Hollander Interchange History

[30DodgePanel]

Hollander Interchange History

Most of us know the story of the Roy and Hildur Hollander, and their early struggles prior to and during the great depression.

What seems to be lost in the Hollander story, is who these people were. One would think we would have access to at least one photo of these prophets in the hobby.

It’s a great story but without photos and more of an understanding of how they must have painstakingly compiled their work in the early days before interstates and information super highways the story seems incomplete.

Does anyone have a link or know of any biographical documentation that exists for such important people in the hobby’s history ? Seems odd that more isn’t made available when researching this couple, especially with the world wide fame that comes with the Hollander name today.

For those of us that are research fanatics, where can we find more ?

[Guest prs519]

Do not know a lot about them, but one of my copies is a reprint of very early stuff, and include a couple of very quaint pages at the back of the book. Yard-men and mechanics were encouraged to send to Hollander's interchanges that they were able to make work. These are sometimes quaint and amazing, like (for the sake of illustration, perhaps a hupmobile bearing would interchange with something off a Chevrolet) Some rather amazing interchanges were possible, leading one to wonder just how often some part of a subassembly was sourced from an identical place, thereby saving development costs, maybe.

[30DodgePanel]

prs519 how early, and can you post a snippet ? Please state which year and edition you are referring to.

The following is the only thing of value that I've found to date:

Car Collectors, Restorers Indebted to Hollander Interchange Creator

If it hadn't been for the Great Depression and talking pictures, today's car collectors, restorers and repairers might be displaying their classic cars on wooden blocks instead of scenic roadways. The double force of the economic Depression and the decline in live entertainment triggered by "talkies" forced Twin Cities singers Roy and Hildur Hollander off the stage and into the garage. There they created what's become the largest interchangeable auto parts system in the world, known in the industry as the "Hollander Interchange."

The Birth of an Idea

Roy Hollander came upon the interchangeable parts idea while working as a car salesman at the start of the Depression. He’d offered a customer $75 in trade credit for 1919 Diamond Truck that had little more than an engine, gears and wheels. After several unsuccessful attempts to sell the relic, Hollander approached an auto wrecker with the hope of recouping a portion of his investment. The man handed him $100 for the remains, explaining that the salvageable components would be sold for reuse on other vehicles at a handsome profit.

A few years later, with their music careers still on hold and jobs scarce, Hollander and his wife began a year-long study on which parts from which vehicles were interchangeable. Their plan was to sell their findings to "auto wreckers, mechanics, garages and anyone else who was interested" in the reuse of auto parts. Their concept of "recycling" used auto parts was decades ahead of their time.

Information proved difficult to access. Automobile manufacturers were reluctant to admit that some of their parts would work equally well in other models. Hollander persisted, and in 1934 published the first edition of the Hollander Interchange Manual.

Link http://hollanderinterchange.net/about.php

Quote: "Information proved difficult to access"

I couldn't even imagine which is why I'm so intrigued why there isn't more information on the Hollanders early years and HOW they compiled such extreme amount of information by the first publication in 1934.

Edited April 27, 2015 by 30DodgePanel (see edit history)

[Guest prs519]

Dave, The manual I have and which I was referring to is called "Classic I" edition. Although clearly a reprint of sorts, it appears it was published by Hollander themselves. Here is the address given if you want to seriously research, perhaps:

ADP. Hollander

Attn: Interchange/Research Department

PO Box 9405

Minneapolis MN 55440

They also provide a phone number 800 825 0644 for sales and

800 825 0092 for interchange questions.

On my copy, which for the most part is said to apply to all vehicles 1928-1948, the customer footnotes are on page 501 and 502. Here I will give a real example of an interchange supplied by a customer, rather than something I dreamed up!

"Carrier assm. from Chrysler 52 fits Nash '35" (who woulda thunk it?") I will have you know also that a Willys 67 carrier assm. fits GMC half ton and 3/4 ton, by using the Gmc spider gears and side gears.

I would venture to guess that some of these correspondents' findings were motivated by necessity being the mother of invention, and the fact that both spare parts and scrapped vehicles were scarce during the war years.

It is a real hoot to try to imagine how the ol boys discovered some of the interchanges!

Hope this is helpful to you. Essex'28-29 window lift fits Ford '28-29 is another one!

Perry

[Bud Tierney]

For you Interchange enthusiasts:

When I was selling off most of my old car paper collection, probabaly 15-20 yrs ago, one item was a Peterson/Petersen? Interchange Manual, size halfway between Sears/Wards catalogs, hardbound and nearly as thick, but fairly heavy paper. I recall looking up some Marmon clutch parts and someting for a Hupp or a Graham; never found another listed on Ebay or autolit...

Also still have a curious little Penzing Automotive Book Of Knowledge, PB, 8x101/2, 100 pgs, seems to be heavily into substituting Ford parts (ball/roller bearings. gear clusters, etc) for everything from some ALH to some Willys, etc., with some other odd substitutions thrown in...

