Tricks of the trade: finding old car parts

I have a few ideas that I will share later, but my favorite is drive around your area where you live on that first perfect spring day and look at all the tin in the garages. It will amaze you and don't forget to stop and say "Hi". Also, on the same beautiful days (Fridays and Saturday's are the best) drive around the ghetto part of town where the ole' bodyshops are at and you will be see alot of stuff also. I have found a handful of Model A/B/C's and my V8-60 that way. Just make sure that you lock your doors. The older guys in the HOOD were hotrodders also at one time and they are the best "horders".

Chris Nelson
Kansas

 

Nope, I'm not done. One last idea, and I have done this one too. Make really good friends at swap meets, by however you make friends. If they are good enough friends, maybe they will allow you to put up a big "wanted" sign at their space. That gets WAY more eyeballs who see it. And nobody mistakes you for a model T'r Buy your swap meet friend a hot dog and a coke. It all comes around.

There. I'm DONE

 

Also, hang out at retirement homes, maybe you can hit up the families that come to visit sweet old Aunt Ester and see if she might have say, an old beat up car that her dead husband built back in the 50's with no fenders and a really loud, rough running engine that has funny looking vavle covers with the wires comming out of them!




Seriously though, those are some great ideas. Some I've never even thought about, but there is a couple of guys here that run ads every single day in our LR news paper that want to pick up and haul away old, junk cars for free or cheap. I need to call them! Thanks!

 

A few of my tricks. Go to a local small airport and make friends with the pilots and the AP mechs. they cover a lot of ground and see a lot of old things. Or pay for the fuel and rental and look yourself. Some times the hangers have good stuff. At the sm air fields folks park cars and just leave them I have got several for free. I always put up a sign when I display my jalopy race car that I buy parts and . I get a lot of leads and free stuff. Ask fishermen a lot of shit on banks of rivers cars are sometimes used to stop erosion.. Be nice and always talk to anybody over 75 years old they know where a lot of old things are.When I think of some more I will post. Bobby..

 

I just thought of another. I work for UPRR and some of the Engineers and Conductors I run into are car guys. They have told me about some REALLY hidden stuff that you only can see from a locomotive. Now if thats not secret, I don't know what is. Only this very select group of people know about that stuff.

 

I have a large sign in front of my shop that says I buy cars older than 1975. Several other things Cab drivers, Dog Catchers and Police. These folks ride around all day. One last thing for now I go to a small coffee shop and the regulars tell me about old cars works real good when you drive your old ride..You will be surprised what a lousey cup of coffee will get you.. More later when I think of them.... Bobby....

 

I just came up with one...

If you are looking for specific parts or parts for a specific type of car, put that in your signature here on the HAMB or anyother board you frequent...

 

This reservation here still has some good tin......it is a disney land in the prarie. See alot folk have saved every single car/truck they, their father, sister,grandmother,uncle, and a hoard of cousins have ever owned in their lives and piled em all up either at their house on their land. There was a time a case of beer could get you all the pickin and pullin you wanted....alas times are changin though....the good olde days have been replaced by outrageous prices/hims and haws you name it.But some of the very tips your hearing here can help get the budget freindly parts that are still out here.My 55 is pieced togther thanks to the "rez". Cheap Thrills.....I never knew a 53 Olds 98 had a AC...never seen a Dynaflow in person...

 

South Dakota always has the most scenic photos of tin I have ever seen. Someone ought to make some glossy picture books and sell them at Barnes and Noble.


OK, one last, last idea. I promise. I realized it should be included here after I got off the phone with somebody.

--When you see an add with a price that seems like a misprint, call and confirm the price anyway-- sometimes you will score an UNBELIEVABLE deal and the price is actually correct. My score tonight is not quite like the $500 '32 Ford P'up, in running condition, with SBC and 9", for $500 about 10 years ago (I missed that one, but it was a real deal-- probably divorce), but I am getting a sweet deal nonetheless. Trick is, getting over there before someone else does, if the guy decides not to hold it for me like we agreed. I might add as an aside, confirming the price also helps keep you from driving all the way over somewhere to buy a killer deal only to find out that a digit got left out. Like a few weeks ago when I spun my wheels to try and buy a Vertex for an MG for $60 OBO and it turned out to be $600. Wasted trip. Key trick is to learn HOW to verify the price, don't sound completely incredulous and overly excited when you do it.

 

On Saturdays when there's a knock on my shop door I open it. About a third of the time it's my old, I mean old, friend Chuck( he's got a shit load of early Ford parts) and he wants to take his grand nieces and nephews to a movie and out to dinner. Last time he had five perfect Kelseys in the back of his truck. Guess what's under my work table. I don't take advantage of him and he me. We just have an understanding. He's a great guy.

