I try to keep mostly parts that fit on cars that I own, future projects or are hard to obtain when needed. Everything else goes to ebay, friends or whoever who may need it. I swap, sell, give them away and if nobody wants them after a while they will be scrapped . I had a rustfree OT 77 Caprice frontclip that was a leftover from a car I parted out years ago.I tried to give it away for 5 years. Hood, fenders, bumper, grill, headlights... I asked anyone I knew that had a boxy GM G-Body . Everyone said, yes , would be nice to have but takes up too much space to store... Yes, I agree, hahaha After 5 years of tripping over it and moving it from here to there, putting it in the classifieds for free with no takers it went to the scraper´s in late September...Last week I got a call from a friend who had rearend a someone driving his 79 Caprice station wagon.... oh man. I am still sorry for him, but still glad I got rid of it....
I could not give away '40's pickup truck front axle/suspension and rear axles. Only old parts I have ever sent to scrap. Got body parts along my fence line hidden by trees that will be there forever no doubt. Doors and hoods here and there. I only sell stuff I know I will never use. My parts shack. Everything inside is sorted and much in boxes labelled as to contents. I used a heater control switch in my last hotrod that I had bought 30 years earlier and never used.
I try to give stuff away and most of the time it's more difficult than trying to sell it. I've started just offering stuff if I see someone is working something that goes with what I have. Sometimes it works out, Squirrel got a rear axle and some roller wheels from me that got a little use. Dragging shit to the scrapper to make $3 isn't worth it to me. If I can't give it away or I get tired of tripping over it I put it in the alley behind my house. Dont know whether it gets scrapped or used on a project but it always disappears. Sent from my SM-G965U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I took a load in yesterday,it was mainly brake drums and backing plates that were in my shed that had developed a roof leak and got them too rusty to use. The only usable part was a Ford 233 bellhousing that I tried to give away but no takers,I almost threw the 3 speed trans in the pile but going to keep that for a core since the pull and pays want the old part. I ended up getting about 50 dollars for that load and since I now get paid every two weeks it got me some beer money since pay day is next friday.
About 1/3rd of a '57 Chevy sedan. Why? for all the good and logical reasons explained above and the mixed emotions BUT....I too grew up with the "waste not want not" value system. I hate waste and pointless destruction in fact one of the facets of my fascination with old cars is preservation of relics of the past. I get nearly as bummed out seeing an antique house collapsing from neglect as an old car rusting away. I have an urge to save them. I see their potential where others see only shabbiness and "space" being "taken up" for some reason that really bothers some people. Then there is the fact that if it wasn't for those who went before me with the same values there would be literally no Hot Rodding period! The cars we love were spawned out of two factors: 1) the wastefulness of general society brought the price of used cars to levels where young people could afford them (they were virtually being thrown away) and 2) the desire to take cast off things and prove that when ingenuity and mechanical ability are applied they may perform as well as or better than a new vehicle. To me that's it in a nutshell...someone threw away a '32 ford or sold it for 1/10th of it's original price in '48 because (sales & marketing) people convinced them that driving a 10-15 yr old car was not only uncool but expensive and cumbersome far better to just buy new. Then someone else said "hey that's not junk" let's apply some modern tech and re-use it. Where I live the population density and the lemmings desire to affect what others do with their lives/space is disgustingly wasteful. We're trashing everything that's stood the test of time in favour of cheap foreign "new" products not just cars...everything. We're being sold a load of horseshit that our lives will be so much more peaceful without that "old junk"etc. it's in the media (and on the agenda) everywhere ...anyone else notice this? Attrition will eventually dry up the pool of original parts along with 99.9% of the romance...yeah I know ...you can lazer print or repop an entire fuckin car now but is it the same? not to me
If I scrap it, it's not useable or really worthless. Same deal, though, a month after I scrapped a 50 Chevy rearend somebody wanted it.
Hello, A friend and I were talking about the old days and what was planned for our next build after the 1940 Willys 671 SBC Coupe. In early 1960, we had a backyard garage that was integral in the original build. Many late nights, tired weekends, all day construction, took place inside and outside of that small workplace. We took apart a game/recreation room doors and windows to create a lift up garage door for our Willys to roll right inside during bad weather. Yes, there were bad weather days in So Cal. If the work was not conducive inside, we stretched a large canvas tarp across the concrete slab and grass to extend the dry area for our build. The "most" extra parts that were in our backyard, converted, Rumpus Room Garage, took place between our original 283 SBC changeover into the 292 SBC in early 1960. Our thought was that after running our 40 Willys coupe with the 283/6 Strombergs in the B/Gas class for a month or two, we decided to get more horsepower, so a drastic changeover was in the making. Our times and speeds were ok for a first build, but we were not as competitive as we would like. Of course, guys that had been in the racing game for a lot longer were just going fast and faster…(K.S. Pittman, Jr. Thompson, Doug Cook, Al Hirshfield, etc.) So, it necessitated a jump up in engine size and as much extra horsepower we could generate and still be in the street class. We both decided that a supercharger was the thing that would increase our horsepower. The first thing was to get all of the 283 parts over into one corner of the counter. We needed pistons and rods that were built specifically for a 671 supercharged motor. We had extra parts laying all over the counter and on the floor. Since the original 283 had 6 Strombergs on an Edlebrock manifold, we had no use for that Edlebrock manifold on the 671 supercharged SBC 292 build. So, into that corner it went. Because most of our friends had SBC motors and cars, those parts we took off of the 283 build were sold, to up their speed tactics. We needed space in that small garage. If they did not get sold, they were shoved back or placed under the counter for storage. lift