{"id":65781,"date":"2019-10-11T08:14:33","date_gmt":"2019-10-11T15:14:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=65781"},"modified":"2019-10-11T08:14:33","modified_gmt":"2019-10-11T15:14:33","slug":"where-to-find-parts-for-your-classic-restoration-resto-mod","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/where-to-find-parts-for-your-classic-restoration-resto-mod\/","title":{"rendered":"Where to Find Parts for Your Classic Restoration\/Resto-Mod"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Where
Images by author unless otherwise noted<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tracking down that elusive part for your classic car build\/restoration can sometimes feel as challenging as swimming the Atlantic Ocean without a chase boat. Restoring a classic car is hard enough as it is without having to deal with finding those seemingly impossible-to-find parts. However, it doesn\u2019t have to be. Racing Junk recently reached out to several restorers and parts suppliers to see how they go about finding replacement parts.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Classic Car Specialty Suppliers<\/strong><\/p>\n

My friend Dave from San Jose, who has a few show-winning classic restos to his name, likes to start his Classic American Car parts search by opening a catalog – Classic Industries<\/a>, National Parts Depot<\/a> and\/or Year One<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese guys have been the go-to name for auto restorers for as long as I can remember,” Dave says, “and have been instrumental in quite a few of my builds. They all have a huge selection of rare and hard-to-find NOS and aftermarket parts for almost any American muscle car from the 50s, 60s and 70s. Better yet, on the rare occasion they haven\u2019t had what I needed, they usually knew where I could find it. They\u2019re a godsend.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Local Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Where
Image courtesy Wikipedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Car shows usually have a swap meet section where vendors and individuals can buy and sell parts. These too are gold mines when trying to find that extra-rare restoration part. Often times the parts that are for sale here will be well-used but still in serviceable condition. You\u2019ll also find that it\u2019s the rare seller in these environs who brings every part along – they usually save a few choice parts back. If you see someone with a good selection of parts but not what you\u2019re looking for, ask. There\u2019s a good chance the seller will say, \u201cYeah, I have two of those back in my garage. Gimme your number and I\u2019ll call you this week.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is also true for local swap meets or flea markets. The ones I\u2019ve been to put the people with the parts we\u2019re looking for way back in the farthest reaches of the property, but taking the time to go back there is almost always profitable when hunting down rare parts.<\/p>\n

\"Where<\/p>\n

Car clubs are another excellent source of rare parts. Those clubs dedicated to a manufacturer and not a body style or model will also be able to tell you what parts from other models from that manufacturer will fit. The president of Mopar Alley in Santa Clara clued me in to the fact that I could use the spindle off a Belvedere to replace the one on my ’66 Charger when the outer bearing welded itself to the race. While you usually won\u2019t be able to swap body panels or interior parts across a manufacturer\u2019s product or body style line, you\u2019ll find that engine parts and especially chassis\/suspension parts are the same across a body style (GM F-body, Chrysler B-body, for example) and thus completely interchangeable.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wrecking Yards<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Where<\/p>\n

It goes without saying that wrecking yards or junkyards can also hide treasure troves for the parts hunter willing in to put in the legwork, literally and figuratively. Ask the people working at the yards if they\u2019ve got anything even remotely close to what you\u2019re looking for and if they have a boneyard where they send cars that are almost completely stripped. Call ahead; often, you\u2019ll find pick-a-part yards will know what\u2019s really valuable and have already pulled what you\u2019re looking for before sending the car to the yard.<\/p>\n

Many wrecking yards are on a statewide or regional parts network connecting wrecking yards. This means they can get online and query other yards on the network for the part you\u2019re looking for. Whenever possible, ask to look at the part you\u2019re buying before paying or get a warranty on the part in case it\u2019s not in usable condition.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Internet<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Where<\/p>\n

The internet has become another great source of parts. Obviously, RacingJunk is a place to start. It features all sorts of new and used parts from OEMs and private sellers. Check online auction sites for parts or vehicles that could be used as parts sources. Use YouTube to discover people who have worked on or are working on something similar to you for guidance. Make sure the site you buy from has a good reputation before making a purchase, just in case the seller has misrepresented the part.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Aftermarket<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are also a number of companies that manufacture and sell knockoff replacement parts for classic vehicles. Again, before you pay anything make sure the company has a solid reputation and a problem resolution process in case the part\u2019s quality\/fitment isn\u2019t up to snuff. Some of these aftermarket manufacturers don\u2019t have the quality controls the OEMs did when making the original parts.<\/p>\n

\"Where
Image courtesy Pinterest<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Check your local parts stores as well. They\u2019ll often keep stuff off the showroom shelves because the parent company didn\u2019t manufacture or brand the part. Oftentimes you\u2019ll also find that the staff will also be gearheads and will be able to guide your search in the right direction.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All Hail 21st Century Technology!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Technology today makes it so no part is really obsolete and impossible to put your hands on, no matter what. You may not be able to find the part you\u2019re looking for where you\u2019ve always done so for the last 30 years. If you\u2019ve exhausted every option listed above and still haven\u2019t found what you\u2019re looking for, thanks to modern technology, you can have that part 3D printed.<\/p>\n

As long as you can tell the printing software the three-dimensional specifications of the part, you can have just about anything printed these days. It doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s plastic or metal, either. In fact, there are a few manufacturers using 3D printing both in prototype as well as on production vehicles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tracking down that elusive part for your classic car build\/restoration can sometimes feel as challenging as swimming the Atlantic Ocean without a chase boat.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":65785,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11,3470],"tags":[687,4800,1074,41,1024,7127],"class_list":["post-65781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-tos","category-news","tag-classic-cars","tag-how-tos","tag-mike-aguilar","tag-news","tag-restoration","tag-restoration-parts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Parts-Lead-min.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-h6Z","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65781"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65788,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65781\/revisions\/65788"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}