What parts should I stock?
 

This may well have been covered before, but what parts can you think of that I should acquire and have on hand for my 1992 240? Over and above the usual suspects such as spark plugs and fan belts, etc?
Some parts are getting harder to find and I don't want to have to buy a junker in order to get a few parts. I plan to keep the car on the road as long as possible....

Speaking from experience of other obsolete cars - any trim panels you find that are in good, or at least salvageable, condition, such as door cards, dashboard tops, centre console etc. would have to be at the top of the list. They may require repair but epoxy resin, Milliput or Squadron Green Stuff and expired credit cards can be used to repair many damaged plastic components.

Any mechanical and engine management system bits that are exclusive to your car also should be hoarded. A friend struggled to obtain bits for a B230K engine's EGR system.

For RHD 200-series cars, a spare windscreen wiper motor is essential since they are rarer than rocking-horse droppings.

If you have space it's worth picking up duplicates as you may be able to exchange them for other bits you need further down the line. Old-time plastic modellers use to buy 4 examples of a kit: one to build "out of the box", one to build "properly", one for posterity/pension fund, and one to swap at some future point. Having a couple of spares also means you can re-condition one without having to put the car off the road.

fuel pump relay and flywheel pickup lead. Much more stuff is still available than for its contemporaries, mind. Try getting Granada Mk1 stuff..

There are different answers to the question depending on what you are wanting to achieve:

a) a stock of the parts you should carry in the car because they are liable to fail without warning, but totally disabling if they do (spark plugs, fan belt, fuel pump relay, Ignition Amplifier Module, Crank Position Sensor). They range from easy to slightly difficult to swap at the roadside, but are still readily available from suppliers

b) a stock of parts you reasonably believe are going to become unobtainable and you might well want in a few years time. It would be useful to know what effect panic buying has on the manufacturers - do they see the increased demand so increase production, or does it simply exhaust the limited supply more quickly so that other enthusiasts miss out?

c) a stock of the bits which you know wear out slowly, and are annoying if you suddenly need for an MOT. For example I always keep a spare pair of rear reaction rods with new bushes fitted. They only last about 40,000 miles in my experience, are easy to swap onto the car, but are hard work removing and refitting the bushes.

The lists in each category are potentially endless, and depend on one's abilities. Also spares availability changes, so you have to keep abreast of trends.

Bumper strips like the trim on the tops of the bumper. They have a habit of falling off when fixing clips rust out. Clips I bought from Volvo around a quid each years ago and a blob of no nails equivalent to the bumper.

Tailgate wiring looms useful as well as number plate lights. Mine were rubbish and old and kept working loose! Good part to have.

James.

what parts do I stock?
 

Thanks for the thoughts on this. My main focus is on things that are going to be hard to find, or take some time to get, the lack of which will keep the car at the curb...