Cross referenced parts...an odd coincidence

[texaxile]

Hi,
I know that parts manufacturers have their factories tooled for parts which are used across different makes of vehicle. I'll give you a couple of examples I've come across while restoring my Lancer turbo.

Lower ball joints, same part number and fit as Volvo V70's. One's RWD, the other front.I'm Confused. (Although you have to press them out of the bracket and the new ones back in whereas you can buy them in a bracket for less) but I'm not 100% sold on this, I have 2x said ball joints and I was buggered if I could see that the others could be pressed out might be an error on the part of the supplier.

Windscreen clips. Only ever used on "A17_ " Lancers between 1979-83 and again on L200's.

Propshaft Donuts. First used on Lancers, plus several other models and even up to modern Mitsubishi Canters.

Steering arm joints. Also used on the Hyundai Pony.

Now although there are countless examples of this across probably each and every manufacturer, perhaps we can have some suggestions for the most tenuous links?. (all checkable via goooogle of course).

Anyway, is there any online resource that allows a genuine part number to be cross referenced with stuff like ADC, Bosch etc?.

Cheers
Pete

[droopsnoot]

I haven't seen any general on-line cross-reference, some manufacturers do put PDF versions of their catalogues on line and these sometimes have cross-reference to OEM and other third part part numbers. For example QH had a lot of their PDFs, SKF (bearings) do as well. It's a bit hit-or-miss unfortunately. It's a relatively simple task to create a database and knock up a web site to store this kind of stuff, but a massive job to update it and the minute a well-meaning contributor puts inaccurate information in, it's suddenly not trustworthy. I've been maintaining one for my car, but not as a database, just as a hand-edited page. It's the kind of thing owners clubs and marque-specialist forums are good for.

I do recall a "staff car saga" many years ago in one of the classic magazines where someone had needed a new steering rack, none were available, and he'd managed to find out that one from a LHD Landcrab fitted upside-down would be suitable. Can't remember what car it was for, though. Scimitar springs to mind, but might not be correct.

[grumpy52]

Many old parts books for brakes ,points,steering joints etc had reference numbers and technical drawings at the rear .In the days when things were actually repaired rather than replace a whole unit ,this was invaluable to find things like brake seals etc .
A very early Astra needed an ignition condenser but all the parts books stated that electronic ignition so condensers were not fitted ,a quick cross reference found that BMW used the same condenser.
Many parts from the likes of Girling,Lockheed and many other manufacturers were used world wide .
The best example I hade was needing a square headlamp for a volvo estate and finding it was main dealer only at £77 ,a vast amount back then ,I then found that Volvo trucks used the same light at £11 each .

[spoodler]

Learning which Marina bits fit your Esprit can save a penny or two... seem to remember it was something like wiper motor and door handles.

[DonkeyApple]

spoodler said:

Learning which Marina bits fit your Esprit can save a penny or two... seem to remember it was something like wiper motor and door handles.

The key to the garage that held my bicycle and also a Lotus 7 my father had would also start said Lotus!!!

Chapman was a genius when it came to adding lightness but managing to arrange for both the car and the garage to share a small key was true F1 weight saving.

[JagerT]

If I remember correctly Practical Classics did a supplement listing vehicles which used the same parts,may have been over several issues.

[Allan L]

For most of motoring history until the 1970s or so, most manufacturers used a lot of stock bought-out parts from industry suppliers.
In UK we had brakes from Bendix, Girling, Lockheed, Dunlop; electrical stuff from Lucas, Delco, CAV; dampers from Hartford, Luvax, Girling, Armstrong; carburettors from Zenith, Stromberg, SU, Solex; and less obvious stuff supplied by such firms as Alford & Alder, Rubery Owen, Wilmott Breedon.
All that helped us find the right spare on the wrong car at Rush Green or Jack's Hill scrapyard. I learned about that keeping a 1930 MG going as my first car and the newest I applied it to were 1960s Daimler SP250s. It still stands me in good stead with a 1938 Lea-Francis, although not from the scrappers these days.

[kev b]

Through bitter expensive experience I can tell you where almost every part of a seventies Lotus Elite was sourced, the markup was so great I wonder how Lotus never made a profit.

