Meziere Enterprises strives to provide the best water pumps , starters , and more
PARTNER PROFILE
SUPERIOR SOLUTIONS
Meziere Enterprises strives to provide the best water pumps , starters , and more
BY NATE VAN WAGNEN
While Meziere Enterprises was officially launched in the early 1980s , the Meziere family ’ s penchant for crafting superior racing components goes back much further . Harold Meziere Sr . worked for motorsports legend Parnelli Jones , setting up differentials for his NASCAR team as well as other teams . It was that environment – as well as the Southern California car culture in general – that inspired Harold Meziere Jr . to start Meziere Enterprises out of his home garage .
“ We had been doing fabrication in our garage , and I think Dad saw that he wanted to do something more with that ,” says Don Meziere ,
Harold Jr .’ s son and now a co-owner of Meziere Enterprises . “ He was actually in the gas station business , and that business model was changing pretty quick to more the mini-mart thing . In my dad ’ s time , you ’ d run out to the gas pumps and pump the gas for the people , and check the air in their tires , and oil and all of that . He could see that business model changing , and with three teenage boys , he wanted to make sure he kept them busy .”
The Mezieres – including Don ’ s older brothers , Dave and Mike – expanded on the race car work they were already doing . Projects included building race cars , fixing trailers , general welding and fabrication , and whatever else came in the door . When they weren ’ t working on projects for customers , the Mezieres were also racing their own cars and learning more about what racers need from various components .
Along the way , the focus shifted to creating products that met or often exceeded those needs . Meziere says their water pumps were the first product to really take off , and it ’ s still what the company is best known for today . It ’ s a true “ for racers , by racers ” product , as Dave Meziere does all the engineering on the pumps .
“ He took a lot of time to make sure that we had something that was clearly better ,” Meziere says . “ We were the first ones to incorporate the ceramic seal technology into those pumps . We do a lot of extra work with armatures to make sure that the life of the pump is significantly improved , just analyzing why they fail and trying to make sure that those problems are addressed . We ’ re never really satisfied with a product until it ’ s clearly superior .”
Second in line behind the water pumps are Meziere ’ s line of starters . They begin with a billet exterior encasing internal components that are designed and manufactured almost entirely in-house .
“ All of the mechanical gears and reduction , the housings , the Bendix , the pinion – all of that stuff is engineered for the really difficult-to-start
PHOTOGRAPHS BY MEZIERE ENTERPRISES
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