History "Stuff I flipped too Early, 40-50 years ago."

In 1962 I purchased a '32 three window coupe body, frame and tired flathead, and worked on it until Uncle Sam came calling and I joined the Navy. Sold the three window for a whopping $100 to my best friend. Some guy offered him $300 for it and that was the last time I saw the car. If I could only go back.

 

Sounds like a deal, have you had a plumber do any work for you today at 2024 labor rates.

 

If everybody had saved all they had sold earlier some would be called out as hoarders.
Never regretted selling anything
How many have held on to cars and parts and watched the market plummet when either the whims of buyers shifted or aged out and the quality as well as variety of reproduction parts skyrocketed.

 

I funded my hobby all through the 90's by parting various muscle cars. First gen Camaros, Firebirds, Novas, Mustangs, Etc. I would buy cars for $50-$500 and split them down to parts and sell, sell, sell.

Yeah.

 

I know how to build houses....So no, I wouldn't pay that. I wouldn't pay anything. Period.

My shop labor rate is also fairly compareable. So it's just about an even trade either way.

 

That just reminded me of the Hurst Olds I took in payment for $500.00 worth of carpentry work. Took the doors and T tops off, along with the hood & trunk lid, put a new blade in the Saws-All and quartered it. That was a money maker.

 

That was me too, but I stuck with Mopar as the product line of my choice.

Through all those years of doing that, there were times of a "fire sale" when I would sell off something dirt cheap so I had the needed funds for a specific requirement, but that is part of running any business.

There were seasons when some parts would sell for more money then then the same parts would sell for other times, the smart guys might save some the stuff for when the prices may be better, but that time frame was probably only a few months away.

Never was I looking at what something might be worth in 2 years, let alone 40 years into the future. Still don't. At the same time, I'm not looking back thinking I should have saved something from those days so I could sell it now and make a fortune. If I sold it back then, I probably made some money off of it, or the money from selling it was used for something I needed at the time.

Over the course of my life, I have been through several rounds of storage increase and storage decrease. Nothing says that part that is worth a small fortune now, would have ever survived the downsizes, or even if the part would have retained the condition its remembered to have been in.

Hind sight is 20/20, we get to see everything that has happened in the past (though we tend to forget most of the troubled events that happened then). The future is not nearly as clear.

 

Let's see, the cherry '58 Impala convert I junked because I wanted the 348, the 2 '64 GTO's I junked because someone wanted the 389's, etc. I could go on for hours........

 

Don't get me started on the running $500 dollar rust free with mint interior 1968 Catalina 4 door I took the 400 out of for my 1967 GTO and promptly sent to the scrap yard.

 

“No regrets really, but if I had them today the current projects would be getting closer to done. What slipped through your garage door in years past, that really turned into something of value today?”








The final result was pretty good for a couple of teenagers doing their second SBC build.

The first try was a SBC 283 long block and loose parts gathered together in an assembly line. We put it together as we got the other necessary parts. Our income was built up and then we would buy a new part to install. That is what we though everyone was doing at the time. So, the backyard garage was just a workbench with parts scattered over the top surface until it got moved to the block sitting on a stand. Still, the 6 Stromberg carb on top of a 283 SBC motor ran fine and for a dual purpose hot rod, got into the low 13’s.

Hello,

When my brother and I meticulously put together the 292 c.i. version of our SBC motor, it was done as if it was in a hospital room. Our mom had a ton of white sheets, so she gave us several to lay out on our long workbench/table, the smaller tables that were spread out as much as possible in the backyard garage we converted from a recreation area called, a “Rumpus Room.” This time, we knew about order and propriety in assembly of a hot rod, starting with the motor/trans.

From this opening windowed play room to a converted small hot rod garage took out our mom’s prized rose garden in the middle of the yard.
We installed this lift up garage door that fit one car sideways + work tables all around the outside of the interior. It was our final build for the hot rod parts and rolled in 40 Willys Coupe.

The custom motor started out as a empty block bored out to 292 from a 283. The gathered parts were all blower spec units and placed like a giant puzzle on the white sheets. It was to be one of the first 671 supercharged SBC motors in drag racing at Lion’s Dragstrip. Our newly acquired Isky Gilmer Belt Drive Blower Kit was one of the first two on the West coast. The engine photo above is the first one.

