Englishtown,NJ swap meet - what's it like?

I'm considering going to Englishtown (April 18-20?), but its a 2 hr drive each way for me. Is it mainly hard-core drag racing parts, or is there a chance I would find stuff for my '37 Plymouth? How early do you need to get there? How does it compare to Maple Grove's swap meet?

 

IMO, it used to be cool. Mostly hard core drag race parts. It is now mostly die-cast cars, toys, etc. But somehow we still go; you never know what you'll see.

 

it is not as good as it use to be,i personally would not make the drive

 

save your money and go to the spring carlisle swap meet, its april 23-27 its huge and you can always find the hardest parts ect

 

if you are in the market for lawn mowers and bicycles, it is the place to be

 

Low grade parts, people of unfortunate class and blood alcohol level...but it is BIG. If you know how to scan well, you can march through the zillion acres of filthy four wheel drive crap and discarded '73 Chevelle parts, step over the pools of beer and vomit, and spot the occasional goody; you will be looking through the basement and trailer stashes of thousands of people. I have bought '32 Ford goodies, old race car pressure pumps, and specialized tools of all sorts there from pitiable drunken scum who had NO idea what they had. "Here, kid. Here's a shiny new quarter for you. Watch out, don't vomit on my shoe there..."

 

Let me add this...

...you almost have to go once, just to see the completely worthless crap people dig out of the dirt behind their garage and bring there, paying $100 dollar fee, and then camp out for 2 days in the hot sun, hoping to sell for a dollar. I throw out shit way better than that.

It is truly unbelieveable.

We'll still go.

 

its close to home for me, so i usually go one day. sometimes i dont. it used to be real good. peopel blame the irs as they cracked down one year there, the fact is the old parts are just nor around like they used to be. the guys that bring al lthe garbage just go for a weekend of partying, camping out and bbq. a lot of them leave that gargbage if no one buys it. if you have nothing to do, go. i bet you can find something better to do. the saturday car show used to be my favorite car show ever, but even that went south.

 

Last time I went the traffic exiting the place was so bad it took me half the day just to get out of the parking lot. Don't know if it's any better.

 

I've been going there since I could walk. It's actually really fun for me. I find a lot of parts like linkages and random stuff that I am able to make work for a build. Plus nothing beats walking through a bunch of drunk guys picking a fight and cursing with IROC parts in their wagon. And if you do find something you need, the prices are a lot cheaper than carslisle.

 

Mullettville.

 

IT SUCKS!!! I started going when I was 14 i'm now 37. It was huge in it's hay day and a bunch of great finds. Now, like everyone else said . Die cast toys and crap that is way over priced

 

the only swap I 've ever been too where vendors are
"parting" cars at the event.. I watched rears, motors and everything else be pulled from otherwise complete cars..

its fun to see all the crap that people bring out..

its flat, all paved, and we go through fast..

as for your plymouth parts..

NO.. you will likely NOT find any..

 

been going for something like 20 years, every year gets a little worse (more mowers, bicycles, diecast cars, and cheap hardware,,,,,),,,,,but like a dumbass, i still go every year,,,hoping to stumble into the kustom mother lode,,,never really happens though,,,,,

 

Don't forget the Kitchen Sink & Weed Wackers

 

but seriously though, your bound to find something you can use, even if its not car related. when we used to go camping a lot we bought a shit load of new in the box coleman lanterns and stoves from the 60s and 70s. could probably have resold it for more cash but we bought the stuff to use it.

 

funny i agree i,ve been going for 20 or more years gets worst every year but i always find some thing there last year skirts for a 51` ford for 35.00 and a 61 implale wheel 25.00

 

its funny u say that, i saw a guy cutting an elcamino in half with a sawzall last year at the show, literately cutting the car in half

 

Also been going to E-town for about 20 yrs and agree with most of the negatives about it. Knowing it, I would not drive even an hr (I'm only 25 minutes away), and in the 18 years I've owned my '59, I think the only thing I've found for it there was repro taillight lenses. You have no hope of finding anything for your '37, S'n'S.
Your stuff is in Carlisle or Hershey.

 

Thanks for all the comments, you've saved me a lot of time, I'm going to stay home and work on the Plymouth. See you at Carlisle.

 

Well, my take is that if 1,000 drunken illiterates drag a pickup load of crap out of their sheds and haul the stuff to E-town, random stack-up of historical accidents will ensure that several neat old parts emerge.
Something I ALWAYS see, every year: someone is looking at a completely crapped out 2-stroke something, motorcycle, 4-wheeler, whatever. The owner is kicking the starter over and over and over, repeating each time "funny, it was starting fine...". Come back an hour later, it is still going on, and not always with a different customer. Some sort of cultural rite, no doubt.

 

I have helped my friend sell for the past 5 of the 20 years that he has been vending there. I'm realy starting to question our sanity in going this year for the same reasons mentioned.
He's one of the last hold outs with real car parts (N.O.S & old) and it takes us all day to set up and tear down our display.
Last year there was a woman with an Aroma-Therapy booth behind us,W.T.F.

 

We've been driving up for the last couple of years and yeah, in that short time it's changed. I'll say this though....got a great deal on a couple of snow blowers there last year. On a good note there is a guy that sells newish refurbed lincoln mig welders. Great deal and he sells them as a package (cart, shield,extra wire).

 

Well, look at the bright side, at least Aroma-Therapy could cover up all of the flatulence, cigar smoke, and spilled beer thay goes with sitting and selling at a swap meet all day.

As long as it isn't wasn't too girly smelling than the wife thinks you were out cattin' around all day.

 

Everyone whines about it, but I still find good pieces there. You've got to know what you're looking for and ignore the rest of the junk. Don't bypass a space full of 5.0 Mustang parts without giving it a scan for the out of place part--that's how I picked up a nice F-1 steering box last fall for $20. I have learned that it's best to conclude business and get out by 3:00 if possible, to avoid the insane traffic on 287 and 78.

 

If you're building a 1972 El Camino you'll be in Heaven... If you're building a Hot Rod you'll be in Hell!