Interchangeability

[Bluesky62]

I just bought a "Buick Master Body Parts / Chassis Parts" book (huge!) off of eBay and the description of it said that it shows what years have parts that are the same. Can anyone tell me how to "read" this book so that I can tell if a part for my '62 Skylark can also use parts from, say, '61-'63, too?

[palbuick]

What years are the parts books? If they are 1962 to 1965, there should be illustrations of your car.

First get the Group number of the part you are interested in, go to that group and look up your part number, in that group there should be other listings of the same related part, in the right side column that is your part number. Slide down this colunm and look for the same part number. if you find the same numer it will fit your car.

It has taken me and a lot of others many years to learn how to identify parts.

So be patient. In the front of the book is a guide to the different groups.

Jim Schilf

palbuick

[Bluesky62]

Well, that's (kind of) encouraging, Jim. I guess it's good to know that this book looks a little intimidating to others, too. It actually covers from 1940 to 1963, inclusive, so there are a lot of years there. Is the process the same as if it covered only two or three years?

[palbuick]

There are a few books around that cover only one year, scarce and expensive.

The books you have should cover your 62 very good.

You should know your series, and series designation. Series will be 4000, 4100,4300.

body designation will be 2 dr, 4dr, convt. station wagon. All this information shound be in the front of the book.

Jim Schilf

[Bluesky62]

Well, Jim, with the information you gave me and, after spending some time nosing around in the front of the book, I think I have at least a LITTLE idea about how it works. Now, I can find my '62 stuff, but how can I tell if the part I'm looking for can also be found on OTHER years of Skylarks, too? Am I just not looking deep enough? What am I not seeing?

[66400]

If the part is the same between years the listing will show. Example, lets look up a wheel.

Group 5.803 1961-63[year range] 40-41-43009[car series]. . . . . . . 578258[part number]. . . .10.85[list price] WHEEL, (13 X 4 1/2). . . . . . . .5[number required]

One item of importance will be the effective date of the catalog, the closer that is to your car year the more parts it will have listed. Example an Master parts book for models 1949 to 1966 inclusive with an effective date of July 1, 1966 will have every thing listed available for 1966 model year cars while a 1940 model car will only have a very few parts listed. Only parts still available at the time of the book's effective date will be listed.

Henry

[Bluesky62]

Oh ho, Henry - that makes it easier to understand. I followed right along with that example. I'm going to go try it with another part and see if I can do it. Thanks!