Jnaki

We were happy with the results of our build and the progress we made. It fired up on the first try, rolled back to the street in front of our Westside of Long Beach house and made a nice start down the street. Now, we knew it was going to be something to drive around. Since it was street legal, it did not make much noise capped up, but for this practice run, uncapped and scared the crapola out of our neighbor toddler who always came into our backyard to see what the brothers were making.

Note: It was the early spring of 1960, what seems like a long time ago… Our little neighbor toddler graduated from college, got hired by a big corporation, got married and now, is recently retired… time flies… when you are having fun…

The 671 motor was complete and in perfect condition. It sat on a rolling engine cart covered up from sept 1960 to February 1961. We had plans during our “resting/recovery” period. My brother instantly had plans in his head for our next hot rod/competition car. Every time I visited the hospital, we talked about where we could put the 671 SBC motor. A Street Roadster, an Altered Coupe or in our 58 Impala?

It would have been one simple swap of out with the 348 and bolt in the 671 SBC to the C&O Stick Hydro.

I said we could also think about putting it in our friend’s modified 57 Chevy Bel Air Hardtop Sedan. It was the most modified sedan of my teenage friends and we did all of the work… so an engine replacement was a snap. YRMV

 

Okay reading this has let me face the truth of my past.
Pops had always claimed to be an end-user.
A lot of rides were just let go.
3 late 60's run'ng Cutlass's* 4 running vans* '62 project, sunroof-VW* '65 Chevelle running SW* '64 running conv't- 3sp Hurst Cutlass, '50 running Ply* 61 Dodge Lancer* 62 polara 440 model*
All went to folks that needed them, for a ride.
Vintage wise '35 Tudor Ford, slantback shell. 2- 283's
Now for money. 1970 Dollar today is $7.80
Offenhauser 2x4 with AFBs $25,* '65 SS Malibu 4bolt 350 missing trans ( pirates ) $70*
'41 Ford bus. cpe nice, (jump seats) set up for orange mtr w/ narrowed Olds rear $100,
'55 Nomad w/ Sm blk 292" 3sp Hurst, Needing paint, trim, and spare tire well. $225
Muncie 220 4 sp $170
Living in the city in a row home some things were just left. Traction bars, '59 Impala steering whl
various Tri five body parts. Some stolen, small Moon tank, Sun tach, used M+H's mounted, Shift knobs, Superior 3 spoke steering wheels (2)
That's enough. -

 

My high school C-10! Powder coated the entire chassis, all the suspension, even the rear end housing. Had a posi with 3:55's built for it. About that time (2003), I started seeing all these bad ass hot rods in magazines. I got bit with the bug bad and parted my truck out for pennies on the dollar so I could build a hot rod!

 

Buy high and sell low has always been my motto. Buy rare parts for tons of money and then give them away for stupidly little.

 

i junked a '50 ford business coupe. bought it as a runner for the drive train that went in a pretty clean '49 ford tudor. i'd have built the more desirable coupe, but patch panels were non-existant in 1975!

 

I remember a solid '55 Chevy around here that was ultimately scrapped out because someone had done a real hack job of radiusing the rear wheelwells and, as you say, no quarter panels were available at the time.

 

Mid 70's we went to a nearby yard in Minnesota and flipped over 55-6 Chevy convertibles and cut the frames out for our stock cars. Zero regrets.

 

Thanks Guys, "I feel better now"

 

Aw jeez, man...
1956 Chevy 2d 210, 350/th400. First car - paid $408, sold for $900.
1965 Impala 327/PG, second car - $900 - $1500.
1966 Buick LeSabre, sold when I joined the Army $600 - $800.
Perfect 72 Malibu, blue/white interior, 307/TH350. Sold to finance a move back home from California.
Another '56 210, paid $4k for almost the same car I paid $400 for 5 years before; it was my project while I daily drove a '71 Chevelle SS 402/M22 - married the devil incarnate, had to sell both so I could drive a Ford Courier.
These cars were, for the most part, in good to great shape back in the 80s. There was no need to buy a basket case, they were everywhere. Those listed were from 14 years old to 22. I'm 57 now, and we don't have time or space to list everything. I honestly held love for every one of the 80 or so old cars I've had, whether it was for a few months, or a couple of years; some ran, and some were dreams that never came into fruition. When I sold that first '56 due to a spun bearing (my dad wanted me to get rid of it), I became a damaged soul and bought and sold like a madman, so I could have everything I wanted.
My wife now encourages me to hang on to things, and finish projects. If you're young, remember that it's better to have a supportive partner than to think you can fix someone if they can't accept your passion.