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5 Levels of Parts Finding for Vintage Cars
The automobile world exists at an interesting crossroads of utility and luxury. Our vintage vehicles are often for pleasure use but can also serve the real function of transportation. Well, wheny they run like they are supposed to, anyhow. To maintain that function requires parts, mechanical knowledge, and time. Of the three, vintage car lovers are often left hanging on the parts front.
Even the simplest car is a combination of thousands of parts, carefully assembled and tuned to function in a safe and competent way. Sometimes you can get by without a part here or there, but there are also the critical pieces that a car simply cannot function without. Which pieces are critical can change depending on the era and design, but finding a special part can be necessary for safely keeping your favorite car on the road. Here are the five levels of parts sourcing that old-car people get to experience:
Searching Online and Calling Around to Find Something
There is no shortage of parts stores in both the physical and digital realms that really want to sell you parts for your project. Start here, every time. My favorite local parts house has a surprising back inventory, but that is a luxury of a long-standing local place with its own warehouse.
Even if you don’t have a local parts supply, start with the big names in online parts and restoration supplies. You might be surprised to find remanufactured parts, or even new old stock, if your project isn’t legally sipping alcohol yet. Striking out here is likely, I’ll admit that, but it never hurts to try, and asking is free.
Having the Part Number
One of the benefits of striking out with your search on step one is that you will gain the part number and can begin searching in more interesting ways. Once you can use the part number, you gain access to searching far and wide since part numbers are a universal language. This enables a confirmation on good used parts in a way that merely looking at them can’t fill for most parts buyers. Sure, some of us can eyeball the year and fitment of a specific intake manifold just on the location of a few bolt holes, but that is often the exception, not the rule, when it comes to shopping.
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Knowing the Cross Reference
If having a part number doesn’t get you what you’re looking for, it’s time to start exploring different names for the same thing. Parts and assemblies are occasionally—especially in modern vehicles—used across different platforms and makes, meaning that sometimes the same part might have two or even three part numbers.
Sometimes a cross reference enables finding an improved part, or the same part but with fixes or changes that were implemented during production. If you aren’t going for an absolutely flawless restoration, this can open doors to keeping or getting a car back on the road.
Bringing the Dimensions to Find Something Else That Fits
When a cross reference doesn’t yield results and just looking at the parts is no longer enough, it’s time to get out the measuring tools. While this is unlikely to solve the problem of a cast-iron water pump that bolts to an engine block, it can solve a lot of problems when it comes to the parts to rebuild such pieces. Bearings and seals are available in lots of sizes “stock,” and custom-fit pieces are often pricey but can be found. I’ve purchased replacement wheel bearings for project motorcycles from bearing suppliers by breaking down the dimensions, and doing so not only saved me money but occasionally allowed me to make for really nice OEM-plus fitment.
Knowing Which Parts Don’t Fit—and How to Modify Them to Make Them Fit
In the same way that knowing the size and fit of a part can maybe enable a generic-fit piece to work, striking out on finding that generic part can also shine a light on what might need to be done to your problem part in order to make a readily available facsimile fit. Doing this yourself or having a professional make modifications makes no difference if the end result is functional. Necessity is the mother of invention, after all.
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The site Amayama.com has factory OEM parts AND OEM parts catalogs for nine Japanese makes and one German brand. That means parts can be searched, not only by model, but also by VIN. The site to me doesn’t seem to be customer friendly – it has the feel of being set up for resale companies. Regardless, I didn’t need a resale license to make a purchase. The cost of some items I bought were below USD retail price, although the shipping cost was, to me, on the high side. To be fair, my parts came from a Japan based warehouse, which also explained the delivery time of 5-6 weeks.
Been using Amayama for a while, very good diagrams and service.
Used Yokohama Motors yesterday for Daihatsu Hijet parts which Amayama does not carry. All the parts listed were actual pictures of them with shipping prices updated as items were added.
If I need an older Ford part I first go to Green Sales and then after that Parts Voice. I also search eBay for NOS and OEM parts and have had fantastic luck there. For my 91 Mazda the Atlanta Mazda dealer still carries stuff for a car that age. When I find parts through those methods I buy them up so I have two to three of everything I might need in the next 20 years. Failing that then I go to Rock Auto or my local machinist.
Part of my job is to search for NLA parts for a particular Italian manufacturer and having a good understanding of cross references in terms of – say – Pininfarina assembling bodies so using the same part on Alfas, Lancias, Ferraris etc helps a lot. That and trying to gently explain to customers sometimes that maybe it’s not so important to get original 40 year old seat belts for your car…and perhaps a new set of belts (or carpet mats) may be a better and safer option. Some people take the originality kick a bit too far and lose some perspective…
It’s funny that your idea of a “flawless restoration” is to replace a part with the same flawed original part rather than a new and improved version. I’d choose to call it an accurate restoration instead. Sometimes it’s a difficult choice, though, between sticking with original technology and adding improvements. Some people think it’s fun to drive an old car with all the guts swapped out so now it has a Chevy small block and disc brakes. I think you lose the charm of driving the old car when you do that. But if you drive an MG, is having to jump start the car or having corroded battery cables part of the charm that makes you like the car? Or should you rewire it and install a modern AGM battery?
