What do you do with replaced parts?

As I am working on the car, I am replacing things. Some decisions are easy: the carpet was falling apart in my hand so it ended up in the garbage. But, I replaced the door panels so it would match the new carpet and seats. What do I do with the old ones? It seems like a waste to put them in the garbage, especially since they were original. Is there some MGB parts graveyard or is the dump as good a place as any?

Thanks,

Jon

I usually try ebay or the Trader section of thie site. I hate to see useable parts get thrown away. There is usually someone, somewhere who needs it.

Jason

They get piled up in my shop until a flood comes along and completely ruins them. Or I give them away to someone who needs them worse than I do. Sometimes I keep parts to repair or as patterns to duplicate or to hang on my wall just so I can say "what a dunce the designer must have beed to make this like this"

I keep them on the shelf for twenty years or so, by then they are usually rare enough that I can sell them on Ebay. :)

How do you think my MG Graveyard got started?

I keep any useable original parts as references to gauge against reproductions. If it's something trivial I just throw it in the garbage unless I think someone would actually use something I'm ready to put in the garbage.

Try local clubs to see if anyone has an interest. In our club, someone is usually looking for parts to either repair or play with for one reason or another. I too hate to discard parts...try and keep the better ones as an emergency spare and hope I never have to rely on.

If it's something i won't need and is usable, i give it away on this forum.

Used parts are at the heart of many divorces.

Any true LBC nut will never throw away anything unless it has rusted into a little pile of red flakes. If the part itself cannot be resurrected it can always be used as a pattern or for reference measurement and comparisons.

If you get into this later in life your marriage stands a chance, but if you start in your twenties or thirties the union is doomed. No woman on earth will willingly put up with five thousand pounds of "good stuff" hanging out in any part of her house.

Just look at the old part before you toss it and whisper "There will come a day when I need you again". Then put it in a baggy with a note about what it is and stash it out of sight.

The surest way to need something that is unobtainable is to throw the old one away.

Jack

Post a ad here, or trash can.

Hello...

My name is Rick...

I am a pack-rat...

There may be some point in time that I (or someone else) may need this part...

therefore...

I will keep it.

Elk Grove, CA? I end up keeping alot of the parts and have also ended up needing the ones I gave/threw away. Better to have them when you don't need them rather than need them when you don't have them.

I am at that point right now with five boxes full of TR7 parts sitting in my garage and in the basement. Since I sold the car last week, I really have no need for them, but then I ask myself what will I do if I buy another TR7 and need those parts???

This is a tough question to answer.

Paul

Except for rotted carpet, I've not thrown anything MG related away--ever! I have an attic in my garage and it is stuffed with enough old parts to build another car. I did throw away the original gas tank as it was very rusted and had a huge dent in it. Other than that, you name it--bushings, bearings,glass, grills, bumpers, fenders, doors, bootlids, seats, gearboxes, engine parts, electrical, on and on and on. When I moved into my first house as a single man, I used the hall linen closet to store MGB parts. First wife had issues with that. Second wife understands the illness.

I still have my old carpet, use it to kneel on in the garage, its still good.

The guy that invented the self serve storage locker owned an MG. LOL Jack

If it can be used to revert the car back to OEM I definitely hang on to it. If it is a bearing or something that will never be re-used I dump it as soon as I am sure the repair fixed the problem. Still.....I have more than I want.

Usable parts I don't need and probably never will need again go into the Swap Meet pile for our club swap meet or for distribution to those who need them. Usable or repairable parts get cleaned up, fixed if necessary, and put in the "Used but SHOULD be good" pile. Stuff too broken, or unrepairable/unusable goes straight to the trash or recycle waste pile. Like Steve S., I do save as samples those few things I know are original for comparison to currently available stuff, or simply take some photos before trashing them if that is sufficient. In my case, storage space is at a premium, so I can't afford to have my own warehouse of all these categories ~ so some things just have to go away.

Jake -

Elk Grove, CA. I think I will hold on to these for now. Since I just cleaned out the garage, I have some extra room, until I convince my wife it is time for another MG!