What do you do when...
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 249
Likes: 32
From: Cypress TX
What do you do when...
I bought boxes of new parts to do a full rebuild on everything it made sense to do when the engine was out of the way. But I have come across a few things where I thought, this this is in perfect shape, I wounder if the new one will even be as good as this one?
Case 1, the motor mounts, They have the original paint on them and no cracks that I can see. I bought new ones. Maybe not the $6500 NCRS correct new old stock pre-dryrotten ones, but not the $8 made in India Anchor brand. Sure, the old ones have 45 year old rubber that will most likely rip right apart when I start dropping the clutch, so I guess I'll go ahead and swap them. At least the interlocking design won't let the engine hop clean out of the car.
Case 2, the idler arm was nice, tight and like new. I have a new MOOG, so what the heck, I'll package the old one so if the Moog gets loose, I'll pop this one back in.
Calipers are fully fuctional too and no signs of leaks. I guess I'll hold on to them as well, I have new ones that I'll put on. I do feel good about putting the new rubber hoses on.
Case 1, the motor mounts, They have the original paint on them and no cracks that I can see. I bought new ones. Maybe not the $6500 NCRS correct new old stock pre-dryrotten ones, but not the $8 made in India Anchor brand. Sure, the old ones have 45 year old rubber that will most likely rip right apart when I start dropping the clutch, so I guess I'll go ahead and swap them. At least the interlocking design won't let the engine hop clean out of the car.
Case 2, the idler arm was nice, tight and like new. I have a new MOOG, so what the heck, I'll package the old one so if the Moog gets loose, I'll pop this one back in.
Calipers are fully fuctional too and no signs of leaks. I guess I'll hold on to them as well, I have new ones that I'll put on. I do feel good about putting the new rubber hoses on.
Safety Car
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 3,652
Likes: 49
From: Bridgewater nj
I'm not a big restore kinda guy but paint on your motor mount might mean it's been replaced and someone touched up the engine while there. I'm also a true believer in "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" and the OEM stuff was pretty good. In some cases like the front suspension. If one part is badly worn, you are better off replacing everything in that system of parts because one worn part, wears out the new parts quickly.
Safety Car
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 3,736
Likes: 56
From: anchorage ak
I bought boxes of new parts to do a full rebuild on everything it made sense to do when the engine was out of the way. But I have come across a few things where I thought, this this is in perfect shape, I wounder if the new one will even be as good as this one?
Case 1, the motor mounts, They have the original paint on them and no cracks that I can see. I bought new ones. Maybe not the $6500 NCRS correct new old stock pre-dryrotten ones, but not the $8 made in India Anchor brand. Sure, the old ones have 45 year old rubber that will most likely rip right apart when I start dropping the clutch, so I guess I'll go ahead and swap them. At least the interlocking design won't let the engine hop clean out of the car.
Case 2, the idler arm was nice, tight and like new. I have a new MOOG, so what the heck, I'll package the old one so if the Moog gets loose, I'll pop this one back in.
Calipers are fully fuctional too and no signs of leaks. I guess I'll hold on to them as well, I have new ones that I'll put on. I do feel good about putting the new rubber hoses on.
Case 1, the motor mounts, They have the original paint on them and no cracks that I can see. I bought new ones. Maybe not the $6500 NCRS correct new old stock pre-dryrotten ones, but not the $8 made in India Anchor brand. Sure, the old ones have 45 year old rubber that will most likely rip right apart when I start dropping the clutch, so I guess I'll go ahead and swap them. At least the interlocking design won't let the engine hop clean out of the car.
Case 2, the idler arm was nice, tight and like new. I have a new MOOG, so what the heck, I'll package the old one so if the Moog gets loose, I'll pop this one back in.
Calipers are fully fuctional too and no signs of leaks. I guess I'll hold on to them as well, I have new ones that I'll put on. I do feel good about putting the new rubber hoses on.
#2), MOOG parts are pretty good quality so I'd change it and if you have the space save the old one.
#3) Unless your going with a better brake system like the willwood's ect keep the old ones on the car and save the newer ones.
Thats my opinion, Good luck on your project.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 3,233
Likes: 657
From: Thunder Bay
There was a time when I replaced every wearable part I came across when I had the car apart, but not any more. The aftermarket parts we have available to us nowadays are mostly crap. Even big names like Moog can't be trusted any more to provide us with quality parts. For that reason, I often reuse a good part. Think long and hard before you replace that idler arm.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 249
Likes: 32
From: Cypress TX
Thanks for the input. My thoughts are also that many of today's replacement parts are not 0f the quality of 70's oem, But but it's funny how almost any car today will easily make it to 200K miles with only a couple of minor problems.
I did go ahead and change out the idler, but will save the old one. It really looks fairly easy to get to (with a 2 post lift) I'll have to clean it up and look closely because I used a pickle fork and air hammer to get it apart. That often damages the ball socket.
I'm about ready to set the engine, then get to the plumbing. I caught a deal on the Flowmaster ForceII stainless exhaust for $550. I opened it last week and see I need to fab the downpipes from the headers to just past the crossmembers, so I had to order some pipe and mandrel bends. With the new EFI and no idea wjhat the map needs to look like yet, I'll have to do a bit of idleing and free reving at my shop, and the neighbors got assy when I did it in the Cobra, so I don't want to try it with open headers.
I did go ahead and change out the idler, but will save the old one. It really looks fairly easy to get to (with a 2 post lift) I'll have to clean it up and look closely because I used a pickle fork and air hammer to get it apart. That often damages the ball socket.
I'm about ready to set the engine, then get to the plumbing. I caught a deal on the Flowmaster ForceII stainless exhaust for $550. I opened it last week and see I need to fab the downpipes from the headers to just past the crossmembers, so I had to order some pipe and mandrel bends. With the new EFI and no idea wjhat the map needs to look like yet, I'll have to do a bit of idleing and free reving at my shop, and the neighbors got assy when I did it in the Cobra, so I don't want to try it with open headers.
