Hot Rods PARTS THAT YOU USED ON OTHER CARS IN THE PAST THAT YOUR USING TODAY

Brenda and I were discussing some of the aspects of the old Falcon as she was relaying her street racing story and it occurred to me that when the car was sold I kept the engine & transmission,I also kept the 5 spoke mags.

The engine and transmission are still under the work bench and the mags are staxked up in the corner,but the part I chose to recycled is the Hurst Shiftier.

When I was building the Ranch Wagon I was toying with what to use the shift the 5 speed transmission,I knew the original 84 Mustang shiftier was too short and ugly to use in a 50's car so I used some round stock and made a shiftier,It looked ok but appeared like something that would be at home in a 4 wheel drive truck, too utilitarian looking.



A few days later I was looking for the bumper braces for the wagon in my old shop and ran across the old 4 speed Hurst shiftier in a box of parts,at that moment I forgot all about the brackets and concentrated on the shiftier,I did a few quick measurements and determined it was tall enough but in the stock configuration it wouldn't work.

I took it apart because all I need was the shiftier handle and I welded a short piece of flat stock to the handle at a slight angle and drilled two holes and bolted it in place and Bingo,I had a shiftier that looked like it belonged there.

This is the same stick that Brenda rowed in the old Falcon when she quieted her mouthy antagonist back in high school. HRP

 

Nice!
Good reason to keep old parts around (if you have the room)

 

So now every time you drive the wagon you carry on the legacy of that little Falcon.

 

Yes sir! HRP

 

I have used several parts from the stash that my dad had from some restoration projects from MANY years ago. Always had a pile of Model A parts So I have been lucky to have more than one choice of worn out parts to use. HaHa. I also used a set of Delco-Lovejoy Knee action shocks left over from a '30 Chevy project on this coupe project. I have been using some old beat up splash aprons from the pile for small patches too. Never want to throw any thing that may be used in the future. Maybe that is why I don't have as much room in the garage as I would like.

 

A few of the parts on my Ford have been around for a few decades. The Hurst shifter was bought in '78 for my '65 Belair. The bellhousing, starter, flywheel were all on the Belair at some point. I thought they were all truck pieces but the bellhousing is a '55 Chevy offering. All of the brackets on the front of the engine came off the Belair as well, which were original to the '68 Impala engine I used in the Belair.

 

A lot of my cars are that way, the 1968 375 horse 440 Magnum and 4 speed in my '70 Challenger was in my '31 Coupe for a while. The 440 replaced a 383 Magnum which I pulled out of my '52 Plymouth business coupe gasser to put into said Model A coupe. I beat the ever loving bejeezus out of the 383 in two cars. The 440 I bought from a HAMBer named Terry and I've ran a best of 13.9@101 with it in the Dodge, mostly stock. If I replace it with a 6-71 blown 440 I've been building who knows where it'll go next?

 

I could be here all night. Still have the motor out of my first car, the block is the basis of the 331 that will go in my '65 falcon futura at some point. I still have the 351w heads that were on it, but I also have 3 more sets of virgin castings, and I like to think I have learned a bit more about head porting in the ensuing 40 some odd years. I have all kinds of stuff around here that has been used in stuff I've had before.

 

I thought there would have been more pack rats like myself. HRP

 

I have so much junk-I mean "fine previously used equipment"-that I often forget what is there.The engine and trans in the 50 Ford are an example,the engine came out of a glass 23 T roadster that I had in the mid 90s and the trans came from a 68 nova 4dr rust out that I was given years ago just for hauling it away. I LOVE my junk!

 

I do it for "old times sake". I have he clock out of my high school '51 Ford in my current car and the automatic choke mechanism out of the Corvette I bought in 1967 in my current car. When people ask if I am the original owner, I can say "Yeah, but I've replaced most of the parts over the years".

