You will not always be the owner of the car that you have built and someday you may not remember exactly which parts you used when you mixed and matched parts. I mark parts. Sometimes I use metal stamps, sometimes I use bright yellow paint. Walmart sells small cheap squeeze bottles of paint that works well. Its in the arts and crafts section of Walmart. I have been mixing parts to install self energizing, self adjusting brakes on my Model A. This picture shows 1974-76 Chevy Caprice station wagon 12" backing plates that I modified to fit the Model A rear axle. The 2" shoes and the self adjusting parts are all Caprice. The wheel cylinder is 56 Ford car. You can just barely see the part number on the wheel cylinder. I stamped the backing plate and added my name and the date. Sometimes I add my city. On the aluminum timing gear on the cam, I stamped everything I did to the engine and when I did it. Wouldn't you like to take an engine apart and find out what was done and when?
I think you missed the pic?? I had that problem on my 38 coupe, did a front wheel bearing on a run a few years back, Sunday arvo about 5 pm. Stuck on the side of the road, got it apart and thought "Fuck, what the hell is that bearing"? As I didn't build the car I hadn't a clue, luckily another guy pulled over in a 37 coupe to help. Turned out to be a boat trailer bearing!! Crazy huh? Now I keep a sheet of details that goes with the car when I sell em. Doc.
A guy asked me why I didnt just keep a list of mods. Naaah. Too easy to lose. Label the parts. It will be there when you need it
That's a great idea for hidden parts; but some parts wouldn't look good with a marker on them. What I do is save the end flaps of boxes, put them in a large freezer bag. If I have notes on the part I write it on the reverse side. This summer I had to replace the U-joint in my roadster, I dug out the end label and went to the parts store with P/N in hand. Makes it a-lot easier than having them look it up, especially at the Advance. I finished my roadster 25 years ago and the info is still good.
yep I do the same thing (mark my parts) I've got approx 10 different vehicles parts in my 49 chevy (as well as 1 plane and 1 helicopter...oh and a go kart) also for those parts that didnt come from a detroit manufactured car (like custom 4 links) I stamp the phone # of the company somewhere on the part as well as the model number (if it has one)
Harbor Freight sells a great little kit for like 12 bucks..... Great idea. When I build engines, I make a little 2x6 card with all the info on it, have it laminated, and either zip tie it to the engine if it's a crate job or stick it in the glove bix if it's going into a car.