Be careful, an old MG does not have a computer to recognize an AGM battery, it will overcharge it and the service life will be shortened.
My vehicle fleet includes things that are simply unsupported in collector circles–like my Renault 4CVs and Fiat Topolinos. Prize items in my automotive library are parts books from BAP-GEON and Beck-Arnley from the late 50s-late 60s. These were companies that supplied foreign auto parts stores “back in the day” when your typical auto parts store didn’t even have metric tools, much less parts for imports other than spark plugs. These books are a wealth of cross-reference information for things likes ignition parts, bearings, carburetor rebuild kits etc. That’s how I discovered I could rebuild the fuel pump on my ’69 BMW with a kit for an air cooled Beetle, and that distributor cap, rotor and points were also the same.
Coupled with the factory parts books and shop manuals for each of my cars (laboriously gathered over the years) at least I know where to start…
There were several distributor caps just between 1964 and 1970, but I’d bet a dollar you mean what Bosch called “03-010”, with an 04-033 rotor, as that was pretty universal starting around 1970. It fit a LOT of 4 cylinder German cars.
As for the fuel pump kit, do you know which one it was? I’d imagine it would interchange with the later ones, which were used from 1966-1969 before they went to the crimped-together design, as those are considered non-rebuildable and there are no internal parts for them.
My brother had a ’68 BMW 1602 back around 1972 and special ordered a master cylinder for it. He said it was cast with a VW part number on it, which means it almost certainly interchanged with a ’67 and later VW Beetle unit, which was one quarter the price!
Have done all of these – and 40 years ago (pre internet days) I had my cousin, the machinist wizard, make front suspension parts for a Lotus I had. Also took old parts to an Indy car shop in Zion, IN to have them replicated for another car.
If you can’t find the part, you can often make it. 3D Printing has come a long way and if you have the original part and know the tolerances it can be scanned and reproduced. The quality is better than cheaply made and poor tolerance stuff coming out of China. I have made numerous parts and the satisfaction is terrific.
Luckily many parts for my car are readily available, however living in Canada and buying with a US dollar can get expensive by adding about 40% to the prices. I have to watch the exchange rates and decide what is a need vs a want. And now there is another 25% tariff looming which adds to the costs.
No one ever said owning a classic would not be expensive…
The 25% tariff is on imports to the US only so at this point anything exported from the US doesn’t have tariffs (yet). If Canada responds and then initiates new tariffs, assuming the nuclear position is your only hope.
When buying online be careful- the scammers show up on all the old car forums . Ask for lots of pics and details they would know onky if they actually have the part in front of them.
Searching on the internet and calling dealers, etc. is my usual go to. Websites often goof up when the items get big on shipping.
I was told I got the last extant master cylinder for my 1940 Cadillac, and that any future brake work would require a conversion to a more modern set up.
I just found and bought a NOS rear fender for a 1980 Honda CB400T that I’ve been looking for for about 10 years.
There is another important lesson and that’s finding the right part for the right price! Example, the turn signal broke on my 1965 Corvette. Go to the corvette supplier, easy find with the typical “corvette markup”. But in the process, I discovered the same part was used in the 1965 Nova steering column. Go to the nova supplier… that EXACT part was 80% cheaper!!!!
So cross referencing parts, even obtainable parts, may pay big dividends!
for items like this on older US cars the Holland Interchange Manual can be invaluable. Many junkyards still use this or an equivalent
That’s how I found the fender. It’s the same part number on a 1982 CB450T. Although either way I doubt the price would have been any different if you could find another one.
How many of you have rushed to the Red Line site only to be disappointed?
Joining and/or calling a vehicle specific car club is helpful. I was looking for rear wheel cylinders for a 1947 Studebaker Stake Truck. The Studebaker Car Club out of Indiana pointed me in the right direction and I ended up talking to a gentlemen in Tennessee. His family owned a Studebaker dealership and when it closed around 1965, he acquired all the NOS parts and transported them to his barn. The price was very reasonable and I bought a pair ! Unfortunately , I didn’t have space to keep the truck and sold it a few years ago.
“Bringing the Dimensions to Find Something Else That Fits” A few years ago I had to replace wheel bearings on a 1957 Chevy 3/4 ton pick up. These are ball bearings and at the time I was able to locate the inner bearing at the local parts store. But the outer bearing was a different story. The only one I could find was on ebay for $1000. Yes, One Thousand Dollars. I am not the type to spend my customer’s money like that. If it was a 1/2 ton I could get a roller bearing conversion but not for the 3/4 ton. I found the specs and was successful in finding a bearing & race that had the correct OD and ID and was only 1/8″ wider which was fine for the outer bearing. And my local O’Reilly’s had it in stock for about $50.
I’ve done the same thing with motorcycle bearings at the Timken dealer. In one case, all I needed was the number of the Italian bearing and the counter guy looked it up. In the other, I he had to measure the bearing and locate a similar one. It was a tiny bit thicker, but it fit well enough.