Use of original parts?
Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2006 12:04 am
Here’s a question that has crossed my mind many times while in the workshop, but I have never come up with a completely satisfactory answer one way or the other.
So you are in the workshop restoring your car. You have two similar components to select from – one which came off your car and the other – the same part – which is in your spares pile. The spare item is in better condition than the part that came off your car when you dismantled it. Which part should you fit – the better part, or the part which came off your car?
Of course, it will depend on what the part is. If it is the cylinder block, then it would obviously be better to fit the numbered original, provided that is was serviceable. But what about the bellhousing? Or the conrods? Or the front axle beam? Or a stub axle? Or a wheel?
Having had my Semi-sports apart for so many years, I honestly couldn’t tell you which parts came off it and which parts I have replaced, in most cases. I know that after scouring the world for parts, the car is now quite highly original – in terms of specification, but it is almost certainly contains a lot less of the original car than it did when I acquired it. Should I have made a more of an effort to restore the car as it was and only replace parts which were unserviceable – even if I had less worn parts to replace the original parts with? Should I have kept some sort of record of what was replaced? Have I compromised originality? And how do I know that the parts fitted to the car when I acquired it were the same parts fitted when the car left the factory? What does the team think?
So you are in the workshop restoring your car. You have two similar components to select from – one which came off your car and the other – the same part – which is in your spares pile. The spare item is in better condition than the part that came off your car when you dismantled it. Which part should you fit – the better part, or the part which came off your car?
Of course, it will depend on what the part is. If it is the cylinder block, then it would obviously be better to fit the numbered original, provided that is was serviceable. But what about the bellhousing? Or the conrods? Or the front axle beam? Or a stub axle? Or a wheel?
Having had my Semi-sports apart for so many years, I honestly couldn’t tell you which parts came off it and which parts I have replaced, in most cases. I know that after scouring the world for parts, the car is now quite highly original – in terms of specification, but it is almost certainly contains a lot less of the original car than it did when I acquired it. Should I have made a more of an effort to restore the car as it was and only replace parts which were unserviceable – even if I had less worn parts to replace the original parts with? Should I have kept some sort of record of what was replaced? Have I compromised originality? And how do I know that the parts fitted to the car when I acquired it were the same parts fitted when the car left the factory? What does the team think?