Incredible Shop Tour Gallery: A Peek at the Inventory of Then and Now AutomotiveBy Brian Lohnes Posted 07/26/10
(Editor's Note: This story ran in April of 2010 -- After the story ran we were contacted by Hot Rod Deluxe and asked to shoot another batch of photos and write up a short piece for the magazine. That story has been published in the September 2010 issue. Grab your copy off the news stand today!)
We know where the old parts live. They live among the inventory of Then and Now Automotive, in Weymouth, Massachusetts. Then and Now is a business that specializes in the gearhead impossible. Need king pins for your 1914 Durant? They're on the shelf in the original boxes. How about a coil for your Model T? They have them in spades. We were invited to tour a portion of the inventory that Then and Now has at their location and at one of their several remote storage houses. We were left slack-jawed. The tour was given by BangShift.com member Mike Casella, the machine shop manager, and Tom Hannaford, the owner of the business. It was a march through American automotive history the likes of which we'd never seen.
The business has been in operation for decades and Hannaford accumulated the majority of the inventory the old fashioned way. He toured the country and bought old stock, unsold items, and stuff that people had just plain forgotten about in the store rooms of old auto parts stores. From there, it's been following up on leads about old stuff people found in their attic and other stories of that nature.
The Weymouth headquarters is so tightly packed with parts that the local fire department has told the business that they were not going in if the place was aflame because they'd never find their way out. The rows are tightly packed and the stacks go from floor to ceiling. There are no computers. Catalogs and sheer force of memory guide the workers to the parts needed.
We're convinced that they have some items in greater inventory than there are cars of that make and model left to use them! Ever heard of a 1928 Roosevelt? Neither had we, but they have parts for it!
It's not about hot rod parts, it's about antique parts and that's fine with us. We've darkened the door of the store in several instances. They had parts on the shelf for our old Worthington tractor that others scoffed at even attempting to order.
Another fascinating part of the business is the machine shop which our pal Mike Casella runs. If there's something you have that they don't make parts for anymore, and it's broken, they'll make them. Your prehistoric touring car breaks a motor mount? Send the pieces in and Casella will build a mold out of billet aluminum and repair yours. Your 1940s Tatra (a weirdo European car) has a dead fuel pump? Send it along and Mike will make internal parts, gaskets, and whatever else it needs. We'll be featuring the machine shop soon, but this is all about the parts.
We shot nearly 300 photos the day we toured the business, and we're not even giving you a good glimpse at what this place is all about. It's truly incredible and thankfully this is not a story about some weirdo hoarding all this stuff. These guys are in the business to sell, and they do.
Hit the link below and settle in for a look at some of the neatest components, packages, and pieces you've ever seen.
Click here to vist Then and Now Automotive's page
Comments + Post your comment!
Written by Huskinhano
Apr 29 2010
WOW! Thanks for taking the time to post that. The two things that got me were; the art work and seeing "made in USA" on everything.
Written by Mike-Casella
Apr 27 2010
I wouldn't be worried about the lathe as much as the rollers used for squishing the rubber for the mounts. That thing even scares me. :o
Written by Brian Lohnes
Apr 27 2010
Horsing around in the machine shop is going to be a blast...so long as my shirt doesn't get caught in the lathe. :-[ :D
Written by Mike-Casella
Apr 27 2010
Thank you very much for coming over for the 25 cent tour Brian and Tony. There were a few more buildings nearby that we didn't get to visit due to time restraints, not to mention the buildings 150 miles away. Those are mind boggeling to say the least. I can't wait for the return visit, I have a great idea that I think you and the readers might enjoy.
Written by Mike-Casella
Apr 27 2010
[quote author=Yoyodyne link=topic=21623.msg400917#msg400917 date=1272336970]
It's a generator/distributor ign. unit, but I can't guess what it's from. Possible a generator/starter too. Early 20s?
Very cool story.
[/quote]
Very close guess! It's called a starterator for an early 20's 4 cylinder Buick. The helical gear on the end meshes with the timing gear. And speaking of timing gears, there are litterally thousands of them between all the different buildings we have. Timing chains? Oh ya, we make them.
[quote author=ch1ll link=topic=21623.msg400969#msg400969 date=1272354326]
whoa :o
cork clutch, Hudson?
what's punch press for? riveting linings on brake shoe's?
really diggin that ac hand held mechanical clutch,guy I used to work for had one,worked really well.
see any Howard's camshafts for GMC 302 I6?
[/quote]
The cork clutch disc is for a Hudson.
That machine is actually a press for making tail light lenses. The molds have long since disappeared, but you never know what we might uncover some day. The brake shoe riviting machine, or one of the three we have, is in the shop, but I dont use it. Yet.
Unfortunately out of the thousands of camshafts we have scattered about, there aren't any Howard's, but there are quite a few from Comp Cams. I'll bet there is one there for a 302 I6 though. How many camshafts can you fit in three 4' X 4" X 4" gaylords? We use the other cams as blanks if we need a special grind. No, I don't do that, we send them out.
Written by BigDad
Apr 27 2010
You want to see lots of parts ?
Look here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VadAcb94GZE&feature=player_embedded
Written by ch1ll
Apr 27 2010
whoa :o
cork clutch, Hudson?
what's punch press for? riveting linings on brake shoe's?
really diggin that ac hand held mechanical clutch,guy I used to work for had one,worked really well.
see any Howard's camshafts for GMC 302 I6?
Written by Yoyodyne Apr 26 2010
It's a generator/distributor ign. unit, but I can't guess what it's from. Possible a generator/starter too. Early 20s?
Very cool story.
Written by oldrustycars Apr 26 2010
Just beautiful. There was a time, not so long ago, that a shop like this would not have been so unusual.
Now, what is that part that "true busted knuckle" would know? I thought I was one, but I guess not. I see "Delco" on it, I thought starter except the helical gear.
I dont think "Made in anywhere else" was invented when most of these parts were made. The owner is very strict when it comes to imported parts. We've had many overseas companies offer incredible prices to make some of the parts we sell on a daily basis. The phone call usually ends with "GOOD DAY!" End of conversation.