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Parts bin offenders


bangernomics

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Only got one.

Lada dashboard air vents...

On every Ferrari from the 60's.

 

Of course, the air vents are of a Fiat design, but it's much more fun to point out the air vents are used on both Ladas and Ferraris, and that it automatically means any red Lada is a Ferrari.

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53 minutes ago, martc said:

So how does this parts bin business work? Within a corporation I can understand but how do you go about ringing up a rival and ask politely if you can use their lights/door handles/steering rack in your next jalopy?

Do you have to pay a licence fee or contribute to the development?

Do you contact the original parts manufacturer? 'Hello, Aston Martin here, you know those locks you make for Hillman, can we have some too?'      'You mean those locks we and Hillman both spent £lots on developing? Yeah no probs'

Or did they just toddle down to the rivals dealers - 'Can I have 100 off side and 100 near side mirrors for my 'cough' Volvo V70?'

Depends… if it’s a low quantity they might say to go through the spares department because it’s not worth setting up an account for 50 a year, if it’s bigger quantities the manufacturer will supply direct.  I remember Ford were always touting bits, saying people were using a Fiesta glovebox hinge or an Escort seat release.

In modern times most things are made by subcontractors so you wouldn’t approach Vauxhall direct but whoever moulds or assembles the bits for them.

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1 hour ago, rusty998 said:

I've absolutely no idea how corporate companies go about using other manufacturers parts? The Volvo V70 mirrors came as a shock to me but it's really a thing, I had to look on the underside of the mirror to see for myself as I couldn't believe what the Aston Martin tech was telling me

Aston Martin, Volvo, Jaguar and Land Rover were in Ford's Premier Automotive Group of companies back then. I think Lincoln was as well. 

Perhaps that's why there was a certain amount of parts bin type stuff going on. 

It is absolutely fascinating though, isn't it! 👍 👍 👍 😎 😎 😎 

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7 hours ago, cobblers said:

I sort of knew this, but had never really "noticed" how similar they were til now. Would an RRC front end fit on a Discovery? 

Yes, provided you had the bonnet and wings as well (as above).

All the underskin, inner wings, front slam panel, headlight mounts etc are all Range Rover so it's all pretty much direct bolt on.

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22 hours ago, Barry Cade said:

Boot/engine cover handles are shared with the Countach, and the headlamp pods are shared with the Stratos. Rear lights shared with the early Esprit and interior door handles are also in the Lamborgini Jalpa..

When I’ve mentioned to friends that my Italian sportscar has Ferrari and Lamborghini bits, they have mentioned it more likely that the posh cars have fiat bits.

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2 minutes ago, richardmorris said:When I’ve mentioned to friends that my Italian sportscar has Ferrari and Lamborghini bits, they have mentioned it more likely that the posh cars have fiat bits.

Here we are next to a Lamborghini silhouette. Many parts looked familiar ( apart for the engine obviously!)

904272A0-7E6C-41A3-BE15-848DD19ED14C.jpeg

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10 hours ago, rusty998 said:

Aston Martin V8 vantage use 04-06 Volvo V70 door mirrors 

That's not all. The early Vantages especially were heavily part binned from Volvo. Especially the electronics.

They have two OBD ports. One is for engine, other is for all the other modules. The other modules are basically Volvo S60 modules. So much so, you can use a Volvo scantool directly on it.

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The keys are Volvo keys with a leather covering on.

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Later models went to more their own electronics. Basically when the models were making enough to help pay for R&D to customise more bespoke units. 

 

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Many moons ago I used to have a TVR Griffith 500 in this colour.

image.thumb.jpeg.a98b4b06a08548304ebc29f0616d562c.jpeg

Apart from the obvious upside down Cavalier Mk2 rear lights and Citroën CX door mirrors, the steering column and stalks were also from a Cav as were the electric window switches as far as I can remember. The driving lights in the grill were from the BMW E30 and the side repeater indicators were from the Fiat Uno. I know this since both items actually fell off whilst driving and I had to replace them without paying the ludicrous TVR main dealer prices.

 

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9 hours ago, St.Jude said:

Only got one.

Lada dashboard air vents...

On every Ferrari from the 60's.

 

Of course, the air vents are of a Fiat design, but it's much more fun to point out the air vents are used on both Ladas and Ferraris, and that it automatically means any red Lada is a Ferrari.

The Colette caliper. 

I was in conversation with the Chief Design Engineer of Lucas Car braking. A guy called John Ford, based at fen end.

They were asked for some brakes for A prototype that later turned out to be the A class. 

They were given some basic sizes, weights etc. So decided the best brake they had in stock was a fiat brake. 

Fiat being cast into the housing. 

