I think I'm crazy, but I have parts swap ideas.

So I had this idea many moons ago, but it was on a different forum.  That forum started its own Wiki primarily for classic cars, but it didn't take root.

Here's the idea I tried.  I asked the members to do quick measurements of items if they happened to be measuring stuff; driveshafts, control arms, springs, etc.  That way if another member was putting (for instance) an SBC/700r4 in a 1950 Ford and they needed a 68" driveshaft, they could see that someone else measured their 67 Dodge Coronet driveshaft and it was 68".  Bingo.  Buy a 1310/1330 u-joint conversion and smack it in.  Or if someone was fabbing up their own upper control arm mounts for a car, they could look at a range of stock uppers that others had measured and maybe they find that a 2wd Ranger upper would be perfect in their 83 Civic.

Instead of relying on someone else randomly doing the same obscure parts swap and publishing it online, we could start a database of our own crap.

Sad part is, I'm terrible with web stuff, only fair with spreadsheets, and certainly have no clue how to make a searchable, filterable list, let alone publish it and maintain it online.  I just thought with the insane variety of cars we own, and the resourcefulness of our collective smarts, I think we could make a pretty awesome database that might be able to help us all.... either with our street freak cars, or help us all shave some dollars off our challenge builds.  Imagine building an amazing challenge whip only to realize that buying the correct brake rotors for a Europa will put us over budget... except, hey!  S10 rotors work if you hog out the hub bore and I can get those free from another member.

(caveat.. all of the above examples are completely random.)

Is this something crazy?  Will it ever work?  

Amusingly.... I've spent the past coupled days obsessing over driveshaft selection for my Locost.  Rockauto was pretty helpful, but very manual.  Summit has a ton of driveshafts listed by length, but wasn't terribly helpful.

I think it'd be great, but setting up and managing the database will be a job.

I love the Europa shout out.... During my personal Europa story, many hours were indeed spent looking for bigger vented rotors that I could make work.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

It'll work if there are people willing to manage it & there's a good place to host it. From a database perspective it would be pretty easy to setup. 

I would LOVE such a system; We'd have to require pictures of the item, basic overview of lengths... and specific measurements per part. 

I was thinking a wiki-type setup would minimize maintenance.  Any mistake corrections would be crowd-sourced, so to speak.  (He says hopefully)

So Pete will set it up for us, Brotus will get us started with his recent Rock Auto research, and then every member will contribute with all of the parts in their garage.  This thing practically publishes itself 

There is an online new parts catalog that is searchable for things like bolt pattern, brake bore diameter, etc.  I will try to find it.  Keep forgetting the url...

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Oh I could build a very basic database, but you'd better ping Gameboy if you want something robust enough to work & the ability for people to actually access it. 

Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Oh I could build a very basic database, but you'd better ping Gameboy if you want something robust enough to work & the ability for people to actually access it. 

*PING*

I wonder if Gameboy will hear it.

If I might be so bold as to suggest another similar application, if we could start getting weights/dimensions for major drivetrain components that might help, too.  Doesn't have to be precise, just enough to give somebody an estimate that transmission A weighs X or engine B weighs Y...  If we get one started then all we have to do is add to it over time.

stroker said:

If I might be so bold as to suggest another similar application, if we could start getting weights/dimensions for major drivetrain components that might help, too.  Doesn't have to be precise, just enough to give somebody an estimate that transmission A weighs X or engine B weighs Y...  If we get one started then all we have to do is add to it over time.

Agreed.  Each category could have its own critical specs.  Engines could have weight, W/L/H, bellhousing, etc.  Driveshafts would need length, diameter, u-joint sizes.  Coil springs could have wire diameter, free height, pigtail or not, space between coils, diameter which could be used to calculate a rough rate.

I also think that much of it can be "close enough" measurements.  If you have a tape measure and a driveshaft, within 1/16" is good enough for a slip yoke.

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

There is an online new parts catalog that is searchable for things like bolt pattern, brake bore diameter, etc.  I will try to find it.  Keep forgetting the url...

I am jittering on the edge of my seat.

