Gear: Decorate Your Desk with a Piston Paperweight

Decorate Your Desk with a Piston Paperweight

By Petrolicious
June 11, 2013

We’re willing to bet you’ve got a garage drawer full of old car parts that, though perhaps rendered functionally useless by wear or obsolescence, are just too cool to toss in the trash. As enthusiasts we collect this stuff like the carpet under a couch collects dust bunnies—it’s like magnetism.

Pistons, rods, pulleys, shift knobs, taillights, camshafts, intricately finned heads, Wankel rotors, perhaps even the odd 10-inch wheel from a Mini, they all make great paperweights or objects of interest for your office. Used tastefully, they’re wonderful reminders of what we work so hard for, and what we have to look forward to tinkering with/driving/rubbing with a diaper in our off-hours.

If, unlike us, you don’t retain a sentimental attachment to worthless old parts but like the idea, take a trip to your local junkyard with a small ratchet/screwdriver set and spend an enjoyable hour or two browsing. Be creative, it doesn’t necessarily take an interesting car to yield interesting parts—it certainly helps, though. Further fun can be had on eBay or craigslist, so go have a look, and let us know in the comments below what you find and how you use it.

Pictured below: Jaguar V12 connecting rods, 911 camshaft, Lancia Scorpion rear taillight panel, 911 piston and cylinder, Mini 10-inch wheel, Wankel rotor and an interesting vintage gear shift knob.

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Dutch
Dutch
11 years ago

I saved an Offenhauser intake manifold for a Dodge slant 6 from the crusher last fall. It’s doubtful that I will ever own a slant 6, but I just couldn’t let it get destroyed. Not even gonna put it on eBay. Now, it’s art!

japanophile25
japanophile25
11 years ago

I call dibs on the camshaft. Its mine. No one else can have it.

Andre Paixao
Andre Paixao
11 years ago

As a Citroëniste, I have a few suspension spheres laying around… i’m thing on using them to build a coffe table, in witch they will be used has foot… still a plan on my mind… one day… 🙂

Fingers
Fingers
11 years ago

I love car art, I have four old Lancia hub caps on the wall, two from an Aurelia, one has lost its chrome and looks great in brass, and two from series one Fulvias, one coupe one saloon. I also have a series three Lancia Beta dashboard waiting to be hung in the garage, the one designed by the architect Mario Bellini.

Michael Squeo
Michael Squeo
11 years ago

A family member is a heavy equipment mechanic so naturally I have an enormous piston on my bar full of candy. It might not be a Jaguar connecting rod but it looks great there…..and it weighs a ton.

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