As our cars are getting older and the seemingly endless supply of second hand parts is drying up, with the reproduction parts manufacture questionable in many cases, what are people thinking is worth saving?

Example - the small tang with two small threaded holes that is rivetted to the chrome surround on one of my rear windows rusted through. The threaded holes are for screwing the piano hinge to the tangs to complete the surround after the glass is inserted. Easy solution was to get a whole other window from John Smidt for $5 (great price i thought).

So i changed out the window and now have a secure window fixing with better condition chrome and rubber than what i started with.

What to do with the old one?

The chrome has seen better days. The glass is fine. The piano hinge is fine. It would not be too much trouble to make a new tang, finding rivets might be harder. It would only take a rechrome and rivetting a new tang onto the surround to make this viable, but if John has plenty of those whole window assemblies left, for that price or even ten times that price, it is not worth hanging on to for now. I don't think it is the kind of thing the big repro parts sellers are interested in making due to the limited number of "mk 1" cars still around.

But how long will that supply last for? Will someone in 20 years time curse me for throwing that stuff in the bin?

discuss

michael

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the world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page
66 Mini Minor sponsored by http://www.lifeonthehedge.com.au/ The Dog Harness Specialists
It was a pleasure ausmini. I'll miss all you misfits and reprobates

Keep everything.
Try getting good sliding window bottom chrome rails.
The reproduction stainless steel ones I've had are rubbish. Nothing like the original shape. The reproduction plastic catches for sliding windows don't fit the reproduction bottom rail OR the original rails ?

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Find a job you love and you will never have to go to work !

Throw nothing out , keep it in the back of the shed .
When you get out of minis pass it on to the new owner or give it to some other mini owner , collector

Cheers

Sounds like my place

KEEP EVERYTHING if you have space of course!

Inner west sydney. no space is my problem!

_________________
the world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page
66 Mini Minor sponsored by http://www.lifeonthehedge.com.au/ The Dog Harness Specialists
It was a pleasure ausmini. I'll miss all you misfits and reprobates

I feel your pain, Inner West Perth $3000 a square metre! Don't start me on the rates!!!

Things like opening rear windows are gold to enthusiasts, as many English minis didn't have them. Same with our Aussie front doors.

What is valuable is a moving feast. The things I threw out 20 years ago make me pause for thought from time to time.

Unluckily not everyone has room to store these things, and the future buyer won't really compensate for the trouble of storing the part for so long either...

The things we sweat over seem to be the original tactile bits like upholstery, switches, interior chrome, al those things that are essentially worthless but cannot be replaced.
I wonder if we will get to a saturation point where all the minis that are going to be saved and restored are finished, and that is it for these parts? They're not doing 30,000 kilometers a year anymore...

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.