J. C. Whitney Catalog 1980 thru 1985

[Fullraceflathead]

Does anyone have a J. C. Whitney Catalog from this era showing all the Model A Ford parts offered during that time frame???
My 1928 Model A Roadster Pickup was repaired during the early 1980's.
The engine was sleeved back to standard bore size. Many if not all parts came from J. C. Whitney during the engine rebuild. The previous owner ordered the high lift cam. I'd like to know just what cam grind was available then. The distributor, lightened flywheel, new stock head, Pistons & rings, timing gears, adjustable lifters, Tillotson carb, clutch & disc. I believe all came from J. C. Whitney catalog orders. Does anyone know if these were decent quality parts back then? Who was the vendor? Snyder's?
If I can optain copies of the Model A Parts pages or an original catalog from back then I would appreciate someone letting me know.
Thanks,
Kevin Kline

[2manycars]

This may or may not help.

[RonC]

Does anyone know if the "new" engine heads sold by jcw were new old stock Ford heads or did someone remake them?

[davehc]

there are two 1980 catalogs on e-bay right now .
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from...+1980&_sacat=0

[1931 flamingo]

Love those prices and what was offered by them.
Paul in CT

[Fullraceflathead]

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Originally Posted by 2manycars

This may or may not help.

Thank you!
Wish I could place an order for some of those parts available back then at those prices.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Not everything in the JC Whitney catalog was poor quality. I ordered the wet sleeve engine rebuild kit for my 1959 Dauphine and it was a factory kit right from Renault and only cost about $75 including shipping. I bought carpet sets for my 1955 Chevy and 1955 Pontiac and they also looked like factory carpet sets. Yes, I also miss the days of good prices and parts from Whitney.

[Rowdy]

Wish I would have ordered 2 of the downdraft manifolds when I got into the hobbie in 1983. Being 13 at the time I had no real income most of the year and busted my butt working for local farmers and some odd jobs to send my weekly $40 order to Masonville Garage. Rod

[Marshall V. Daut]

Ah, memories, memories! The first Model A parts my father and I ever ordered for the new addition to the family in 1966 came from J.C. Whitney: two 19" tires and tubes. A friend had loaned me a copy of the Whitney catalog to browse through during high school study hour (O.K.! So I wasn't the most dedicated student in the school!) earlier that year. I came across those Model A pages and became entranced. The seed had already been planted when I had seen my friend's older brother's 1929 Model A Tudor in pieces. But until I saw that so many parts were available, only then did I decide I HAD to get a Model A of my own. That catalog sure was a source of dreams for me for a long, long time. Too bad most of the parts were cr*p and wouldn't fit or function properly. Newcomers to the hobby in the past 25 years have no idea what a dearth of parts houses and information there was at that time. Boy, did THAT ever change since the mid-1980's - for the better!
Anyway, to the poster's question. The high performance camshaft was advertised as a "3/4 grind" in the J. C. Whitney and Warscharski catalogs (same company). I remember this all these years later because I never understood what "3/4 grind" meant. It didn't matter, though. Until a year or two later, I couldn't have even told you where the camshaft was located!
By the way, I ended up ordering one of those high compression heads in 1968. It appears on one of the catalog page thumbnails in the original poster's message. I never could keep a head gasket, but while one held, that poor old 1931 Coupe sure flew! My father reamed me a new one when he found out that I spent so much money on a car part. We never did see eye to eye on antique cars after that.
Marshall

[Marshall V. Daut]

Rowdy -
An Iowa City Model A guy and I drove to Masonville in 1972 to buy parts for our Model A's. Craig Starr ran the operation and he was a great guy. Shortly afterwards, I moved to Arizona. I was saddened to hear later on that Craig had closed down the business. Too bad. A class act, as was Bob Murphy and his Model A parts business in Marion, Iowa. I think I must have paid for his kids' college educations by buying parts from him. 'Sure would like to go back in a time machine and buy parts from Craig and Bob at their 1972 prices!
Marshall

[Larry Jenkins]

Marshall..

You bring back fond memories. Knew Craig and Bob quite well. Bob had all those fabulous fastener kits.

Got my stainless steel bumpers from Craig. Very nice and a nice price.

Used to love making the short trip to Masonville.

Ever know Birdhaven?

Larry

[Rowdy]

I did business with Birdhaven. Spent some time there 10 years ago visiting with Rick. The business just is not the same without him there and the quality of the parts they now sell is almost as bad as Mac's. Rod

[Jeff/Illinois]

Originally Posted by Marshall V. Daut

Ah, memories, memories! A friend had loaned me a copy of the Whitney catalog to browse through during high school study hour (O.K.! So I wasn't the most dedicated student in the school!) earlier that year. I came across those Model A pages and became entranced.
Marshall

Man, I did the exact same thing in H.S.

Yeah, for a 30+ year old engine rebuild I have to agree, those parts must not have been TOO bad!

[Bruce of MN]

The 11/9/15 edition of Autoweek has a funny article on JC Whitney in the '80's.

In the '70's, I lived in Chicago and bought goodies for my Fiat 124 Spyder there. I worked in the Loop and could take the bus down State St. to Warshawsky's, which was the local name of the business.

[MikeK]

That catalog was good reading and wiping. I miss grandpa's outhouse.

[Skeezixx]

In the 60s I bought Model A parts from them. I remember buying a radiator ($60.00 I think) and a wiring harness. Both fit and worked well.

[Herb Concord Ca]

Hi I too lived in Chicagoland and worked in Chicago at IIT, 35th and State. Many a time after work I would drive 15 to 20 blocks north and be at their store to buy parts for my Triumph TR4. What a place! Just like an ol'time hardware store but all car parts for all cars! When you walked it it had unfinished wood floors that were worn down in the center from foot traffic.
Over Christmas vacation one year I rebuilt my TR engine with parts from Warshawski. The car ran for years after the rebuild even took it to Key West Fla, on vacation. The parts were good.
Two businesses were run out of that building. Outside the entrance on State st the sign said Warshawski Brothers. The mail order business was called JC Whitey and had a business address on Archer Ave.
Only a few streets run at an angle in Chicago, Archer was one of them, and ended at State St. So the building was shaped like a right triangle. In the phone book you only has a listing for Warshawski on State St.
This sure brought back memories. Thanks, Herb who couldn't take the cold winters and now live in Calif.

[wrndln]

I was like Marshall and others posting in this thread, and probably many others, that got a Warshawsky's catalog and dreamed of a part until my brother and I could afford the part for our 29 tudor. No credit cards or PayPal back then - just money orders We thought Warshawsky's parts were cheaper (wholesale) than J C Whitney's (retail). I don't know it that was true or not. And then there was Rick's in Kansas City with his Rick Packs and cheesy parts mostly made in Argentina. His parts were probably seconds, but back then we didn't know about the poor quality. We didn't know that they were lots of NOS parts available in the early to mid 60's if you knew where to look and inexpensive to boot. The parts from Warshawsky's and Rick's were hit and miss, mostly misses. Ah, when we were young an foolish.
Rusty Nelson

[modelAtony]

This is the 2nd time I have seen the high comp head listed at 8.3 or 8.5 first time was a 1933-36 book and price was $8.50. you always see the 8 compression heads and now days people always say the A couldn't run it safely . BUT they did back in the day. Have fun modelAtony tony white Lafayette, LA

[Steve Plucker]

My Ring Gear and Pinion was bought from JCW in 1967. Still in use in my September 1929 Standard Coupe.

Pluck