Does part scarcity concern you?

Streetwiseguy said:

I think the question that changes my answer is, "Is this a toy, or does it need to run every day?"  Toy, finding odd parts, fabricating, or adapting something to work is part of the fun.  If I need a new part to get to work, and the last ones are stored in a bunker in Beirut, not so much fun.

That's why I always play party pooper when somebody wants to buy a GM built Saab for a daily.  You can find 99 parts.  9-3 or newer has weird stuff that can be really painful.

Two words: Ignition cassette.

Even as long ago as ten years ago or so, they were NLA and the aftermarket units were spotty.  You could pay $300 for an aftermarket one and maybe the fourth one you got was good enough to last past the one year warranty period, or you could pay $500 for a used SAAB one that would work.

(It's actually a really neat setup:  There are two capacitive-discharge units inside, like MSD units, one for each coil, and then they bias a low voltage across the spark plug to either detect knock or misfire, I forget which.  But there's a lot of delicate circuitry in there that is unlike anything else other automakers were doing.  I like to use it as an example of SAAB doing some really wild lateral-thinking engineering, that unfortunately didn't translate to a profitable enough company to stay solvent)

In reply to L5wolvesf :

You'd be pretty surprised how good the little ol zetec performs, especially if there's a stock rare S/R ECU running things

ShawnG said:

Lol...

I'm at work making new draglink balls and a new universal joint for a 1913 Buick model 40.

Parts scarcity doesn't bother me at all.

 

Can you whip up a BCM for a GTO?  Or an ABS module for some certain Corvettes?

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

ShawnG said:

Lol...

I'm at work making new draglink balls and a new universal joint for a 1913 Buick model 40.

Parts scarcity doesn't bother me at all.

 

Can you whip up a BCM for a GTO?  Or an ABS module for some certain Corvettes?

No, But I bet I can work around it.

I also bet that there is someone with a different skill set than I have who could make a new one.

Humans made it once, we can make it again. It just costs money and people are way too accustomed to things only costing $5.00. Witness the "$300 is too much for a Miata flywheel" discussion a month or so ago.

One of the main reasons I play with BG chassis is the amount of parts been sharing. Of course my favorite vehicle within the chassis family is the 323 which body-wise there is the least of. At least it'll be able to be kept running even if it gets ugly. 

ShawnG said:

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

ShawnG said:

Lol...

I'm at work making new draglink balls and a new universal joint for a 1913 Buick model 40.

Parts scarcity doesn't bother me at all.

 

Can you whip up a BCM for a GTO?  Or an ABS module for some certain Corvettes?

No, But I bet I can work around it.

I also bet that there is someone with a different skill set than I have who could make a new one.

Humans made it once, we can make it again. It just costs money and people are way too accustomed to things only costing $5.00. Witness the "$300 is too much for a Miata flywheel" discussion a month or so ago.

 

I hope my message didn't come across the wrong way. 

My point is that newer vehicles have new and interesting issues regarding parts availablity.  The parts needed aren't things that can be smithed or 3D printed, it's software and application-specific microchips.  I don't see a small handful of GTOs being worth the effort to reverse engineer a complete body control module, or whatever it is that fails and takes the car off the road, hardware and firmware and software.

Heck, I personally saw five DOHC Saturns get scrapped because the PCM's drivers for the EGR valve were fried.  You could get a reman computer, but it would have to be reflashed, and because Saturn was Saturn and not "GM" (everything was different than corporate GM electronics, just because), it had to be done by a dealership with Saturn support, and they wouldn't touch a non-GM computer... and GM computers were NLA.

This reminds me of the days I had my bug eyed sprite and mg midget.  The cars were mostly interchangeable, so we would get any type of junker and strip it down for parts.   I had a mustang ii and it was rough getting parts.  I'm glad not to have the hassle of it, but I wish I still had the car.

My baby is an 06 mustang gt.  I see myself buying junkers and stripping them out for parts.   Things are so different today.  I saw an episode of wheeler dealers where someone 3d printed hard to get parts.  Is that the future?  If so, I'm really sad about my mustang ii.

