Technical Problem with hoarding NOS parts….

Biggest killer for old rubber is Oxygen, Ozone (worse than oxygen), ultraviolet light and in the case of natural rubber, mineral oils and grease.

Protect from those elements and first grade natural rubber will be serviceable for decades. Automotive rubber compounds also have a built in self protection when the form a wax or sulfur like film on the surface which acts to prevent attack from the environment.

Brake hoses, brake seals etc tend to be made from natural rubber or SBR synthetic so fall into that category.

 

I’m going to start going through one of the sheds in the back and see if I can get it cleaned out and list some of the stuff in there that I will never use. Then start on the addition to the main shed and clean out the side garage so I can get the convertible out so I can start working on it. That will get a ton of NOS stuff out and I can see how many things I have to deal with.

 

I had the fun of buying a bunch of 60s muscle car NOS parts earlier this year, then selling them. Incredible what a few parts will sell for. But NORS parts for older stuff probably has no where near the demand as factory NOS stuff for "hot" muscle cars!

Either way, it's a lot of work to figure out what it is, and get it sold. I envy you not.

I also know a little about the hoarding thing, we moved a couple years ago and I got rid of a lot of stuff. Two big garages full, an auction company came and listed it all and sold it, for a hefty percentage. They earned their money.

 

In the Canadian military, as I’m sure it is the same as the USA as any other NATO country, most spares are designated a shelf life. Of course, for some items like rubber etc, that shelf life will depend greatly on the environment in which they are stored. I recall having one of my staff do an inventory check of an NBC decontamination bottle held at our depots in Edmonton and Montreal. The stuff had been built in the early 90s, and most of it had never been used. The rubber hose was cracked on most, the pressure gauges had turned black from the mineral oil in them, gaskets, and seals were dried up, etc. I later decided after consultation with some of our scientists and materials experts, that if we were to ever use them, they all had to be refurbished (over 7,000).

 

Nearly every NOS part I've had that had soft parts (chiefly rubber) failed within a few months of use despite looking great in the box. Been down this road a bunch and won't bother with NOS now unless the part is metal or the fleshy stuff is replaceable.

Old rubber might look and feel good on the outside but it quickly breaks down once subjected to actual use. This is especially alarming on things like brake lines. For stuff like that, IMO, better hope it came in a cool box...

I'm sure with ideal storage conditions the stuff survives OK and sure, I've had some luck, but not much... if I'm buying a part from a dude at a swap meet or off eBay I'm not ***uming it's been continually stored in a climate controlled facility for the past 60 years.