 

I actually rent a storage garage to keep my "extra parts". It works like this:
I'll peruse the swap meets and yard sales for killer deals on parts I may or may not need. I'll buy anything of value if I can steal it for cheap. I'll clean and lube it, store it until I either use it for my current project or [after a year of so] take it to the swap meet to turn it into $$$$$.
Case in point: I stopped at a garage sale some years back and bought a brand new Hurst Syncro-loc 3 speed shifter in the box...got it for 5 bucks. A few months later I was sniffing around for a Hurst shifter for the saginaw 4 speed trans in my 50 chevy delivery. Didn't find what I wanted for cheap so I whipped down to Super Shops [when they were still here in Omaha] and bought a mount plate and lever/arm kit for a GM car with a saginaw in it....I had an extra Hurst shifter handle bought at a swap meet some months earlier and welded it to the reverse lever. The 4 speed hardware worked great on my 3 speed shifter and had an extra, identical shifter handle for reverse.
Total cost? About 125 bucks for everything and I had a brand new Hurst shifter setup.

 

Technically, the first part I bought for my current project was a set of sparkplugs. They've sat around unused since 1989. Gotta start with something.

 

I thought that was part of building hot rods or customs for any of us who have been at it for a period of time.
I've got the license plate light that I loaned my buddy for his 27 T that had the 55 Chevy rear deck and tail lights at the 74 or 75 Street rod Nationals in Memphis waiting to go on one of my rods and the Hurst 4 speed shifter that was in my 48 waiting for more gears to row one of these days among other things. I've even got a couple of pieces off my 51 Merc that may end up on the 48 when it is all back together but time will tell.
Looking back, the same 283 that I put together for my T bucket powered my 48 for a lot of miles after I pulled it out of the T bucket and put it in the truck. The 61 Chevy body that I pulled the 283 out of got given to a buddy's wife and on a Saturday morning we pulled the 283 and glide out of her rough and very rusty for 1974 59 Chevy and dropped it back in the 61 and they drove the 61 home that night.

 

NEVER.... NEVER throw anything out.............Keep it for ever ...
If you REALLY don't need it !!,
Then try to sell it....., and
If you cant get mega dollars for it and it doesn't sell,
YOU HAVE TOO....
Put it back where it belongs........... back into your storage !!!
Cause you'll need it one day.

 

Does my small block being in about half a dozen cars count?

I am recycling lots of pieces on my A.

 

The SBC in my Ford is from a wrecked '73 Impala which saw its way into my Nova stock car for 6 races (copped 2 top-5s with it) and it sat for 31 years.

Back in my Ford-mative years, I had a shipload of 332, 352, 390 and 406 Ford parts. Blocks, heads, cams, cranks, all nice stuff. It all went to the 4 winds with my '78 car accident and divorce. Some rare 390 Mustang pieces too.

 

HRP, If you start a new thread "Story behind the parts in your Project" you may get more replies. Then again they only have meaning to the car owner. Bob

 

I have an FE that went from one of my brothers friends vehicles, into my brothers, then into one of mine, and will be into another one of mine.

 

I wish I could recycle body work and paint

 

I need a build just to use up the parts I have sitting. "Fresh" 20 year old 355 th350, 9" 411 trac lok center section, ended up using a different one with a spool. Half dozen carbs to choose from. All are cast offs from different cars/builds.
New 6 point cage kit for a 70 camaro sitting around, could probably make it work in a different chassis.
Enough black and clear to do a vehicle if I blend the clear in the last 2 coats.
Guages, shifter, 9" housing to cut down, yes.
Now you guys have me thinking, wouldn't be traditional but it would be cost effective.

 

My pal Dave has used this unique ash tray in all his hot rods. HRP

 

what Pork-en- beaner said.....seems a well built motor might out live a few bodies....!

 

Sounds like my place...

 

I remember that car.

 

I wish I could recycle body work and paint i

 

I has a NAPA clamp on turn signal indicator in a old 40 Ford sedan that I took out when I installed a tilt wheel back in the seventy's and it found it's way into my Deuce pickup. HRP

Crappy photo but this is it.

 

my story is only half HAMB friendly, but I just put the American 5 spokes I bought for my 49 Chevrolet 25 years ago on my 1993 GMC Sonoma. my other story would involve Datsuns and a 5 speed transmission.

 

I have the opposite story bought an S-10 in 1996 that had some ET slots on it . S-10 long gone, wheels are on our 39 chevy.