Used Parts Conservation

[Colin Morgan]

In terms of parts - it is stating the obvious, but good storage and suitable protection so they won't deteriorate over the years is important. I went to see some parts offered for sale locally that had been kept in a leaky shed - they were corroded beyond the point of rescue.

What do you know about the spares you have? Type, date, origin, condition etc. I have a list - tend to forget what is there.

Labelling can help with memory too.

Items such as a cracked steering arm and cracked three-bearing crank (with the mag particle crack detection paint left on them) have been kept to show on 'crack-detection night' at local club meetings!

[Henry Harris]

What was that thick, brown, greasy stuff that military spares were liberally covered with for storage? 

(and then wrapped in waxy paper and put in a well fitting, stout and labeled cardboard box)

[Ruairidh Dunford]

Cosmoline?

[JonE]

does anyone use those drying sachets (which come in various products) to put in boxes? I did buy some plastic equivalents which you could put in the microwave to recharge... but I think I'd just forget about them in a spares box.
I have started looking in a box and taking out the worst thing to gradually strip/clean and reface and paint... just to have something small on the go that you can progress occasionally. It was gratifying returning to find two things all ready to use that I'd completely forgotten I'd done.

[A G Wood]

Yep Ruairidh, that's the stuff, they used to fully submerge the firearms in it I'm told. 
 Castrol used to put out a product called DWF [De Watering Fluid?] which was similar but much less viscous. Back in the days of short blocks the reconditioners used to motor the refurbished block over on their test bed just before tagging and bagging them and putting them in stock using DWF as the lubricant and then liberally coating the external and internal surfaces of the block with the same product (it was sprayable).
I've seen "Gold Seal" brand underseal used for the same purpose, its more Vaseline - like.

[Hedd_Jones]

About the only things easily spoilt by surface corrosion are cranks and cams. And 90% of us wouldn't re-use a crank in anycase.

Yes aluminium parts deteriorate, but they need to be pretty far gone to be totally U/S. To get that bad they need to be stored badly for decades.

I probably recently bought the shedload of parts stored in a leaky shed Colin mentions. Whilst some of the more mundane ali parts were beyond use (water manifolds and brake shoes) - all stored in a tea chest in which rodents had made a home. There was twice as many good bits. Including about 15No bacon slicer starter assemblies in bits. There were some absolute gems including some rare sports parts. Lots of it was vintage bits too, rather than the more common and easier to find post vintage stuff. And the bronze carbs were all A1, just dirty. A cycle in the dishwasher sorted that.

That said a Austin 1 1/2 crank in that cache (actually in the rodent infested tea chest) is probably going in a supercharged car (but not in an expensive crankcase!)

I suppose my other hobby, where if I am missing a part, I have to make it rather has a bearing on how I view rusty bits. I'd sooner have to repair a part, than make it. And the parts for vintage sevens are getting harder and harder to find. I've 3 vintage 7s here, and one post vintage. So parts in stock are useful.

[Bob Culver]

As I have recounted before I started on my car when still at school. Studies and work took me far way and it stood outside for about 3 years with the motor and front axle out. When examined after 10,000 miles it was found that the gearbox and diff surfaces above oil level had seriously rusted (Usually parts left unopened remain OK for years, but probably EP oil in the custom of the time.) The noise level seemed about the same as normal, despite bearings being slightly rough, and wear does not appear much accelerated. But plain bearing surfaces including layshaft, gearbox gear bores must be free of pitting and roughness for an acceptable life.
Periodic turning of the drive trrin would probably have avoided trouble.