SHOULD WE SAVE A FEW/SOME/OR ALL OF EXISTING JOWETT SPARES?

[Keith Clements]

It is really difficult to price a used car engine. I have been offered (to buy) many over the years from those that have rested in the garden and are totally seized and corroded to those that may have just come out of a car and look like they might run. Both may have valuable parts in them or may be almost worthless. Sure you might be able to recover a corroded and cracked block or knackered crankshaft, but at what cost?
More important though is the value the recipient places on the part. To have the part newly made would cost 'X' but then do you know that part would function properly? Many 'new' parts have problems in specification and design. To refurbish the old part would cost 'Y' and the same questions arise.
The final (resale) value of the part may be something completely different from either 'X' or 'Y', and be either higher or lower.
We come back to the question of the value to the buyer. A buyer with a good car without a working engine may pay more than someone who is rebuilding a project car.
£450 for an engine that may have a useable crank case or a useable crankshaft or camshaft or oil pump or... What price would you gamble?

[ian Howell]

Has this post just run into the sands of time?

On the off chance that I may reignite the flames of interest.

As some will already know, my son's treasured Capri was burnt out earlier this year. It has been replaced by a NEW Mustang!

The good news is that he has sold off a lot of the spares he had accumulated and this has freed up space in the loft of our new workshop.

I would be pleased to allocate some of this space to bulky / heavy / slow moving spares, preferably pre-war or vintage as this is where my interests lie.

Based in East Sussex this may not be an ideal geographical location but this would be for stuff that may only be required many years from now - if ever!

Any comments / renewed interest?

[Keith Clements]

I/we regularly get offers of spares for the club, some via the website.

The first issue is finding someone to go and view to assess the condition and value. Then someone has to negotiate any payment, arrange collection and transport, sort and catalogue and then store them. So any help in doing any of these things would be appreciated.

We can centralise this operation (say at JCS HQ) or we can have satellite operations to spread the load. Any satellite operations or individual member's holdings could be managed on-line with a database of the parts held and, where appropriate, pictures can be stored to show condition or for identification.

There is a job there for someone to co-ordinate these frequent spares offers and work with JCS.