8 Unexpected Uses For Old Car Parts

Car parts getting used up, worn out, outdated, and generally useless is a fact of life of car ownership. No matter how nice and how new your vehicle may be, it will require new parts at some point. Components such as brakes and filters require regular maintenance, while suspension parts all get worn down with enough miles put on them. This has led to an auto parts industry in the U.S. with a value of more than $80 billion that employs nearly half a million people. This means there are tons of auto parts on shelves waiting for the next repair, covering everything from replacement filters to a broken vanity mirror. However, when you have to replace something, what happens to the old part?

The good news about old cars and car parts is that there is an extremely high rate of recycling taking care of them. Most of that comes from whole cars being recycled — up to 75% — at the end of their lives, but scrap metal recycling helps take care of replacement parts as well. However, many parts, such as alternators and brake calipers, are reconditioned and sold as "like-new" parts. Reusing them for their intended purpose is great, but sometimes, people find novel ways to repurpose parts for unintended uses, often with surprising results.

Considering just how talented and ingenious our fellow humans can be, these old car parts have been reused in ways you probably did not expect.

Engines are heaps of metal parts assembled in such a way as to convert liquid fuel into energy. These are complex machines that rely on advanced engineering to create the parts needed and in what way they are assembled to create the desired outcome, whether that is high fuel efficiency or maximum power output. There are thousands of different designs of engines of all different sizes, but they all rely on some of the same components, with a few notable exceptions. These parts include the pistons, rods, crankshaft, and camshaft, just to name a few. Once the engine is worn out, these parts generally have little use but to be melted down for scrap.

Sometimes the crankshafts or camshafts can live a new life with a more sedentary purpose. Since the camshaft and crankshaft are both made from thick and solid steel, they are extremely strong. This has left some inventive home builders to use them to support a mailbox. While this is effective, the aesthetic dynamic may not be for everyone. Furthermore, using engine parts to support your mailbox may very well go against your homeowner's association guidelines. If not, then you do you. It's your mailbox after all. Also, this is a more common practice than you probably realize. A Google image search for a crankshaft mailbox post reveals an endless stream of images.

Seatbelts are life-saving devices that are crucial for travel in any automobile. First offered in 1949, seatbelts remained optional until Wisconsin passed the first law requiring them in new cars in 1961. Volvo created the first three-point harness, though federal law did not require them in new cars until 1968. Today, seatbelts are second nature to most, and it would be tough to imagine getting in a car without first buckling up. Furthermore, many who were around in the '70s through the '90s remember the standard metal buckle found in cars across all divisions of General Motors. It seems these particular buckles and more have found second lives today.

Searching through the store on Etsy, one can find a large selection of seat belts and buckles repurposed for a range of fashion accessories. The most common use is for a belt for your pants. The metal buckles commonly used until the '90s make for a perfect quick-release belt that is known to hold securely in most conditions. Products from Etsy are hand-crafted and you can expect to find many repurposed items on the site. Other related products include handbags made from recycled seatbelt webbing and others using the buckle as a clasp. Hot Topic also sells belts like this, but they are likely reproduction units mass-produced in China. There is also a company called SkyBelts that repurposes old airplane seat belts into fashion accessories using genuine aviation buckles and webbing.

Hubcaps have been covering the wheels of cars since the 1930s. Since then, manufacturers have created elaborate designs for the wheel covers sold with cars from across the spectrum from a base model Chevrolet to the largest and grandest Cadillac. These designs helped to define the brand by what was on the wheels. Yet, because of the introduction of cheap and durable plastic, many wheel covers have become ordinary and less distinguished. Today, most cars above the base level of affordable cars come with alloy wheels, created with designs of distinction that set off the overall appearance. With older cars leaving the road, the abundance of older hubcaps has led to many upcycling them into something more timeless, clocks.

Creating a clock from a hubcap seems kind of like an obvious thing to do. The hubcap is large and round, which makes a perfect background for a clock. With a drill and a cheap battery-powered clock mechanism, you can have a wall clock in minutes. These clocks certainly have their place in specific locations like man caves, themed restaurants, garages, and auto-related businesses. However, they do offer a special charm that lovers of classic cars in particular will love. The Drive offers instructions on how you can make your own.

In Africa, a practice dating back to the 1930s has seen indigenous people make footwear from discarded tires. During the Italian occupation of East Africa in 1935, Ethiopian rebels made sandals from used tires while fighting to drive the Italians out of their homeland. In a land that has been historically conquered and occupied and where natural resources are less abundant than in other parts of the world, innovation in fulfilling basic needs has always bred ingenuity.

The practice of making tire sandals continues today, providing a way to eliminate tire waste while offering a needed and valued commodity to the people of Africa. These sandals are known in East Africa as "Ten-Thousand Milers." They use old tires combined with camel leather and traditional beadwork to create sandals that are also made using traditional techniques. For the impoverished people of these lands, new sandals can cost the equivalent of just $2.40 per pair while employing the people making them. In addition to providing work and helping to clear up old tires, the material used is extremely durable and tough, making the sandals perfect for walking over the rough and often jagged terrain of the savannah and desert areas of the continent.