The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Anyone Remember 216's in a Sears Catalog?

I remember that Sears had an auto parts catalog in the 1960-70s which included 216's....if my memory serves me correctly. I toyed with the idea for my '39 Chevy Master Deluxe. Click my web site below for the '39 (and '51 and '48).

Anyone else remember this? Did Sears have a serious auto parts catalog. I also remember exhaust systems in it.

Yes, and the engines were virtually worthless- - - - -Sears sold the junk stuff that serious rebuilders would reject. Most of the Sears rebuilds I remember seeing were bored 60 or sometimes even 80 thousandths oversize, and the crankshafts were usually 30/30 regrinds. Sears didn't actually build their own engines- - - -they used whatever low-bid contract rebuilder gave then the best price on high-volume orders. J.C. Whitney was another place that sold low-quality "remanufactured" engines.
Jerry

Sears also sold a Sears Roebuck "Allstate" automobile in the early 50s (for 2 years?).

" Sears marketed the car as "the lowest-priced full-sized sedan on the U.S. market." "

Does anyone know what engine it used?

Here is a link to the history.
https://auto.howstuffworks.com/1952-1953-allstate.htm

Don

The Allstate was the brainchild of Henry J. Kaiser, who saw Sears as another means to mass-market his slow-selling "Henry J" two-door sedan, introduced in 1950.
The Allstate was essentially a Henry J, but with a number of differences that included Allstate badges on the hood and rear deck, a more upscale interior of Saran plaid or occasionally leather or smooth vinyl, special hubcaps/wheel covers, horn buttons and instrument bezels, a locking glove box and trunk lid, special engine color (blue), custom armrests and sun visors, revised door locks and keys, and special parking[1] and tail lamp assemblies. Most notably, the Allstate featured a unique two-bar grille and jet-plane hood ornament designed by Alex Tremulous, who had come to Kaiser-Frazer from the Tucker Corporation.
Allstate automobiles were planned to be built on the senior Kaiser platforms, but following three years of negotiations between Kaiser-Frazer and Sears, the production Allstate was announced on November 20, 1951, by Sears merchandising vice president Theodore V. Houser and Kaiser-Frazer administrative vice-president Eugene Trefethen. The three-year delay was due in part to tension from existing Kaiser-Frazer dealerships fearing competition with Sears.
Unlike early Henry J's, which were built without trunk lids to reduce costs, Allstate's offered opening trunk lids.
Series 4 cars used an 134.2 cu in (2.2 L) L-head four-cylinder 68 hp (51 kW) engine, and the Series 6 was powered by a 161 cu in (2.6 L) L-head six 80 hp (60 kW), both power plants built by Willys. A three-speed manual transmission was standard, with overdrive available for $104 extra.

I don't recall the catalog listing for 216's in the 1960s Sears catalogs, but the Allstate and Craftsman lines from Sears in that time period were seldom "junk". Our local Sears stores did have a high reputation, in the 50's and 60's, for good automotive quality items. They had a very good warranty and return policy. (Their reputation did seem to slip in latter 70's -80's).

In the STL region Jasper was a known "re-manufacturer" (from Willow, Spg MO?) and I knew a guy who worked for them in the 60's.
The source of the re-manufactured motor may have been reliant on the closest re-manufacturer that could truck , or rail , to the district Sears.

In 1958 JC Whitney sold Chevrolet "Used Blocks and Heads" and a 1931-51 wo/PG was $46.20 and 51-55 w/PG was $69.60. The 1958 JC Whitney also sold what they called Gold Bond Quality Guaranteed Precision ReManufactured Engines ; Chevrolet was $133.50 w/exchange and 6 month guarantee.

A 1952 Newhouse Automotive Industries catalog has Full Race Engines to ship via truck or rail , "Blue Hornet" GMC or Chevrolet (Racing Built & Balanced) High Standard - $580 and Deluxe Finest $795 . That was a lot of money in 1952, and Newhouse said to state whether you wanted "road or track racing, or sports car use".

Sears also sold "rebuilt" flathead Ford V8 short blocks. From what I was told those were to be avoided completely. Valves were the main problem. I know valve work on flatheads was not what most mechanics lived for, but it wasn't all that bad if the engine was out of the vehicle. However I suppose from a rebuilder's point of view it was one of those time consuming things that ate into profit.

Around 1970 I bought from JC Whitney a set of adjustable flathead tappets. Pretty neat idea, really. Each one had a hardened bolt at the top and you just adjusted the clearance and then locked it with a separate screw.

Sears catalogs had an extensive list of model T & model A parts in their regular catalog.

George

Don't forget "Monkey Wards".

Around 50 years ago I worked for Sears for a bit. It always seemed to me they never knew exactly what they had and where they had it, but I did enjoy my time there. Of course this was before the days of the computer. I was there when they first installed electronic cash registers and what a interesting change that was for people who had been with the company for most of their working life.


And around 1965 I bought a motorcycle from Montgomery Wards. Seems it was a Riverside brand and may have been made by Benelli. It ran much better than I expected.

Jasper engines were, and still are built in Jasper, Indiana. They are by far the best engine rebuilder I've encountered in abut 60 years of doing professional automotive work. They also rebuild drivetrain components for big trucks and off-road construction equipment. A guided tour through their facility takes all day. My father's independent shop was three blocks from the Nashville Tennessee Sears Auto Center in the 1950's, so he got to rework a LOT of their half-donkey jobs, including engine replacements. Ditto for brake jobs, wheel alignments, etc. Their warranty had approximately the vacuum of a Hoover upright, also!
Jerry

I established my credit through Sears. I purchased a 19" color TV on credit back in the 70's. It was called a portable but I bet it weighed 70lbs. It lasted nearly 20 yrs.
There are a bunch of Craftsman houses around here, still standing over 60-70 years....

If you ever went to Sears to get tires they'd always try to sell you repairs you didn't need. They faced and lost a lawsuit over it in the 80's.

I still used it as my primary appliance and tool source. My kitchen and laundry room is stocked with Sears products, same for my tool box, most of the tools in it and my air compressor.

Whomever ran Sears over the last 20 years ruined it. Sears had the reputation, locations and mail order business down pat then lost it. Look at amazon now...

They closed the Sears closest to me and theres only one left out in the heavily traffic'd don't like to go to west part of the city now.
So I doubt I'll do much business with them anymore.
I did notice my local ACE hardware store now carries Craftsman tools.
Time waits for nobody.....

Craftsman Tools now owned by Stanley Black & Decker can be bought at Ace, Blain's, Atwoods and Lowe's.

It's very sad for me as I always liked Sears and have many tool boxes full of Craftsman made in USA tools.

Mike B

Our local Sears store is gone also. A dirty shame!
As mentioned, it used to be THE place to shop for all kinds of stuff. But in the last several years we hardly ever went in there anymore.

Sadly, Craftsman tools are no longer made in the USA. Like so many things, manufacturers have outsourced to China.

Jon G, I worked for Sears from late 1970 to mid-1981 as an appliance salesman and dept head. After Walmart made a name for itself Sears chased the wrong market and went downhill from there,