Mr. Noel P. Burt This is Me

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1. 1. www.partsandpeople.com

   www.partsandpeople.com/article - [Cached]

   Published on: 12/29/2005   Last Visited: 12/29/2005

   "Because of the work we do on them, they cannot be described as ‘rebuilt,'" Recarbco Owner Noel Burt said.
   
   Some rebuilders simply throw a kit into a carburetor core and then spray-paint it, Burt said. Recarbco doesn't do it that way, putting painstaking labor into every one of its precision-remanufactured carburetors, he said.
   
   "Our technicians disassemble every carburetor, putting it through a thorough multistage cleaning process, remachining the parts that need it and testing it on a live, running engine," Burt said. "They aren't rebuilds. They're brand new."
   
   Recarbco of Pittsburg is the largest carburetor remanufacturer west of the Mississippi, Burt said, and has shipped its carburetors all over the world, including Estonia, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, and the Philippines.
   
   The business opened the doors of its 44,000-square-foot factory in 1979 and has experienced steady growth since the beginning, Burt said. In addition, Recarbco owns and operates a second location in Emeryville, Calif., allowing the company to serve both the San Francisco Bay Area and the Sacramento Valley. They also deliver nationally and ship units every day all over the globe, he said.
   
   Burt said he entered the carburetor remanufacturing business when he couldn't get high-quality rebuilt carburetors for the auto repair shop he opened in 1977.
   
   "We were purchasing rebuilt carburetors from a local supplier, and we had to fix all of them," Burt said. "We said to ourselves, ‘We can build better carburetors than these.' It just grew from there."
   
   In 1992, when fuel-injected vehicles became the standard, Recarbco found its niche, Burt said. Even though new cars were no longer using carburetors, he felt that there were still enough automobiles out there using them for the business to make sense.
   
   The majority of Recarbco's business comes from shops or individuals doing restorations on American automobiles, he said.
   ...
   Each one has to apprentice for three to four years before they can step up and work alone, Noel Burt said.
   
   "They are trained to work on a certain type of carburetor," he said. "That way they're much more efficient--they work faster and the quality is better because they know the little quirks of that particular carburetor."
   
   Each tech remanufactures an average of five carburetors a day, Burt said. "It takes time to do the entire process right--from taking it apart to final test and adjustments," he said.
   
   Initially, to build up its inventory, Recarbco purchased a large number of carburetor cores from local suppliers in the Bay Area, Burt said. During the early years, the company bought cores aggressively and quickly accumulated an inventory of more than 150,000. Those cores have been pulled from every type of car imaginable, he said. Recarbco's collection contains the entire gamut--from all of the basic carburetors to those that are really hard to find--for cars such as the Mercedes 190S, old American-made pickups from the 1950s and the more obscure British sports cars, he said.
   
   Now Recarbco buys cores only when they need them, usually from wrecking yards or specialized sources dealing in one specific make or model, Burt said.
   
   "We have over 100 sources for cores, including some in Europe," he said.
   ...
   "When we get overstocked on something, we will move it out at a real low price, Noel Burt said. "These discounts are substantial, so our specials sell quickly."
   
   The company also publishes an extensive catalog every year that it makes available to auto parts stores selling their products, Burt said. The company plans to offer an online catalog soon, he said.
   
   Product knowledge is so important when it comes to carburetors, Burt said. "If you don't know exactly what you need, you can run into a ton of trouble. The difference can be as slight as a fraction of an inch here or there, but if it doesn't fit, it obviously won't work. We have years and years of experience in this industry, so we can help our customers avoid making a lot of mistakes, because we've been there."
   
   Because identifying and locating the correct carburetor can be so complex, Recarbco will not normally charge restocking fees on returned products. "By not charging restocking fees, we can keep the sale and make sure the customer stays happy," Burt said. "We want them to get the right carburetor, and we want it to work. Last year we had only six defective units, which is very low."
   
   Recarbco prides itself on doing all of the little things it takes to make sure its carburetors run right every time, Burt said.
   
   "Our rebuilding process includes rebushing, resurfacing, machining, wet flow bench testing, and engine testing on a live, running engine," Burt said.
   ...
   Noah Burt (l.) and Noel Burt of Recarbco Fueling Systems stand behind one of the engines they use to test their remanufactured carburetors.

2. 2. automotive.pr-archive.com

   automotive.pr-archive.com/nl/p - [Cached]

   Last Visited: 11/7/2007

   President Noel Burt announces new product: remanufactured TBI T.B.I.fuel injection throttle body bodies now available. Noel P. Burt president of Recarbco Carburetors at 661 Garcia Avenue, Pittsburg, CA announces his company now is rebuilding fuel injection throttle bodies ( TBI units ), as well as the carburetors ...

3. 3. +++ MAZDA MX5's ICONIC EVOLUTION THAT MAKES MAZDA PARTS DISTRIBUTORS LIKE PARTSTRAIN DELIVERS THE BEST / Auto Parts Train.

   automotive.pr-archive.com/en/p - [Cached]

   Last Visited: 11/7/2007

   President Noel Burt announces new product: remanufactured TBI T.B.I.fuel injection throttle body bodies now available. Noel P. Burt president of Recarbco Carburetors at 661 Garcia Avenue, Pittsburg, CA announces his company now is rebuilding fuel injection throttle bodies ( TBI units ), as well as the carburetors ...