[DeTomaso] NOS parts stash inventory--day one

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

Hi guys,

Motivated by Asa Jay's broken clutch arm, I set to conducting an inventory 
of the NOS parts stash I picked up a few weeks ago.   I KNOW that I have an 
NOS clutch arm still in the Ford box--I saw it when I first picked up all 
this stuff.   Now all I had to do is find it.

I dragged the nearest big box out of the #2 spare bedroom (both now filled 
with parts) and sat down on the ground in the driveway and spread boxes all 
around, and started taking inventory.

FIVE HOURS later, I finished that box!   There is just so much stuff, 
tucked away inside boxes and bags, most of which I recognize, but some of which 
was a complete mystery to me.

For example--did you know that there were yellow plastic hoozits underneath 
the Dzus fastener plates in the engine bay?   The hoozits were placed in 
the holes, then the Dzus plates were placed over them and riveted to the body. 
  Their function was apparently to keep water and debris away from the Dzus 
fastener.

I sure didn't know that, until today.   And if anybody wants a full set of 
NOS factory Dzus plates, and the yellow hoozits, I've got a full box of 
each.

Ignition switch anyone?   I've found four NOS and one used one so far!   
Complete assemblies, with keys, key code tag, and one in the original Ford box 
(Made in Germany).

I've got one turn signal switch, but it looks a bit strange to me, and I 
need to study it more closely to make sure it is what it purports to be.   
It's located inside a Ford box with the part number on the box, but I think the 
switch MAY actually be from another application.   I'm going to verify it 
for sure.

First-gen rotary windshield wiper switches haven't been available for many, 
many years.   They're shown on Wilkinson's website with a very reasonable 
price, but they can't be had anywhere, for any price.   I've got three of 
them, new in the box (and two new knobs too), plus one used one.  (Two 
different vendors are begging me to sell them to them!)   Windshield wiper 
squirters, ZF backup switches, stock window switches, headlight relays, clutch master 
cylinder fluid reservoirs, muffler hangar straps and hardware, door hinge 
screws, the list of parts just goes on and on and on.   

Some of the stuff is used; sometimes I'd open a Ford box expecting to find 
a new part, and instead I'd find a used one.   For example, when the window 
gears broke, Ford didn't sell just the gear--they sold the entire gearbox.   
So I have four complete gearbox assemblies with broken gears inside.

I found a very decrepit lunchbag with a complete set of Mangusta jackshaft 
bearings inside?

I found a box with a bunch of sorry-looking 1971 lugnuts--the ones that had 
the De Tomaso logo stamped on them.   I tossed them all in my tumbler and 
an hour later they looked good as new--I then put a set on my own car (which 
had really sorry-looking 1972 lugnuts--no logo on them; those are now 
getting cleaned up in the tumbler).

Did you know there were actually two different styles of 1971 lugnut with 
the De Tomaso logo?   Me either.   But I had five of one style and 29 of the 
other.

What really takes time is looking up the part in the Ford parts book to 
verify what it is.   Sure, it looks like a fan switch.   But there were 
actually two types of 'symbol' fan switches; of course the one for the radiator fan 
is only two-position while the one for the blower fan is three-position.   B
ut I'd never thought of that before.   The Ford parts book revealed the 
true identity of the switch (of which I have two).   Unfortunately the Ford 
book is incredibly user-hostile.   Once I've verified the identity of the par 
in question, I'm also looking it up in the De Tomaso parts book (actually the 
Wilkinson book, with the red GT5-S on the cover; the actual De Tomaso parts 
book is truly a nightmare, with parts numbers a mile long).

Trying to inventory all this stuff feels like eating an elephant.   I'm 
going to tackle the second box tomorrow, and hopefully have everything sorted 
out in the next week or two.   Once I do, I'll put together a spreadsheet and 
let everybody know what's available.

Oh, don't bother asking about the clutch arm.   Once I FIND it again, it's 
spoken for! :>)

Mike




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