You see this all the time on here. "I have a bone stock this" or "I have a bone stock that."


Here's an example right now:

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...endations.html

"Stock" means "as it came from the factory," right? How can something be more "as it came from the factory" than "as it came from the factory?"

Inquiring minds want to know!

 

Mebbe the same as the difference tween HEAD and BONE HEAD.

 

Weak. Very weak.

 

Yes, I suppose it is a waste of time for folks to add the "Bone" to these posts. But also a waste of time for you to ask about it as it won't change anything. And I am wasting my time replying to this thread. I guess that is what we do a lot of, wasting time.
Waste on!!

 

In the link you provided I believe the OP just intended to let folks know that his Olds is currently unmodified. I suppose a car in the Concours d'elegance would loose points even if it had a rebuilt generator or starter from a parts store / mail order parts house. Surely all the cars showing in an event like that would need NOS or original parts?

Personally, I think folks get carried away. It's not like the car has "original" air in the tires!

 

Putting the word "bone" in front of stock implies something more than simply "stock." If there isn't anything beyond "stock," then people should stop using the word.

 

Correct. And the word "stock" alone would imply this. There is no need for "bone" in front of it.

 

Maybe like almost pregnant...

 

Exactly.

 

Stock-a broth made from meat or vegetables or both.
Bone stock-a broth made from bones.

 

Silly NVM

 

Slow news day, huh?

 

I think the conclusion was that adjectives do not modify adjectives.

 

Very!

 

Oh come on, folks have been saying that for as long as there have been cars, and you're just now getting worked up over it?



See what I did there?

 

While it is indeed an example of a superfluous modifier, the difference could have substance in that the term "stock" is used to mean "all major parts are original, minus wear parts and minor Day 2 stuff." The term "bone stock" means untouched, in addition to all-original. The thread in question refers to a stock 400 that has also probably never been disassembled for repair, thus, the "bone."


I think another part of it is that this is a hobby of varying tastes. Some people appreciate a car as being as designed by Detroit and think any mods are atrocities committed by people of dubious skill, taste, and intellect, and even more questionable parental lineage. Other people view a car as someone's property with which they know best what should be done, and that those purists who look down at modifying their cars probably tuck their shirts into their underwear and romance their wives strictly in the missionary position, in the total darkness, while mostly clothed. The "bone stock" term possibly designates a car totally untouched by the aforementioned heathen.

 

I think bone stock was first used by the Department of Redundancy Department.

 

This is the first reasonable description for a difference in the terms.

A car is "stock" in the sense that no major components have been changed or modified, but wear parts have been replaced over time as needed.

A "bone stock" car has had nothing replaced and is as it left the factory.

A "stock" '72 Cutlass with 80,000 miles on it could have an oil filter that was installed a month ago. A "bone stock" '72 Cutlass still has the oil filter that it left the factory with in 1972.


With this distinction, there are very few "bone stock" cars out there, so tread lightly using that term. But there are many "stock" cars.


For the '78 Toronado I just got back on the road a few months ago after it had been sitting undriven for 13 years, I replaced many thing with parts made in 2017, including the gas tank, all brake hardware (drums, rotors, calipers, wheel cylinders, master cylinder and booster), rubber hoses, radiator, water pump, battery, fuel pump, shock absorbers, and probably another dozen things I'm not remembering. I also had the transmission rebuilt and the front end aligned, before which the shop replaced a lower ball joint on one side. It has also been repainted.

Is this car bone stock? No.

Is it stock? Good question. The replacement parts are like originals or as close to originals as it is possible to get, but certainly many of these parts are not "wear" parts. Where do you draw the line?

I would consider it "stock." I have not replaced any major components, like the carburetor or the headers or the exhaust system or the wheels, with something that was not available from the factory. I did not change the car's color.

 

I think we should just call it "numbers matching"...

 

Apples and orange, Mr. P., apples and oranges. "Numbers matching" is a well-defined term, even if it's constantly mis-applied. No such widely-accepted definitions exist for the terms "stock," "bone stock," and even "modified."

The last of those was always a problem for the Mid-Ohio Chapter's annual all-Olds show (and probably other chapters as well). We had many "stock" classes and a few "modified" classes. How did we define "modified?" It was any car with at least three "major changes" from stock. So now we have to define "major change." Some things, like a non-stock engine, are obvious, but others could be less so, so we always ended the description of what constitutes a modified car with "the decision of the head judge is final as to whether a car goes into a stock class or a modified class." It came down to someone making a judgment.

But there could still be disagreement and hard feelings. A car that has had it's engine changed but nothing else does not constitute a "modified" car by the definition in use as that is only one major change. So this car would be entered into the appropriate stock class, where "what did it look like when it left the showroom" is the standard, and lose lots of points accordingly because of the non-stock engine. So this car's owner, even if he had done a beautiful job with the engine replacement and it was so clean under there you could eat off of it, goes home without a trophy. The moral of the story is know what the consequences of modifying a car might be when it comes to judged car shows.

 

What's the difference between "stock" and "bone stock"?


I think it's kinda like the difference between "price" and "Price point".

 

I like my whites a “whiter white” and then there’s the ever popular bluer shade of blue.
It’ll be OK Jaunty just keep driving that Old Oldsmobile and you’ll be finer than fine or at least better than new.

 

Kinda like Classic Oldsmobile with no members or cars that are true classics. maybe that is redundancy in reverse who knows, or cares... Tedd the grunch, or is that Christmas?

 

That was my point - the term is meaningless today, just like "bone-stock" or "classic".

 

I had a win on the lotto, was it luck or dumb luck?.
Perhaps "bone stock" is 110% original....

Roger.