The thrill of the chase - Torrens 419
Glenn Torrens questions what is more satisfying: the thrill of the chase, or the happily-ever-after?
WHAT DO YOU RECKON?
Recently, I’ve been chasing plenty of parts: Finding components for my 1979 VB Commodore SL/E 5.0-litre V8 manual has been particularly challenging. I bought the car in Queensland years ago and since then, I’ve had to track-down pretty much every component – from tail lights to door handles to the dashboard – that have been messed-up by four decades of sunny summers.
Car-nut pages on Facebook are good for finding parts. A recent score for me was some of the little plastic-chrome trims for my SL/E’s dashboard. These brittle trims are difficult to find but a bloke in Melbourne had a set at the right price so I had my mate Matt collect and pay for them on my behalf. Another important score from Facey was the correct steering wheel: If I remember right, the rim came from Albury and the horn button was posted from Perth!
Plus, of course, I do a bit of greasy-finger scrounging, too. My terrific old-school local wrecker, Classic Oz Wreck, has sold me a complete dash/instrument binnacle, plus other important components such as arm rests, sun-visors and door handles. Another local business, The Commodore Shop, also gets plenty of my money! My car-nut mates are also a great source of now-scarce parts too… for instance, I bludged a great centre console for my SL/E from Morley’s Project Poo hill-climber Commodore when he stripped the interior.
Not everything I buy is second-hand. For instance, I discovered a bloke who was reproducing Commodore carpets. This Stuart bloke has put in the effort to provide a high-quality factory-style carpet kit and as I want my Commodore to be as awesome as possible, I placed an order for his Ausclassics deep-pile carpet and I’m happy to have paid nearly triple the price of the almost-but-not-quite-the-same $200 stuff. I need new door cards, too and I think I’ve found a company in Sydney that can make accurate reproductions.
My VWs gobble up plenty of time in maintenance and parts, too, but being what they are, the parts I buy are mostly new/reproduction or high performance engine parts. That means simply checking an on-line catalogue and ordering from a VW specialist either here or overseas. Buying brand-new parts is not quite as challenging, rewarding (or risky!) as the chase for older, rarer parts.
And that has had me thinking… I’ve realised I enjoy chasing parts as much as I enjoy being in my workshop, actually working on my restorations. I love driving my cars… but when I’ve finished recommissioning or restoring a car I spend as much time thinking about and planning ‘what’s next?’ as I do enjoying the one I’ve just completed.
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