[Guest prs519]

I had a friend who had what was approximately a 1960 GMC half ton short box. He had broken one of the pieces constituting the horn pedal assembly. I had an OEM parts catalog centered around about the year 1950. I wanted to find the part number for him/us to see if it might help us find years of interchange. I also had a GM parts manual ( a GM family interchange 2 volume set) which was copyright 1959. The horn button assy. had two or three pieces and each had an embossed part number. One number was sequentially about right with my 59 GM parts book, but try as I might, I could not find a listing for the part we needed. For the heck of it, I checked one of the other numbers , which was sequentially much earlier, against the parts in the 1950 book. How do you like this.....a rather odd shaped part for a 1949 Chevrolet horn button assembly was an exact match, which goes to show that even parts of subassemblies years apart can sometimes interchange. This was no 1/4 coarse threaded bolt either. This part was designed, engineered, and manufactured, with a specific unique purpose in mind! Maybe they had a couple barrels of these gizmos and some foreman said "I do not care how you do it, but get rid of them"? Hence the new horn button assembly was engineered around a 10 year old obsolete part!

[Mark Shaw]

Many manufacturers back in the early days outsourced components. Manufacturers just didn't let on that some of their parts interchange with competitors.

After all, they made aftermarket $$ from their part business...

[Dandy Dave]

I have some very good friends with some older Hollander Interchange Books. Not as far back as 1935. But one of them told me about 5 years ago that the books were no longer made. Everything hence forth would be by computer, whether internet or disk. But no more hard copies. Dandy Dave!

[30DodgePanel]

For you Interchange enthusiasts:

When I was selling off most of my old car paper collection, probabaly 15-20 yrs ago, one item was a Peterson/Petersen? Interchange Manual, size halfway between Sears/Wards catalogs, hardbound and nearly as thick, but fairly heavy paper. I recall looking up some Marmon clutch parts and someting for a Hupp or a Graham; never found another listed on Ebay or autolit...

Also still have a curious little Penzing Automotive Book Of Knowledge, PB, 8x101/2, 100 pgs, seems to be heavily into substituting Ford parts (ball/roller bearings. gear clusters, etc) for everything from some ALH to some Willys, etc., with some other odd substitutions thrown in...

Bud,

do the Penzing also cover the Harley and/or Indian bikes ? Meaning do they go back to the early days ?

Also, do you know much about the Beck & Corbitt literature ?

I recently came upon several early jobber books that date back to 1917 that has some very interesting info for those of us who love the research and even found a listing for an exact match for my rear door latch mechanism with full sizes and prices to my surprise....

I've not come across any Peterson/Peterson yet but would love to. The farthest I go back for original Hollander stuff is the 14th edition (red hardback) but it does not get specific enough to touch on my 1930 panel truck. I'm desperately looking for any 13th or 12th editions at this point. Do you have any 1930 or before literature that you are willing to part with or have you thinned everything out ?

Edited May 8, 2015 by 30DodgePanel (see edit history)

[62BillT]

Hollander Fan here.

I've got a 27th, a 32nd, a 38th and a 47th.

All are originals except for the 32nd, which is a Re-print.

I bought my first one back in the late 70's.

The books are definitely great, I just wish they went into more of the smaller parts.

I believe the 27th starts at the year 1950 and the 47th ends at 1980.

Bill

[Bud Tierney]

30D: Sorry, nothing in my Penzing on any motorcycles...to the best of my knowledge, don't recall ever hearing of Beck or Corbitt books...

[30DodgePanel]

I thought some of you may find this somewhat interesting. Sorry for straying off the Hollander topic...

Doing some research on Beck & Corbitt Iron Co est 1852 this morning and found a photo of one of the buildings located in St Louis MO. They supplied a great deal of parts to the carriage and wagon industry then later to the automotive industry. The Beck & Corbitt literature were a type of retail and wholesale publication that sold everything imaginable for your automotive needs, store displays, and also has a few interchange sections for vehicles from 1917-1923. Covers everything from auto tools, pistons & rings, valves, radiators, engine stands, visible gas pumps, auto paint, wood wheels, luggage racks, tool boxes etc....

Below is a photo of the book I have, if anyone has a 1917-23 vehicle and wants me to look up any info I'd be happy to try and help as time permits, just ask via PM.

Edited May 10, 2015 by 30DodgePanel (see edit history)

[Dandy Dave]

Were they the Beck,in Beck and Borg Clutch? Dandy Dave!

[30DodgePanel]

Good question . Different Beck I believe but because of the proximity and the timeline it does make you wonder if there might be a link somehow since family members often were in the same line of work.

 

 

"When Charles Borg and Marshall Beck started their tool company in 1903, which by 1910 was supplying the first sliding clutch to over a dozen car makers, it probably never occurred to them that their names would still be world famous over 100 years later.

 

Both of them came from humble roots; Charles Borg had emigrated from Sweden to America in 1881 and had worked as a furniture maker and as a machinist for some years before teaming up with Marshall Beck, who was of German origin. Together with Charles’ son George and their chief machinist Gust Nelson, they developed and patented the original sliding clutch.

 

In 1918 they moved their factory from the original site in Moline, Illinois to Chicago. In 1928 Borg & Beck was merged with Warner Gear and other companies to form Borg-Warner, with George as its first President.

 

In 1931, such was the increasing demand for Borg & Beck coil spring clutches, the decision was taken to start a British manufacturing plant. The first British Borg & Beck clutch left the factory of Automotive Products in Leamington spa and by the outbreak of World War II A.P had produced their millionth Borg & Beck Clutch. The pace continued in line with vehicle production and by 1958 the 10 millionth cover assemble was taken from the production line."

 

http://www.borgandbeck.com/about-us/