Folks....I have a problem. Over the years I have accumulated a truck load of NOS parts. Most of these fit cars of the 40's and 50's; some fit earlier some later. This hoard consists of tubular and knee action shocks, carb kits, water pump kits, oil filters, etc. My biggest problem is 90% of the parts are only identified with manufacturer's part numbers. The few catalogues I have go from the car to the part No. I was wondering if there is such a thing as a catalogue that goes from part No. to car. I want to clear out these parts. Help me!

For GM cars if you can find a "Dealer Parts and Accessories Price Schedule" for each parts book (same year) you can use them to look up the group number for a given part number. They list parts in part numerical order for pricing information, but also include the group numbers as well. This will narrow your search down considerably, even for readily identifiable parts like shocks, etc.

There is also the "CHECK A PART NUMBER" page at collectorsautosupply.com. This is the best reverse catalog I know, especially since it works accross most major makes. It is not universal, however.

If these are aftermarket parts, what you are looking for are "buyers guides". Most aftermarket parts suppliers offered catalogues, some with buyers guides, some without.

I can probably help with cataloging on the carb kits, if aftermarket. If O.E., that can open up a real can of worms, as some of the O.E. manufacturers changed the part numbers FOR THE SAME PARTS each year. You would either need O.E. parts catalogues for each year, or "parts history catalogues" plus O.E. parts catalogues about every 7 years.

Jon.

Dave ...Jon...thanks for the response. The carb kits are mostly Echlin, shocks are Western Auto and Monroe mostly. Jon I may have already talked with you as I am trying to also liqudate the contents of a carb shop I own.

Ecklin did produce some catalogs with buyers guides. These sometimes appear on Ebay.

Jon.