Projects Problems With Buying NOS Parts

Old tires are only good to move cars around the shop. Im with HRP.

 

Auction this summer had a set of old...really old wide whites mounted on wheels on the bill.
Bidding went over $400 and the winning bidder was smiling and yakking about putting them on his '40 Ford coupe.
I asked where he lived so I could avoid him.
Heard later 2 blew apart.
The O.P. was lied to and that ****s.
The other guy was a idiot along with the other bidder.

 

As far as NOS parts go, there is generally a reason they have been sitting on a shelf for 20,30 or 40 years. The better parts were picked off the shelf first. Some people think NOS means "perfect" and are very disappointed when they get it in the mail and find it is far from perfect. NOS just means it has never been installed or used yet.

 

N.O.S. tires over 5 years old are N.F.G. People will never learn, about a month a go at a swap meet I saw 2 guys in a bidding war over a pair of N.O.S. Dominion Royal Masters that had to be 30 years old, they looked brand new: but DUH !!!!!

 

My soon to be departed Stude had an original rubber mat in the trunk, it looked beautiful and in perfect condition. I went to remove it to look for rust and clean the trunk out and it disintegrated. I remember chuckling and saying to myself well it weighed too much anyway.

Rubber is a **** shoot, I have a pair of 15" atlas tires hanging on the wall that I originally got for setup tires and rollers, they are in perfect condition, well at least no dry rot as of 6 months ago, I would run them if I needed to. On the other hand I also got a pair of big 15" rears 8.50s I think about the same time, one is a good year and the other a uniroyal. The good year won't work for a roller any more but the uniroyal is still in usable shape. No ryme nor reason to it.

Edit:

OK color me dumb, I just went and checked my Atlas Tires are actualy Remingtons. Just thought I should clear that up.

 

It's crazy to think about replacing $1000 worth the tires every 5 years on a car I'm lucky to put 500 miles a year on. I did have a set of diamondback whitewalls on my coupe that the tread seperated on. They had about 8 years and maybe 10,000 miles on them. ****s I had to spend $550 to replace them, but it wasn't driveable unless I did since there was a giant chunk of rubber missing from the tread.
On the other hand, I have a set of 4 Firestone wide oval pinstripe whitewall BIAS PLIES that are "NOS" from @ 1970. They are mounted on vintage wheels and still look like new. I agree with other posters that the radials just don't last as long.

 

Radials as a rule wear out long before that are wore out. I can't even count the late model cars that have crossed my path over the years that needed the suspension rebuilt, I mean beside handling badly they actually felt like every bushing etc were completely shot that a new set of radials repaired. the old radials always went right into the used tire rack, they looked good and had plenty of tread left.


If you buy 40,000 mile radials and they still look good at 40k they are most likely worn out anyway.

 

I've had radials that blew up just sitting there. If the world goes to ****, nobody's going to be driving very far in about five years whether they can find gas or not.

On the other hand, I've had all kinds of **** bias-plys - in one case, the car hadn't been on the road since 1963, I towed it twice about 125 miles total, and never even put more air in the tires. The only ones I've had go flat were one that I'd underinflated too much and one that got hot and went boom for no obvious reason. Usually if they have a tube in the tire, the tube hasn't been exposed to the sun and is in good shape. So as long as the tire is aired up properly it won't come apart. Too little air letting the sidewalls flex as you go down the road and they'll come apart.

NOS just means it's a new part that was never on a car. It doesn't tell you how it's been stored all this time.

 

My '38 has 4 bias ply tires on it, one a front runner off of a tractor some of the tires are so worn that you can see the air in 'em. I rolled it off the trailer 2 years ago and they all still hole air. it just amazes me.

I have my Mom's old jelly bean car here and I have to air the radials up on it once a week whether one of us drives it or not.

 

Sorry the guy was not honest with you that ****ed! But driving an hour for used tires seems to be a disaster waiting to happen on all levels. Have a great day Gary

 

But they told him they were new tires.

You are correct though that really ****s.

 

This is the issue I always get. I'm selling something, I push the fact that it's really rough, then people come to see it and don't want it because it's really rough.

That ****s about the tires, too. The guy was full of **** and wanted to make a sale, and he had a bad at***ude about it.

Sometimes we all like to think that old car guys are a good, honest and trustworthy group, but universally, in any group, a handful will be ***holes, and some are just ****ing stupid.

 

Tada! Plus I wonder how many of these parts were rejected during the ***embly lines and repackaged for sale for dealer service at a later time. Anyone, that has bought GM NOS parts restoring vehicles in the 50sto60s will know exactly what I mean. NOS is another name for flawed, scratch or dented, marred in some way but anything but perfect, more rejected ****e.

 

Actually lots of the time they are bits from a dealer or business that has gone out of business for whatever reason. At the dealership they don't normally pick through the parts on the shelf looking for the best one they just grab a part, if the mechanic gets it back to his bay and discovers that it is not usable it gets sent back not restocked to used a a later date. If it wasn;t usable the first time it isn't going to get better on the shelf.

There are things that a lot of the fellas will tell you to watch out for, replacement fenders for instance. For whatever reason they never seem to fit right. Fuel pumps are another, if they use a diaphragm there is a good chance that it is shot from setting.

Sounds like a good thread ***le: NOS parts to be wary of.

 

Sorry I should have said pre owned aged tires! Have a great day Gary

 

I'm workin' on it.

 

Don't waste any time worrying about the self appointed grammer police here. We got your point, that's what counts.

 

Sorry Bob, didn't mean to put any ruffles in your thread.
I may have some tires at the shop that will work for you, I'll look on Thursday and PM you if I have anything that's any good, and they'll be free if I do, all you gotta do is pick em up.

Don

 

Thanks Don, I appreciate your offer..
But my friend Mr. P&Beener already came thru...he has a set for me !!
This sure is a great place....
Cheers......