Maybe I should start another thread with this comment, but :  I have really changed my opinions on older cars now that my kids are driving them.  My son was in an old dart 'vert and he said it felt like he was sitting on a couch while driving.   All I can see is my kids in an accident without all the safety gear.  My son is disgusted with all the nannies when he drives with his buddies, but he has just recently fallen in love with a 2002 wrx.  Big step up for him from Miatas.

I own one of lesser Datsun, some of the parts are getting hard to find but that doesn't stop me from racing it. I'd never own a car I wouldn't drive whenever I pleased.

I own three Buell motorcycles, a company that even when in existence didnt have a ton of parts...Im fine.

I have a 91 MR2 for my fun car, yeah parts are out there, but not a lot of new stuff from the factory, especially trim pieces etc

That's fine, more scouring the internet!

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

Streetwiseguy said:

I think the question that changes my answer is, "Is this a toy, or does it need to run every day?"  Toy, finding odd parts, fabricating, or adapting something to work is part of the fun.  If I need a new part to get to work, and the last ones are stored in a bunker in Beirut, not so much fun.

That's why I always play party pooper when somebody wants to buy a GM built Saab for a daily.  You can find 99 parts.  9-3 or newer has weird stuff that can be really painful.

Two words: Ignition cassette.

Even as long ago as ten years ago or so, they were NLA and the aftermarket units were spotty.  You could pay $300 for an aftermarket one and maybe the fourth one you got was good enough to last past the one year warranty period, or you could pay $500 for a used SAAB one that would work.

 

(It's actually a really neat setup:  There are two capacitive-discharge units inside, like MSD units, one for each coil, and then they bias a low voltage across the spark plug to either detect knock or misfire, I forget which.  But there's a lot of delicate circuitry in there that is unlike anything else other automakers were doing.  I like to use it as an example of SAAB doing some really wild lateral-thinking engineering, that unfortunately didn't translate to a profitable enough company to stay solvent)

I had actually typed "Ignition cassette", but edited because I didn't want to be that specific, plus I wondered whether anybody was building a decent one yet. Haha.

In reply to APEowner :

That is a cool axx bike. I had no interest when they came out... not me style at all. But I would not turn one down today!

Head to the parts house and tell them you need parts for this:  

Chassis wise other then having to convert the front brakes, my chassis is well supported. My biggest fear is an accident because even if it's minor I hate body work and no one makes new doors or quarter panels for my car 

In reply to hybridmomentspass :

Do you have early Buell's, or after HD had controlling interest? I saw my first Buell in Daytona, back in '86. Pretty far out there stuff, at the time. But I always did like odd stuff.

I tend to accidentally buy stuff with good parts availability (except for my bike) but my thought is that I might as well enjoy it now and if something happens I'll figure it out. I think if I ever get too scared to drive something then it's time to sell it. If it just makes me anxious instead of bringing joy then it it's not serving its purpose. 

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Didn't come across wrong at all, just me being a bit salty. :P

I laugh a little inside when I see hand-wringing over parts availability for cars that they made literally thousands of and hundreds of people love enough to spend money on keeping them running.

Someone will figure it out if they want it badly enough.

I'm not good enough to reverse engineer a BCM but sooner or later, there will be someone running that thing on a Raspberry Pi.

In reply to spandak :

I speak Moto Guzzi and I've seen you post about your bike a couple times.

What can't you find for it and why does no-one know how to fix a Dell-Orto carburetor? They're simple as a rock.

Also, the fairing is from a V50 Monza and fairing lowers are LeMans II parts, they're worth some bucks to someone, only about 100 Monzas made it to the USA.

It's a sweet bike, around 45hp but only 350-ish pounds.

Feel free to PM me if you need help.

Also, buy this: https://www.amazon.ca/Guzziology-Version-9-Dave-Richardson/dp/1790479215 and a factory service manual and you will know everything under the sun about your bike. Dave Richardson is the man.

