NORS or NOS ? Definitions and questions

[BuickNut]

Question about parts : I know that NOS means New Old Stock, and is considered to be direct replacement for factory installed parts, with parts made to the same factory installed specs and design by the OEM supplier. Does NORS mean New Old Replacement Stock, or New Old Restored Stock, and is this supposed to refer to AFTERMARKET parts (Kelly Springfield "Kelly Charger" tires vs Wide Oval G-70's or the red line tires, for example) ? I have run across some parts that are right out of a sealed, never opened AC Delco box, that are specified for the car for the year, but are NOT the same design as what came off the factory floor on the vehicle (I know the parts because my uncle bought the car new and never replaced the part - we compared them, and you can see obvious physical differences - though both parts ARE AC Delco). Would this "not exactly the same design, but made by the OEM supplier" part be considered as NOS or NORS, and would they take off for this at car shows if it was OEM made, but not original design ? Were these parts considered NORS and aftermarket replacements made by the OEM and still have points taken off and NOT considered NOS ? <P>Thanks.

[Guest]

Both these terms are abused A LOT! NOS means new old stock as you said, in other words an NOS fender for a '65 Skylark would be one that was supplied to or made by GM to be sent to a dealer parts department. This part never got installed for what ever reason and it is now available for sale. It is NOT a later part made to the manufactures specs, that would be an NORS, as you said New Old REPLACMENT stock. This would be like an old NAPA auto parts water pump that never was installed. Then there is REPRO which is "sort of like original, can be used if nothing else is available". You could have an NOS Delco battery like I have, it is for a Corvair. It is dated 1987 though. It is an NOS GM part but it is more like an NORS because it was not made during the manufactureing of the Corvair. I had an NOS Delco Battery for "A" bodies from '65 thru '72 it was made in 1967 so this was a true NOS battery (got $697.00 for it on eBay!) <P>NOS is cool, my brother built a Harley 45. These bikes were used by the US in WWII and there is TONS of NOS parts (army surplus). My brother bought an NOS armature for for his bike. It was rapped in a green wax paper. Underneath the wax paper was a Harley box. It was stamped Oct 5 1945, inside was a cosmolene (it isn't spelled right, sorry, it is a wax like substance) covered armature. Inside was a perfect brand new armature that hadn't been touched by human hands in over 50 years! It kind of gave me a chill, that was a true NOS part.

[palbuick]

There were a lot of parts that were original on a new car and several months later were<BR> redesigned, Example, the 1970 Wildcat tail light lense, there is a first and a second design, first design has a small back up lense, second design has a larger back up lense. This is where a parts book comes in handy, usually there are two part numbers, indicating first or second design. Both lenses would be considered NOS,<BR>I'm sure that there are many other parts that would fall into this category.<P>Jim Schilf / palbuick@aol.com

[BuickNut]

Thanks so much for your input. Looks like I wasn't too far off the mark - but I wanted to make sure. I have bought a lot of parts in the past that were NOS advertised, and with the example of my uncles parts, and knowing that there were design changes - it does make sense. Again, thanks for your help.