up garage door leading to a workplace storage space. My brother had instructed me to write up an ad for the Drag News Classified Section in late December /early January 1961 issue. During this time, everything was labeled. Jnaki All of these years later, I finally read the ad several times and found out that my brother had 9 inch wide, pair of Chevy rims made for those future, M&H “big” slicks we had on order. I guess he wanted to try those on the Chevy bolt pattern rims first, then order the final Halibrand Mag Wheels for the run to the Nationals in September. I know those 9 inch wide Chevy rims were not for the Impala, (the 7 inch Bruce Slicks fit fine…)so he did have plans. He had a job that paid well for a kid and we had some help from our dad, only when we were in need. The need certainly, was calling in late July for ordering the speed parts for the late August delivery and install. The printed ads were typed in by the Drag News staff and the misspelling was not me, but the lady on the phone desk. For this ad, we certainly had to correct that spelling. The mislabeled, 49 Willys motor and running gear (trans & rear end) did not sell, because no one was looking for a 1949 Willys motor and running gear!!! The ad cost per letter and the typist cut corners when it was deemed necessary, despite the misprint. In August, we scrapped the Willys body as one complete body, fenders, bumpers, frame, etc. at a local scrap yard in Wilmington, CA, near Lions. The front was slightly damaged from hitting the fence. From the doors back, they were pristine steel body parts, but had a bad “JUJU” about them, so they were scrapped. The rest of the small parts were to be sold out of our backyard garage, for as long as it took. In less than two weeks, they were all sold and gone. Despite the misspelling on the original ad. (It was a 292 C.I. SBC not a 283)
My parts pile is getting smaller due to friends and young guys getting into the hobby! Lots of good stuff gone
I did a purge about 10 years ago when I moved, keeping only the “good stuff”. A few years ago my buddy purged his stash by getting a couple spaces at a swap, I brought a truckload of my good stuff and came home with a pocket full of cash and a small tote of unsold parts. Everything was priced to sell so the stuff ended up in the hands of someone that will actually use it. Win, win...
all I have left is a coffee can of nuts and bolts. it also contains nuts and bolts from the 51 and 53.
There's the problem.........I'm in the same situation. But I buy plastic sheds and the Girlfriend is okay with my stuff. The next move will come with more land and less neighbors .
That's what happens when you're a day late and dollar short I guess! Thanks for takin the time to reply.
Felt real good, pair of '65 Mustang doors, two trips to Hershey and would have taken $20.00 for the pair. Not worth the drive to the scrap yard, back to the dump they went. Bob
A few years back a buddy and I were at a large Mopar show and swap. After 30 years of selling together we have gone through a lot of parts and still had totes full of non sellers. We started going through the totes separating the good and maybe from the no way/scrap it piles. In the end we had 8 18 gal. toes filled to overflowing with parts we were going to throw away. It was at that time my sun baked mind had a moment of clarity. We quickly made up some signs that read: 'Any part $1.00 ' and set the special totes to one side. Made the rounds of vendors we knew and acted like a carnival barker to the parts seeking customers. It was a madhouse.Guys were buying handfulls and making piles. Dented headlight bezels,used electronic bits,fogged over gauges and anything heavy we were tired of lifting went into the piles. Had vendors say they didn't know why they were buying as they had the same stuff and couldn't sell theirs. Most times folks wont dig through a big tote to see what all is in there. They did that day. Had people say "Really? Only $1.00 for this? Your nuts,it's worth more than that" Want that air cleaner with a rust hole? $1.00 for the bottom and $1.00 for the lid. In the end we made a couple hundred bucks from stuff we going to throw away.
Had a33 chevy trans and rear end that had been getting in my way for years . I ran add trying to sell them with no luck. A buddy of mine told me about a guy in Pa. Who delt in nothing but 33 & 34 chevy parts he says I got all I need so to scrap yard they went. I still hate scrapping good parts.
I'm relocating and had a 40 year collection of Indian parts, really nice stuff. A friend was helping me with a 37 chief and I told him I was going to get rid of all my spares, He deals in that sort of thing, so he offered 2500.00 and I said yes. Yesterday he hauled it all off, yes, he will make thousands, but I'm rid of it and I wish him well.
Europe is not better: Parted out a nice Fordor 1930 Model A and after 3 months on the net the ad was removed from a Dutch site and really nobody even responded and asked what I had or how much was i asking. Put it on a German site and luckely some guys from Austria bought most of it, it is really sad how few interest there is in some parts.
It's got to happen this year ! Thin out the 40 years of collected parts and projects. Will try maybe 2 local swap meets, word of mouth, and then pass on remains to my buddy that picks up scrap. Really like the $ 1.00 pile idea (thanks partsdawg) and didn't know about the " Pay it Forward " which sounds pretty cool also....Only thing I dislike about Long Distant sales would be the ship part unless it was USPS. May try some CL local or that Marketplace...But still not keen on any long distant negotiations and have tried CL on a couple of project vehicles with some success.
My father in law was a great old car guy he had the biggest hoard ever!! He died in 2008 and it took 2 years of most of my spare time to get to the bottom of it. I didn’t mind because my father in law was a great guy and would always help me when I needed it and the proceeds helped my mother in law . His favorite saying was he who dies with the most toys wins. But I think a better saying might be the meaning of life is when you die everyone else gets your stuff.
i was wondering if we can't sell or give away stuff is because people watch these shows where they tell you to buy from so and so vendor new. people aren't building with old parts. you know what they say, "don't use old spindles,they are worn out" (insert your part). say like 9" axles. we all know that new axles are the thing to buy if you are narrowing the housing but you can respline them and they will be fine for normal street use. again pick your part. i remember when pinto/m11 front suspension was the thing to do, now you can't give them away. buy new from insert hot rod vendor name. i hope you get my thoughts.
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