In reply to ShawnG :

I haven't needed anything yet, thankfully the bike runs great. But I know there aren't many of these stateside. 
The fairings are actually from a V65 and the PPO bolted them on. The bike is just a standard V50iii. A few other things have been changed, some good and some bad  but it's enough that I don't feel bad making a few more changes  

My wife got me the book for my birthday this week. I just put it done before signing on tonight ha!

Thanks for the offer and tips!

In reply to ShawnG :

One of the arguments for all of the cars in the Mad Max universe being from the 70s and earlier despite the stories being set in the indeterminate future is that those were going on the last of the cars that you could make work with basic smithing skills, and the bodies were largely made out of heavy gauge steel and not "just thick enough to hold a crease".

Those are important factors when your repair facilities are poorly-trained cultists, and your commute to work involves dodging grenade-tipped spears....

I think the introduction of plastic and electronics into vehicles are two important factors. Plastic ages out physically, so even if you find what you need in a parts yard it's still probably toast. Electronics get replaced with something better, often every year, so that translates into scarcity even with a popular vehicle. 

Uncle Tony addresses this somewhat. The cutoff for the collector car market

I've slowly come around to his way of thinking and my next project will be from the all-analog era. The parts support for older cars (Domestic, British and some others) is often quite good. It's a matter of popularity and also number produced/number surviving. You can build an early Mustang entirely from a catalog. OTOH trying to do a AMC Javelin...go fish.

I've worked in the parts business and also the insurance claim business. I've seen how quickly parts can disappear from shelves. I tend to bail from ownership as I see the trend starting. I wouldn't own my Audi 4000 Coupe or Mk1 Ford Fiesta today unless it was treated as a collector car that only came out for the occasional show. A 1960s American car or 70s truck from the big 3? Very few worries. I'd drive one every day if I didn't live in the rust belt.

I owned a really rare car, a Fiat Dino Coupe, for several years. You want to talk about a car you can't get anything for, or what you can get costs as much as half the car...that taught me a lot. I love weird stuff like Ramblers and Ford Cortinas but I'm not going down that road anymore. Especially now that those good old time junkyards are all gone.

In reply to ddavidv :

The problem with cars that have high parts availability is that they are EXPENSIVE.  Price out a late 60s Mustang or GM A-body or whatever.  Good luck finding anything worthwhile for under $texas.  At the other end of the spectrum, is cars under five years old.   Beyond that and parts availability starts to get sketchy, although to be fair if you need to find parts for a five year old car, you have chosen unwisely.

I'm listening to the video you linked and the guy talking says his local yard insta-scraps cars over 1995.  That's amazing.  The yards near me insta-scrap anything over about ten years old.  The money is in selling cores to rebuilders and body part cutoffs to body shops, anything older than sits too long to pay for the space it takes up.

For both of my cars, I worry mostly about availability of trim pieces and stuff like that.  The things that can be hard to hunt down used in good condition.  Electronics can often be repaired, and for the Jeep, after killing a few PCM drivers, I've taken to keeping a spare PCM or 2 on hand at all times. 

Fortunately, both of my current vehicles are common enough that at least for now, body panels and such are available if ever needed.  And even though both are less common variants, most of the important stuff will interchange with the more common versions of each. 

I'd love to have a ton of extra storage space so I can just snag whatever potentially useful parts I stumble across on ebay, etc. and stockpile them to avoid needing to worry about finding one "right now" if I need one. 

The electronics are the big killer.  Bodywork, interior, trim, at least it can be fabricated or modified to make work and the skillset and tools required are common and have been for the past 100 years.  Even doing a full repower is easy enough that guys in Cuba can do it with Russian diesel boat motors.  Seeing it already with any of the rigs that have integrated HVAC and radio.  Will be interesting to see if there are any 2020 cars out there in 50 years.  I bet they will be thin on the ground, while classics will still be seen.  

In reply to Steve :

I own MGTD's and can buy parts from several sources same with my Jaguars. Or when I owned a Ford Model A. 
     It doesn't matter how obscure most cars are there are parts available. The only issue is learning reliable sources.  
   Yes some cars like Duesenburgs, Ferrari,  etc. might need to wait while parts are made or remade but cars of that sort aren't daily commuters so it's not a hardship.