Parts scavenger hunt

Finally some suppliers are starting to produce reproduction parts for Mustang IIs, such as Classic Auto Reproductions, and hopefully more will follow, but for the most part restoring a Mustang II requires a lot of scavenging for used or new-old stock parts, which can be very expensive.

Many parts on my car are obsolete and hard or impossible to find if they break or are lost. Unfortunately two parts were lost a couple of years ago when I had some work done to the car by a reputable shop.

The shop lost the wing nut for the air cleaner and the seat adjustment knob on the driver's seat (which was loose and probably just fell out somewhere). I probably sounded like a wing nut myself when I called the shop asking if they had accidentally set the parts aside somewhere.


Luckily I was able to get used replacements for both the wing nut and knob thanks to Mustang II folks, and I replaced the knob recently. It's a small project; it took half a second to pop it on, but any project is an accomplishment, and now I have stock knobs for both seats.

It worries me that one day I won't be able to find a replacement for a part that breaks or is lost. I wish I could order parts for my car out of a catalog. Maybe I will be able to someday. I'm excited whenever I hear of more parts manufacturers producing Mustang II items.

In the meantime, I'm taking the wing nut off the air cleaner whenever I send the car out, just to keep it from getting lost again.