How do owners of very old or rare vehicles find replacement parts to keep it running?
In: R2 (Narrow/Personal)
I have an old car that is very rare now, here’s when I do when I need a part:
There’s a good owners club community online who often have garages full of original parts that they can ship out. I’ve done this for small parts like door handles and blanking caps.
Occasionally there are “barn finds” where an old abandoned car comes up for sale, and if it’s too far gone to restore it will become a “donor car” and stripped for parts. I got my master cylinder this way.
Sometimes parts for more popular cars fit my car. It’s more common on older vehicles for parts to be interchangeable.
Some parts can be refurbished, I can send away the broken part to a specialist who will strip it down and remake it then send it back. Had this with brake calipers.
If none of the above, getting things custom made. Did this with the exhaust, very expensive!
A lot of car parts are off the shelf components. Ford does not make axles for their trucks, they go to a reputable axle manufacturer like Dana and buy whatever axles they are making. So there are lots of these single components that fit a whole range of models of cars from different manufacturers. And when the component manufacturer updates their design they often have to make sure it fits the older cars so that the car manufacturer does not have to update their design to use the new parts. This means that there are lots of parts out there that fit your unique car. You can take them from scrapyards, from unsold inventory, or even buy brand new components as they are still being made today.
For more unique parts like body panels and such it can be harder to find. In some cases you find large inventories from the factory. This is typical when the company failed to sell as many cars as they hoped for but kept up production until they eventually went bankrupt. Famously DeLorean was one such company and they are still selling parts made back in the day and stashed in warehouses and sold in bulk at auctions. In other cases people have been able to save the tools used to build the components. Often the tools might have been sold to a third world manufacturer to make cars on license. When you have the pressing tool or the mold for a body panel it is fairly easy to make another part using those tools, even without a factory you can do it in a suitable workshop. Other times people take old parts and make molds of them in order to make copies. Or you can get the parts from the scrapyard.
But sometimes you can not buy a part at all. You just need to make it yourself or pay someone to make it for you. For some things you can get away with a modern equivalent but even this may need some modifications. You may therefore need to do some metalwork to recreate an old part for your vintage vehicle.
My father collects and restores old motorcycles.
You have essentially 2 types of old vehicle restorers / owners. Those that want it “factory” where everything is as it was when it was manufactured, and those who want it to work.
My old man is a hybrid of those, basically depending on what he wants the bike for. If the bike is a showroom only bike, it ends up factory. This means sourcing parts from all over the world, buying old wrecks in boxes, and then finally making the parts yourself if needed. He has spent hundreds of hours hand shaping metal into petrol tanks or mud guards because there is no way you can buy them. He’s gone as far as making his own gearbox gears.
Then there are the ones he actually wants to ride. For these he will replace bits with modern options. Electronic ignition instead of points. Replacement magneto, rewiring to 12v (lots of old bikes were 6v). Non standard rims, modern master brake reservoirs, modern forks etc.
Depends if you’re a perfectionist, originalist, patina-ist etc. My old truck is a farm survivor, I buy trade or make replacements. Things like gaskets, headlights I generally have to buy new. The rest from junk yards.
It’s getting easier every day with 3d scanning / additive manufacturing / global shipping.
But you also face some ethical problems, like, the process to make chrome parts is pretty nasty. Does it really matter if your bumper is absolutely perfect?
IMO no because I’m gonna drive my cars. But to a [concours](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concours_d%27Elegance) person it does.
My father and I each have a collection of older German cars- Mercedes, BMW, and Porsche. Mercedes will make you essentially any part you need for any of their classic models. It may cost $2500 for a tiny plastic trim cap, but they’ll make it for you. Ford is pretty goods about their older cars, and there’s many companies making very good reproduction parts.
I don’t see it mentioned in the earlier comments, but swap-meets are a big thing. Car guys will meet up in what is the equivalent of a flea market to buy, sell, or trade parts. It’s also a great way to meet other enthusiasts and get tips and learn about the cars you are interested in. Some of these people have encyclopedic knowledge and are always willing to share. Incidentally, the same goes for motorcycle people.
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