I guess you guys are right.

I got a new parts catalog from Moss motors. For the Jaguar XJ6-12 &S.  I was shocked at how many parts are NLA.

    Stuff I would expect to always be available. Taillights and lenses,   Interior trim stuff.  Etc.   I'm guessing but that represents probably 4-500,000 cars.  
      MGT series TC, TD, TF which only represents  about 50,000 cars nearly everything is available. Including rare items like Finned Aluminum brake drums,  Superchargers,  and 5 speed transmission conversions.      
   Luckily the things I need are available both at Moss Motors. Rock auto, Welsch, Terry's Jag etc.  plus I can probably find everything else at Jaguar junkyards. 

I can find anything I want for my 67 Mini Cooper S. Much more modern cars, have lots of unavailable parts. However, 3 D printing and chinaman is changing the world. 

https://everydayxj.com/

I am just amazed companies still send out catalogs ...

Agreed, Mini stuff is readily available right down to the oddball limited production stuff. Things like decals and side stripes are all out there and for the most part reasonably priced - in England. Hard parts, gearsets, special diffs, engine parts etc are easily found.

My Moss Classic Mini catalog came yesterday too, and I was pretty amazed at how expensive stuff is in the catalog compared to what I pay at MiniSpares and other England based suppliers.

And while shipping has gone up a bunch, it's still way cheaper than buying it from a US supplier. I recognize that they need to make a profit, and they have costs to warehouse, promote and advertise but their prices are twice to three times what it costs in England - sometimes even more - and the cost of shipping via DHL air freight from England is not much more than it costs to ship from their warehouse in the US to me in KC. 

My point is - at least for English cars - check in England.....you might find all this stuff can be easily found there and for a reasonable price.

I remember watching a video recently about a guy in England restoring a Rolls Royce Phantom III, he needed a water pump and found one NOS!

In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :

Hey,  That is really interesting.   Thank you so much!  
  I have a nearby Jaguar junkyard who really seems well stocked with XJS and most of those are the 6 cylinder versions. 

Slippery said:

I am just amazed companies still send out catalogs ...

Us older guys  use catalogs and a lot of restorations are done by retired guys. 

frenchyd said:

Slippery said:

I am just amazed companies still send out catalogs ...

Us older guys  use catalogs and a lot of restorations are done by retired guys. 

I love catalogs too, dont get me wrong ... I just never get any. 

I use to spend hours as a kid looking through the Sears catalogs ... I wish those still existed :)

Slippery said:

I am just amazed companies still send out catalogs ...

Yup - though I never really order from them, I do get 12-15 catalogs a month. Irony is, most of the stuff I see in catalogs are ordered much cheaper from other companies. I guess someone has to pay for the catalogs...

Sometimes it's weird what stays available and what doesn't.  It's often tied to what there's steady demand for or not.  So it's not always a whole builder is hard to get stuff for, but certain models have it available and other stuff is basically unsupported. 

Luckily the series one has most everything I need because that's one that parts are scarce for. 
  OK 50 + years out of production? A low volume manufacturer?    Probably less than 10,000 made. 50 years ago. 
 

  But still.  I was going to make a mold off the rear fenders to put on the race car trailer.   I can't since they don't have the tailites available.  They have one lens but not the other.  Nor the assembly or rubber gasket. I guess I could shop around and see if I can find a pair.   I do have the missing  clips  for the glass trim.  But probably should find new set of gaskets.   

I hate website shopping and will use a paper catalog to find what I need, then enter it on the website.

Eg: Steele Rubber are idiots.

They stopped their big catalog of everything and will only send you a list of the stuff they think pertains to your car.

Having the catalog let's you shop by looking at the rubber profile and measurements. 

They don't list the correct window seals for a 1934 Packard coupe roadster but they do list some Pierce Arrow seals that are an exact fit and work great.

Their phone support people are too stupid to understand why I could possibly want to see the whole catalog when the computer already knows everything. 

In reply to MiniDave :

That's a good point.  I've not found the same when it comes to Jaguar parts here in the US because prices for Jaguar used parts  are so cheap because they seem to sit around forever. Plus they are plentiful  50% of Jaguars production came here to America.  While England got less than 20%. 
  I've been following one part for 3 years now  it's the lowest price for a reasonably desired part. It's still available 

rslifkin said:

Sometimes it's weird what stays available and what doesn't.  It's often tied to what there's steady demand for or not.  So it's not always a whole builder is hard to get stuff for, but certain models have it available and other stuff is basically unsupported. 

When I was doing restoration work  there wasn't the abundance of specialty catalogs, nor the internet as it works today.   Finding everything took hours on the phone and massive long distance calls. ( extremely expensive)       
  Then most junkyards dealt in cash and carry.  You handed the guy the cash and carried the part home.  
     Without catalogs,  parts you need would get extremely difficult to find. 
     Even 3D printing doesn't solve everything.  First you need an original to work off of.