I love the aggregated measurements of the people, by the people, for the people, but it is definitely a big management and moderation lift. There was (is?) a list of engines and weights floating around that seemed to be the closest thing to this I'd ever heard of, but there was no consistency in terms of bare vs with ancillaries, and a lot of the info seemed suspect.

It would make it even harder to build and manage, but I kinda feel like you'd need to be able to search on dimensions, but upon looking at a particular part, you'd need a complete form submission with an explanation (and pictures?) from everybody who'd contributed dimensions for that part so a user had some hope of deciding whose dimensions were trustworthy or taken in the expected manner, on what model year, etc...

In reply to Jesse Ransom :

Prior to the Photobucket disaster, the hybridz forum was a good resource for engine weights. All weights were accompanied with a picture of the engine on a scale so you could verify what was included.

At least the first series of pictures are still live:

https://forums.hybridz.org/topic/59086-enginetrans-weights-definitive/

While I'm dreaming, next level awesomeness would be 3D models of parts like what McMaster-Carr does for hardware.

3D scanning from smartphone cameras is getting better and better, so it may not be too far into the future, but then OEMs would put kibosh on people doing that.

In reply to j_tso :

I think we would fly under the radar on that.  3D scans could be an amazing thing.  People could download and print their own engine block as a mockup, or toss the drawing into a CAD for virtual fitting.

I'm actually down to try this, although I have next to zero of the skillset.  I have a tape measure, calipers, and tons of parts sitting around so I'm sure I could contribute data.  Anyone have any idea of the costs involved?  Depending on how much it is, I'd be down for buying the domain and storage but I'm a pretty low-income type of guy.  I may need to pass the torch if the house needs a new roof, if you catch my drift.

I'm picturing youtube content/channel in the future with your projects for a possible subsidy to the costs.

Brotus has a good link above.  I think I have some bookmarks that might help.  We could get a jumpstart on raw data that way.

engine weights (gomog.com)

Link with weights, sizes, and some gearbox specs for some things.

Even a place to dump data would be a good start. I've downloaded a bunch over the years. CVs, axle shafts, brake rotors.  There was a Moog catalog floating around the Locost community 10-15 years ago that can probably still be found.

So how much data are we talking?  Should I be buying a domain?  Is GRM sitting on a few TB  of spare space?  Is this something I should contact Tom or Marjorie to see if they're interested?  I have no idea if the traffic it generated would put a proportional number of pennies in their pockets.

If I'm buying, what do I need?  How much space?  Any plug-in/software packages necessary?  Ideas for a good domain name?

Brotus, I agree... even a place to put text for right now.  Alphabetize some spreadsheets and upload them would be a start.  For now, it would even be acceptable to me if I'm looking for a 52" driveshaft, I could Ctrl F and type in 52.  I'd get a lot of keyword returns for "1952" and "52 Amp alternator" but it would be a thing for now.

I love this.

PM'd you, Curtis.

Replied.  Web geniuses, unite!

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

engine weights (gomog.com)

Link with weights, sizes, and some gearbox specs for some things.

Wow, someone grabbed Dave Williams' List and stuck their own name on it.

Classy.

Here's the original

In the old days were were Hollander exchange manuals, that listed what parts would fit multiple cars.  I see these days the Hollander manual is online but I'm not sure how it works or if you need a subscription.  For certain parts (shock absorbers for example) you may be able to find tech information on a manufacturer's website that includes dimensions and configurations of each shock that you can use to cross reference.

Do y'all have this ready for beta testing yet?  Are you willing to expand it to parts for other motorized vehicles?

I accidentally started researching scooter brake caliper and rotor mounting patterns/ dimensions/ compatibility.

In reply to Oapfu :

Sadly, no.  There is a reason it doesn't exist.  It's a truckload of work.

I should do something about this, but it's not at the top of the list of things I should be doing something about. This thread popping up is a good reminder to keep percolating how to organize the users and the part data.

Maybe this would be something LLM AI can be tested on.

Have the bots scour forums and learn what is swappable within OEMs then branch out to researching what engines fit in what cars.