A few months later Mercedes aaked for some more, but they didnt have any in i stock, so they found the closest equivalent, swapped the brake pads, and sent them.  I think they had Yugo or Lada cast into the housing.  Merc returned them.

Engineers sent with drawings to explain that it was the same brake. 

Merc wouldn't  have any of it. They didn't want a brake from a shit car. They demanded that Lucas Design them a special brake....

No idea what they ended up giving them.... But a billion brakes in the same family and Mercedes think they are somehow special.

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On 30/10/2021 at 22:16, Joey spud said:

A lhd Austin 1800 steering rack was flipped over and used on the Scimitar Se5.

Also a Scimitar Se5 rear screen was used as a front screen on a Bond Bug.

I seem to remember that was only for PAS equipped models, by the time of the SE6/a/b/8 the manual rack was a RHD Triumph rack as there was a noticeable difference in turns lock to lock (PAS 1.7 turns, manual 3.5). I had a bit or a mare trying to find someone to rebuild the rack on my first (of 2) SE6s.

Happy to be proved wrong.

I certainly know by the SE5a rear lights were Aston Martin DBV8 units and continued with these to the GTC. 
 

Scimitar SE6 column stalks were shared with the later round-dial Vauxhall Viva HC and the Chevette. The front suspension was Triumph TR4 (or a heavily modified by reliant version), and the dashboard (lights, hazards etc) switches were ADO71 parts, and the Triumph ‘orange segment’ warning light cluster was also used, albeit customised by reliant.

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22 hours ago, DavieW said:

Elise S1 used Vauxhall (Corsa?) switchgear.

Yup.
 

Plus; Wiper and motor from a Citroen AX just bent to shape, locks from a Mk3 Cavalier, mirrors from a Metro, rear reg plate light from a Rolls Royce, and (of course) engine and ‘box from the tainted wasteland of Longbridge. 😁

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23 hours ago, Leyland Worldmaster said:

Aston Martin, Volvo, Jaguar and Land Rover were in Ford's Premier Automotive Group of companies back then. I think Lincoln was as well. 

Perhaps that's why there was a certain amount of parts bin type stuff going on. 

It is absolutely fascinating though, isn't it! 👍 👍 👍 😎 😎 😎 

S197 Mustangs (the 2005 on retro looking ones) share quite a few suspension parts with Jaguar S types apparently.  They also share a brake switch with Volvo/Mazda/Fiesta and probably others in the PAG group.  Not found anything else yet.

As they mine has the 4.6 from the v8 rover 75 I'm thinking of entering it in the pride of Longbridge next year.

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46 minutes ago, cort1977 said:

S197 Mustangs (the 2005 on retro looking ones) share quite a few suspension parts with Jaguar S types apparently.  They also share a brake switch with Volvo/Mazda/Fiesta and probably others in the PAG group.  Not found anything else yet.

As they mine has the 4.6 from the v8 rover 75 I'm thinking of entering it in the pride of Longbridge next year.

How much of the suspension can be common? An X200 S-Type has double wishbones all round while an S197 has Macpherson struts at the front and a three link solid axle at the back. 

 

The platforms (DEW98 and D2C) are related but suspension seems to be a big difference on the face of it! 

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32 minutes ago, horriblemercedes said:

How much of the suspension can be common? An X200 S-Type has double wishbones all round while an S197 has Macpherson struts at the front and a three link solid axle at the back. 

 

The platforms (DEW98 and D2C) are related but suspension seems to be a big difference on the face of it! 

You're right, I should have said platform as I don't really know what's shared.  Should have realised that it wasn't suspension as the Mustang is pretty crap in that department.

Edit - Wiki advises the following: "Differences between D2C and DEW98 are most noticeable in the suspension: The DEW98-based Lincoln LS uses a 4-wheel independent double wishbone suspension. The D2C platform's MacPherson strut front suspension and solid axle rear suspension are less expensive to produce than DEW's more complicated setup. D2C also shares components with other Ford platforms. These include Ford's global C1 platform, with which D2C shares front strut and rear trailing arm components."

C1 platform is Focus/Mazda 3/Volvo V50,C30 and S40.

 

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4 hours ago, motorpunk said:

Yup.
 

Plus; Wiper and motor from a Citroen AX just bent to shape, locks from a Mk3 Cavalier, mirrors from a Metro, rear reg plate light from a Rolls Royce, and (of course) engine and ‘box from the tainted wasteland of Longbridge. 😁

Dont forget the Elise S1 also uses the front wheel bearings from an Austin Montego on all four corners....

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1 hour ago, anonymous user said:

I wonder how many Montego owners have taken their cars in to Lotus for front wheel bearings

I did actually source the replacements for the front of my Montego from a Lotus specialist! Theyre not Timken but they are a decent quality.

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