per the photos, and the door handle back in place in less than 5 minutes.

Who else would take the time to help someone with a stinkin', cheap little plastic clip. That's why I like doing business with Mad Matt and his band of elves. Thanks again, Matt.

Mike
 
Matt and team are great. Matt was my "sounding board" during the prepping and installing of the k20a2. He was there for me when I needed some help without question.
 
Many Pluses...

Matt and his crew are the guardian angels of all things Fiat.
As I have said many times, I will say again...
Thanks Matt & the Midwest/Bayless staff!!!
 
Matt (and crew) Is The Man!

I would have to echo your experience. Any time I call, they are more than willing to share their vast knowledge of all things X and sometimes, it means I don't need to order something and sometimes it does. Great folks, hoping to drive my X there for a visit this summer. Maybe we need to have a FFO at Matt's shop every year, maybe a Fiat Homecoming Weekend.
 
MWB is awesome indeed

Matt and crew have always treated me right.

BTW Willy, her's your chance for a MWB visit. The Open House is June 6th. :)
 
I just received a fresh order from them, and all is good!

I took advantage of the current promotion that was offered and saved a few bucks, which just turned into spending MORE! :)

I look forward to getting these parts on the car!


BTW: Some prices aren't the cheapest, probably because they're not the same quality. I bought my brake and clutch master there, and yeah - I could have bought them cheaper elsewhere, but I've heard great things about these and I don't feel like replacing them again anytime soon.

The last set I ordered was from Bayless in fact (in the 90's.., well before it became MWB), and my brake master started leaking very quickly - most likely because it was NOS and the seals were bad. Still works, but a drop a month on the carpet is something I've had to live with since then. So far the new masers (and clutch slave) look to be of good quality!

MWB is my first stop to shop!
 
kudos to mad mat!!

matt has the same attitude that I had working in parts departments for the last 30 years. if there is a chance to help someone with a problem or question, you are there. and he is!!:thumbsup:
mikemo
 
Every time I have needed work, ordered parts or requested information Matt and crew have been timely and very helpful.
 
Piling on...

As others have expressed, my experience with Matt and his shop has been 100% (or, uh, 110% positive).

I also had the privilege of meeting Matt for the first time this past weekend. As luck would have it, I had a college preview trip with my daughter in the Columbus area and was able to stop by. Matt was working on a Saturday, but graciously took time out of his day to show me around his garage, vehicles, etc. and answer some questions about some parts I purchased.

Any time you have a "retail" business and work with a broad swath of customers it's a challenge IMO. You're going to run into diverse personalities and issues and take some lumps along the way. Matt and Midwest-Bayless navigate the environment well, and I hope he is motivated to continue in his trade for many years.
 
Certainly appreciated... A little back-story.

We got into this game nearly 15 years ago because I couldn’t find the items and services I needed from other vendors. I was a newbie to Fiat and needed a lot of non-standard stuff that no one could be bothered to carry or offer.

Specifically, no one sold (or would perform) upright carrier rebuilds. I was willing to pay $$ to have a plug-and-play solution on carriers when I bought our first X19 race car, because I had heard they could be tricky, and didn’t want to buy $75 of tools, a lot of expensive bearings, and waste a day ruining half of them learning how to do it. But in the end, I had to learn myself, and decided to offer that as our very first service way back when.

At the same time, I was forced to buy used parts I needed for my project on eBay because there was no other solution. As it turned out, buying used parts on-line was a crapshoot. Items advertised as one year were actually different years, condition was completely subjective, etc... I ended up buying a couple of parts cars to get other items, and began selling the extras with correct identification, and that enabled my learning of the details of these cars.

Since then we have serviced and salvaged hundreds of these and other model Fiat / Lancia cars, and recognized the need for a 1-10 rating scale on used Fiat and Lancia parts. And I still learn new things daily about subtle changes from one year or series to another that appear inconsequential on the surface.

But there lies the quandary with these cars. The cars are undervalued precisely because previous owners have the tendency to implement so many backyard hacks and non-standard fixes as cheaply as possible, due to lack of parts, patience or knowledge, so that most examples of cars that people see today are a mess. Good, correct parts and technique aren’t cheap, regardless the blue book of the car.

A correctly maintained or restored X1/9, 124, 128, 850 is a thing of beauty and grossly under-appreciated, in my opinion, because I know how hard someone has to work to do it that way.