Ferrari, Lamborghini, Rolls Royce and particularly Maserati were avid parts bin raiders too, there is a thread on PH somewhere.

E30 M3 BMWs had many suspension parts sourced from the 5 series, they were given "Msport" part numbers and the price hiked to suit.

Porsche 928 autos had a Mercedes gearbox and the early 924 had many VW Beetle parts, eg door handles, rear brakes, 4 spd box.

Years ago one Lucas ACR alternator would fit scores of makes and models, even more if you knew how to loosen 3 screws and change them from left side to right side fitting.

[MJK 24]

Lotus Elise:

Engine & gearbox - Rover or Toyota
Wiper motor - Citroen AX
Master Cylinder - Fiat Fiorino
Locks/Keys - Vauxhall Corsa
Column switches - Vauxhall Astra
Inner CV Joint - MGF
Driveshaft - Austin Montego
Outer CV Joint - Corsa diesel
Headlights ( Series 1) - Renault 4
Rear lights (Series 1) - Bova Coaches
Rear calipers - Renault Laguna
Numberplate lamps - Rolls Royce
Ball joints - Vauxhall Chevette
Fuel Pump - Cadillac
Interior lamp - Peugeot 106
Fusebox - Jaguar

[S0 What]

i use this site for x referencing parts

http://www.autopartoo.com/oem/intermotor/44560fgx....

[marshalla]

All Lotuses from original Elan to Esprit used Triumph Spitfire/GT6 front upper balljoints.

Edited by marshalla on Friday 18th March 23:54

[grumpy52]

Didn't most early Range Rovers use the same shockers as leyland buses? .
Gertrag 5 sp boxes from BMW 5 series fit on Rover V8 engines .
The same boxes used in quite a few applications.

[Mercky]

Each and everyone of the cars that I have owned of many different makes and models have all had the same type of valve cap.

[markymarkthree]

Really! have you never owned a car with a Schrader valve removal tool built into the cap ?

[PAUL500]

I recall reading that the electric door mirror switch on the F1 Mclaren was from a vectra!

Most of the supercars from that era had lots of mundano car parts in them.

[AW111]

Toyodiy.com has a parts number cross reference - enter the part no. and it tells you which model(s) it was used on.

Handy if you are silly enough to run a 30 year old MR2


They used to have all the exploded diagrams too, but Toyota forced them to be removed

[lowdrag]

Practical Classics brought out a handy book years ago with what fits what. I seem to remember that 924 brakes came from a VW van for example. If you want to uprate your brakes on a S1 E-type use Volvo 240. So many examples.

[sim16v]

PAUL500 said:

I recall reading that the electric door mirror switch on the F1 Mclaren was from a vectra!

Most of the supercars from that era had lots of mundano car parts in them.

I thought it was a mk4 escort switch.

You got me thinking, and if I remember correctly, the Mk4 switch was used in the Jaguar XJ220!

The XJ220, along with Lotus and many other supercars used Citroen CX door mirrors.


The more you look, the more parts bin stuff you find.

Austin Westminster door handles have long been obsolete.

Funny thing is they use MG door handles, still available from the specialist suppliers.

My mate tried to tell one of the suppliers this, and he said it was impossible, as the MG was a 2 door, the Westminster a 4 door!

[Mercky]

markymarkthree said:

Really! have you never owned a car with a Schrader valve removal tool built into the cap ?

No, but I did have some on an motorbike once.

[davepoth]

MJK 24 said:

Lotus Elise:

Engine & gearbox - Rover or Toyota
Wiper motor - Citroen AX
Master Cylinder - Fiat Fiorino
Locks/Keys - Vauxhall Corsa
Column switches - Vauxhall Astra
Inner CV Joint - MGF
Driveshaft - Austin Montego
Outer CV Joint - Corsa diesel
Headlights ( Series 1) - Renault 4
Rear lights (Series 1) - Bova Coaches
Rear calipers - Renault Laguna
Numberplate lamps - Rolls Royce
Ball joints - Vauxhall Chevette
Fuel Pump - Cadillac
Interior lamp - Peugeot 106
Fusebox - Jaguar

Wing Mirrors are still Metro, I believe?