14-05-2021, 11:58 AM
(This post was last modified: 14-05-2021, 12:01 PM by 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.
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.