Let's all go junkin' !!!

[nuch_ss396]

For all of us trying to restore our beloved cars back to
the way they came ( from the factory ), we are now being
hit with another whole round of insanity - HARDWARE !

Take a look at these few items I have been following on
ePay:


This little intake manifold stud cost $127.28



This original upper alternator adjusting bolt setup cost $212.49



This prize of valve cover bolts cost $406.00


These Muncie transmission mounting bolts cost $127.50


Now, conversly, these little gems didn't seem so bad:

Transmission to crossmember mounting hardware for $41.95


Transmission mount to tail shaft mounting hardware for $36.95


And lastly, how about an original SHP throttle arm for $225.00


Who said that the little things in life didn't matter !

I may have to consider spending Saturdays in local junkyards
looking for these original hardware pieces. The $$ being spent
here border on the insane. One of the few remaining things
I needed to get for my restoration were original hardware.
I put those off because the cost wasn't that big of an issue - THEN.
Wish I had jumped the gun on this one......

Steve

[nuch_ss396]

This all gets me think about eBay as a company.

Does anyone want to wager a bet that eBay saw this coming.
Could they have been that smart? Or just dump luck??

A short time ago, you couldn't give this stuff away. How
many of you ( like me ) have, or had, boxes of original
hardware just lying around getting rusty? Wish I had kept
mine........

Steve

[3macs1]

Steve this was discussed also on the impala site and it was interesting. Here is the trend.
http://members5.boardhost.com/impala...164685573.html

[427TJ]

It's not eBay's fault. We're the ones who tossed all those factory parts in the trash back in the day and now we're the ones who demand that our cars have all the factory parts in place. EBay and eBay sellers are just capitalizing on our own behavior.

[CamarosRus]

www.amkproducts.com has EXCELLENT replacement hardware. It would be great to hear from SCW or NOS Restos how they address the hardware/fastener situation. I myself have been restoring/replating my own MANGANESE Phosphate parts for several years.....

[nuch_ss396]

Chuck,

I agree about AMK. However, when you are as anal about
original hardware as I am, it doesn't leave you much wiggle
room. Case in point would be the original bolts that were
used to attach the brake backing plates to the rear axle tubes.

Those were peculiar and are all but impossible to find
aftermarket. I have looked long and hard but come up dry
on those. Only possible solution is a doner car from the
southwest ( no rust ). Haven't found that one yet.

Later cars have different head markings. Hence the problem.

Steve

[nuch_ss396]

[ QUOTE ]
It's not eBay's fault. We're the ones who tossed all those factory parts in the trash back in the day and now we're the ones who demand that our cars have all the factory parts in place. EBay and eBay sellers are just capitalizing on our own behavior.

[/ QUOTE ]

Bill,

I'm not blaming eBay for anything. They have just become
the vehicle to our financial demise.

Seriously, my comments here are more about the whole nature
of those of us that tossed this stuff, and those of us that
saved it all. Did others see this trend coming, or just
get lucky. Think about the ZL-1 block in another topic here.
Someone had insight enough to save a "broken" block and one
day it was re-united with the original car. Was is insight,
or sentimental value, or..........

Steve

[Tarrytown SS427s]

Has enybody besides me seen differnt hardware from cars built at different factories? I have several unrestored 68 Impalas, mostly east coast, but one from California. When I look at the original hardware, the head markings are different. All the east coast cars say RBW on some things and the same parts on the California one are not RBW.
Steve

[68SSCamaro]

I'm restoring my 68 Van Nuys Camaro. It had very little original front end hardware on it. Years ago I found most of the original stuff to attach the sheetmetal on big cars but I haven't worried about some of the other bolts. Most of the Van Nuys stuff I have is RBW. I've seen the Anchor bolts on 67's and a few on 68's. The capital C was found on 69's. I'm glad I did it years ago because it's hard to find these cars in the yards now.

[nuch_ss396]

[ QUOTE ]
Has enybody besides me seen differnt hardware from cars built at different factories? I have several unrestored 68 Impalas, mostly east coast, but one from California. When I look at the original hardware, the head markings are different. All the east coast cars say RBW on some things and the same parts on the California one are not RBW.
Steve

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey Steve!

I can't atest to different hardware being used between the
separate assembly plants, but I can tell you that they used
different hardware in the same plants.

Several hardware suppliers were used to ensure an adequate
supply during the assembly process. Once a bin of bolts
got low, more were added. No one cared about that. We
shouldn't either, as long as they are technically correct.

Case in point, I saw an original 69 RA-3 Firebird that was
totally unmolested. Never taken apart. I took particular
interest in the fasteners on this car. One item that struck
me was the 4 large bolts used to mount the Muncie 4-speed to
the bell housing. The left two were TR head markings and
the right two were RSC head markings. I know for a fact
that this particular car was never apart, so no chance of
the bolts being replaced.

I addressed a question concerning this to the Corvette guys
and they told me that both sides of the line had bins of
bolts. One guy grabbed bolts from one bin and the other guy
grabbed bolts from another bin. The Vette guys are all over
stuff like this. No need to look any further than the NCRS
on topics of this nature.

Steve