The architecture and running changes on these cars cause problems for the shade-tree mechanic who can’t identify the subtle differences between components from various years, or know when a previous owner has substituted an earlier or later component out of convenience.

When I was learning how to support my race car in my garage, a number of extremely helpful enthusiasts from Xweb and elsewhere worked with me by email and phone to help me learn what I didn’t know. Many are still here on Xweb today and I owe them a debt of gratitude, so the tech support thing is in some way a pay-it-forward gesture.

We try to be as generous as possible with tech support. But there is a limit.

We could easily blow several hours a day giving advice and talking projects and how to’s with clients. We'll try the best we can to get you going, but don’t get upset if we cut the conversation short because yapping on the phone and emailing how-to’s doesn’t pay the bills.

And please don’t call me asking how to install parts you bought from another vendor. Yes. It happens. :sigh:
 
mad matt

you are truly the bomb when it comes to fiats. you surely know as much as I (probably way more) than I learned working for fiat for 30 years!!
but you have the same attitude that I had, no question too little no problem too big. it is totally refreshing. and there is no time clock involved when someone needs something:thumbsup:
if you ever think of opening a west coast store....leeme know.:sun:
mikemo
 
I'll Second That!

I always check their site first for my Fiat and Lancia needs. Very glad to have them as a resource. When I'm in Columbus I try to stop in and pick up a couple of things and enjoy checking out the variety of salvaged cars in the front lot.

Robert from Indiana
 
Great service, great products and great people. What more need be said? Oh yeah, great storefront on the web.
 
Last edited:
Matt Brannon - Midwest Bayless said:
We got into this game nearly 15 years ago because I couldn’t find the items and services I needed from other vendors. I was a newbie to Fiat and needed a lot of non-standard stuff that no one could be bothered to carry or offer.

Specifically, no one sold (or would perform) upright carrier rebuilds. I was willing to pay $$ to have a plug-and-play solution on carriers when I bought our first X19 race car, because I had heard they could be tricky, and didn’t want to buy $75 of tools, a lot of expensive bearings, and waste a day ruining half of them learning how to do it. But in the end, I had to learn myself, and decided to offer that as our very first service way back when.

At the same time, I was forced to buy used parts I needed for my project on eBay because there was no other solution. As it turned out, buying used parts on-line was a crapshoot. Items advertised as one year were actually different years, condition was completely subjective, etc... I ended up buying a couple of parts cars to get other items, and began selling the extras with correct identification, and that enabled my learning of the details of these cars.

Since then we have serviced and salvaged hundreds of these and other model Fiat / Lancia cars, and recognized the need for a 1-10 rating scale on used Fiat and Lancia parts. And I still learn new things daily about subtle changes from one year or series to another that appear inconsequential on the surface.

But there lies the quandary with these cars. The cars are undervalued precisely because previous owners have the tendency to implement so many backyard hacks and non-standard fixes as cheaply as possible, due to lack of parts, patience or knowledge, so that most examples of cars that people see today are a mess. Good, correct parts and technique aren’t cheap, regardless the blue book of the car.

A correctly maintained or restored X1/9, 124, 128, 850 is a thing of beauty and grossly under-appreciated, in my opinion, because I know how hard someone has to work to do it that way.

The architecture and running changes on these cars cause problems for the shade-tree mechanic who can’t identify the subtle differences between components from various years, or know when a previous owner has substituted an earlier or later component out of convenience.

When I was learning how to support my race car in my garage, a number of extremely helpful enthusiasts from Xweb and elsewhere worked with me by email and phone to help me learn what I didn’t know. Many are still here on Xweb today and I owe them a debt of gratitude, so the tech support thing is in some way a pay-it-forward gesture.

We try to be as generous as possible with tech support. But there is a limit.

We could easily blow several hours a day giving advice and talking projects and how to’s with clients. We'll try the best we can to get you going, but don’t get upset if we cut the conversation short because yapping on the phone and emailing how-to’s doesn’t pay the bills.

And please don’t call me asking how to install parts you bought from another vendor. Yes. It happens. :sigh:
Click to expand...


Advice for installing parts from another vendor could be a good business opportunity.. !.. Standard bill rate over the phone...!
 
Hey... Are you talking about me???

"... The cars are undervalued precisely because previous owners have the tendency to implement so many backyard hacks and non-standard fixes as cheaply as possible..."

HA~!

On second thought... naw, its not me... as I am the current owner...
 
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