I just didn't think this stuff would go away this fast. My buddy has a repair shop and he said he sends his heads to a parts store they have a machine shop. He still has his souix valve grinding stuff. But says he doesn't want to mess with it. Not cost effective. I bought his stuff from him. Strange world to us old farts. My Dad use to say, About the time I go will be about right. LOL
OK, I'm convinced now. Gone are my plans to sell extra old stuff when ( if ) I retire, after reading this ****ing depressing thread. I'll never throw anything away again. Ever. Not a screw, a nut, a piece of heater hose, a worn out bearing, nothing. Doing a painful remodel, sort of, of my 75 year old house. Plumbers finished the bathroom 2 nights ago. Since these guys won't use anything that 's still good in your house, maybe I need to go dig out my old **** out of the garbage can. Those guys were telling me how bad the new fixtures I (she) picked out were, and which parts would break soon. I'm old enough to remember real junkyards, and real parts houses. I always wanted to just hang out, even if I didn't need anything. A great parts place, with a couple of old guys, and a cloud of cigarette smoke was always a mystical place to me.
Don`t forget the dog(not a rescue dog) laying just inside the front door of the parts house. I buy old stuff just to get the square headed bolts. I make a monthly run to U - Pull - It just to get stuff I can`t find any more for newer vehicles. On the search now to increase my slotted screw (threaded and machine) inventory.
I work on my daily drivers (1960 & 1970), and see something like a leaking water pump. (This is on early Holdens, which were as common as Chevy's in the U.S.). I think "no worries, I'll just go down to Super****cheapautoparts*******s and grab one off the shelf, same as 25 years ago. No way, I have to put in an order for one, and get it next week. Oh well, at least I don't have to have a "software upgrade" every year.
My 48 that I bought in 1973 was 25 years old. The 92 Ford Ranger that I bought a couple of months ago to fix up and sell or drive is already 28 years old and my 77 Chevy Dualie is 43 years old. I have one vehicle on the place that doesn't qualify for "Cl***ic" plate by it's age. The good thing around here is a lot of the farmers still have older trucks in their farm fleets that they need new or used parts for so the local parts houses tend to stock some stuff for older rigs and the wrecking yards save back trucks that parts can be harvested on until they look worse than the Thanksgiving turkey on the day before trash day. There isn't a whole lot left of those trucks when they finally get crushed. I had a set of old Mopar wheels that came with snow tires on them on a 91 Dodge Grand Caravan, they either cop car or station wagon wheels. Stuck them on FB market place and sold them in 30 minutes and the guy drove 70 miles to get them. He took one look, says that is what he wanted and stuck the cash in my hand.
Danny If those are Chevy rally wheels (Kelsey Hays), look next to the valve stem hole, there (should) be a two letter code which correlates to specific applications, a number of them have gotten very collectable. I have the list calling out all pertinent dimensions, such as width, backspacing and what cars they came on. Yes, some consider them OT, others........not so much!
next time you need anything in the plastics line, check out McMaster-Carr Supply. They have everything.
I’m 46, but I can relate to all of your posts. When I was in high school, 70’s Camaros and square body Chevy trucks were everywhere. Then, one day, you looked around and they were gone. Like overnight. My daily driver is 23 years old and I never thought about it being “old” until now. But, as mentioned, none of the local parts houses have anything for it. One of my nephews drives a 73 C-10, he needed a power steering pump for it, I was astonished nobody had it in stock until I thought about it. Time marches on, I guess. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Back in the early 70's I was also looking for the old ensign style dash and fortunately a friend that was s****ping a old Chris Craft wooden boat with exactly what I wanted, the gauges were unimportant but it was the Stewart Warner insert I was looking for. I picked it up for 10 bucks. HRP
Give me a brake.....try going into a parts place in the EARLY 70's and asking for a Studebaker part.....and FYI they ran the later Delco style drop in points and window distributor cap starting about 1962,
Hello, As much as it is fun to put together a hot rod with parts we used to use, there comes a time when it is easier to get a crate motor that can be dropped into the set up for any hot rod. The new/old parts may have some problems with aging and cause difficulties. Finding them is going to be difficult, of course, but maybe it might be better to get a new part that fits and will help the build along on the right track. As we all age, those old parts age right along. But a new motor in a 60 year old car that has not been refurbished or taken apart, will still have 60 years of aging. Things age, get overworked and need replacement in old cars. When we were teenagers, the cars were not that old, so we had very little repairing on a regular basis. But over the years, it might be best in the long run to do the whole refurbishing thing on all parts. Jnaki As much as we like to do a 100% build with original parts, it may be difficult and not as enjoyable to fight the system. Then the old saying is: Is it the journey or the destination? For most old guys/girls, it is the destination at this stage of the game. The journey was fun at one time, but those times are now long gone. IMHO This is one 1940 sedan that we would purchase for our current needs. It has enough stuff to get us started and do some detailing/replacements along the way. No hot rod is ever finished. At least a sedan is comfortable for three or more people. Our granddaughter is in the stage of learning to drive and this sedan would have her enjoy a different way to like driving. Having owned two 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery hot rods, what is left? This Blue Sedan Delivery has all of the stuff we like and would think about purchasing it. A sedan delivery just has that look that says hot rod. Except for the fact that the p***enger blind spot and the two person only, drivability created enough of a problem for us that we sold the last sedan delivery before its time. But, family came first. A friend told me that a replacement knee has done wonders for him. He has the ability to do all activities in a normal fashion without pain or some disability. But, the rest of the body is 76 years old and in need of some refurbishing. The same with old hot rods. YRMV
This here, exactly. Here in Stanton, TX (population 3000) we had a parts house known as Walker Auto Parts. After 40 years the parts guy retired and the owner closed the doors. Basically what you just described- cigarette smoke, the smell of his Mr. Coffee machine and always some older guys in there complaining about something. Kenneth could get you any part. He stocked water pumps, fuel pumps, etc for just about every American made car or truck. One of the few places that kept Pontiac RA IV intake gaskets on the shelf. 90 % of the time didn't even open his parts book. We better not throw anything away if it's even half way useable any more. The day is here when we are our own "parts guys".
20-25-30 years ago, I was the "go to guy" locally for anyone looking for vintage cars & parts for sale. I was a "Junkyard Junkie" to the point that I even co published Junkyard News...and I knew where EVERYTHING and ANYTHING was sitting. But, like @lippy so profoundly stated "I just didn't think this stuff would go away this fast". It's ALL GONE.
This made me think of my Grandpa, who had a 1928 Chevy coupe back in the late 1930's. Not sure what became of it; he p***ed away in 1992 and my Grandmother p***ed away in 2008. Near the end of her life, she started talking about how he had found the Chevy coupe and was fixing it up. Had no recollection of it if you asked her about it, but she would bring it up every now and again. Shortly before she p***ed away, she told Mom that he was holding the p***enger door open and beckoning to her to go for a ride. She died a couple days later; I like to think she took him up on the offer. Anyhow, I'm thinking that he had to have a source of parts up there to fix it, so I suspect that's where we'll find this stuff someday....
I remember being a kid in the early 1950s, hanging out in the yard with my buds, and once in a blue moon, a Ford Model A might roll past. The first one of us to spot the 20-year-old specimen would get all excited and yell out, "Hey! Look at that ol' timey car!" We would all pause from our play to chatter on about the old jalopy until it would p*** from sight and then it was forgotten as we went back to play. Now my own body is about to turn 78 come spring. I've noticed that some of my parts are older than the other parts. I haven't had to replace any yet but I at least have to give it some consideration, just in case.
The Jalopy Journal