 

If you're a train guy too, it's possible to catch rides now and then on short lines and branches. I spotted a few cars this way, nothing exciting enough to check out, but I'm sure there's more. Helps to have a kid along to get on a locomotive though. You can also ride excursions and things and keep your eyes open - I spotted an overgrown car collection and noticed a step-down Hudson ragtop in the middle of it, a few years ago. I finally checked the place out and it's someone's stash, the building out front is an old store or showroom and loaded to the gills with stuff. I need to check out who owns it and probably have to watch for an obit on the guy -



One thing that might work better than knocking on a door and asking "hey is that old car anything anyone wants to get rid of?" is to leave a card with an offer and just say you noticed that car and thought you'd leave your name in case someone ever decides to sell it. My one buddy just got a batch of cars because a buddy knew the lady who had them, and she wanted them gone, so gave them away. All rusty s--- but that '65 Merc I was asking about a while back is one of them. Sometimes just being able to haul them away and not caring about paperwork is all you need.

 

I agree completely about the train routes. Nobody else sees what they can see from the rail, and nobody on the rail can stop to ask about the stuff.

--On the subject of checking in with SHOPS, also try "street rod" shops-- they are very wasteful of cool older parts in their haste to "update" with billet, CD players, and LED gages. A lot of stuff ends up in the can because of the nature of the owners of the cars-- they just don't place any value on the old stuff.

--And, check in with your race car chassis shops as well. Leave your name and number with the shop and ask them to check with their customers on prices for you. Sometimes stuff will be had pretty cheap, as some folks just "don't have time" to foll around with the take-out parts. Great way to look for Olds/Pont rearend stuff, since so many folks "update" with Ford 9's.

--FOLLOW UP ON OLD ADS! I say this on the premise that my garage has lots of parts that have been up for sale in the past and didn't get any takers--and they are still here. It can't just be me. So follow up. Case in point, I found a year-old ad on the 'net for a whole lot of race components at unbelievably low prices-- they obviously didn't need money and wanted to clear out. I would have bought every single item there since I could literally have doubled my money on every item listed. But, when I followed up, naturally most items had been sold. But guess what. The guy still has a pair of aluminum Dart 320 heads for BBC, ported, and with inconel valves. For $550. That's all! And he still has the heads, they didn't sell and he just put them back on the shelf! Probably because he was too busy to care. I am trying to get a finalized deal on them, and I should be able to flip them back over for $1100 without too much trouble. That's good hobby money.

--And don't be afraid to call people who have want ads for parts similar to what you are looking for. Ask them to let you know if they find more than one, if it's the same item. Also, if it's not the same item, ask them if they have one for sale. They might.

OK, now I'm really done. Done-de-done-done. I don't wanna give away ALL my trade secrets!

 

The old ads is a really good one. Grandpa has kept all of his car trader books for many, many years. He marks them on the front cover with page #'s of things that he likes. In the process of looking for myself a car. I have called many old fellas that say, "Man, I ran that ad 7 years ago and it didn't sell. But, I just sold it a few weeks ago." So, keep those old ads. many times they'll still take the same price for it. I've never completed a deal on a car with this process but have MANY times on parts, tire balancers, etc....

 

Blownolds--are we related? I do all these little searches. I just hired out on the railroad as a conductor about 3 years ago. I have a little notebook with stuff in it that can be seen only from the cab of a locomotive. I recently picked up a nice Martin Schwartz gas pump from a farmer. I asked him if he would sell it and he said "how did you see that in my pasture?" I said I work on the train. He said "that would be the only way to see it." His son helped me load it in the pickup.

Another real good "spotter" especially in farm country, is the guy who delivers bulk fuel. The older guys know what and where the old stuff is and also the temperment of the owner. The stuff they see is back behind the barn or over the hill that you would never see from the road.

Buddies that hunt are good spotters, too. They see a lot of stuff that is in the trees and low spots or in the brush thickets. Both my sons hunt and usually come home with deer and pheasants and the locations of "old iron" for Dad. A few years ago they took a picture of a 63 Impala 2 dr hardtop they found in a tree row. They were pretty proud of the find. I looked at the picture and in the background was a 47 Olds convertable tucked in the brush behind the Chevy. We got them both and are going back for more later. The old guy was also restoring a nice 40 Ford PU in his shop.

I have some farmer friends that clean up scrap metal from old farmsteads. I go to their place about evert 10 weeks or so. I have a nice 51 Merc 4 door (complete with flathead/auto) and a 30 Hudson 2 door sitting in the backyard right now from those guys.

Rummage sales can produce unexpected finds, too. Last year one of the guys in our car club scored a Muncie 4 speed for $80.00. I've scored some good deals on tools (inductive timing light $5) and some fender skirts and occationally other neat stuff that is for keeps or trade. Last year I got a nice 1926 Supertone parlor guitar for 25 bucks. I wish I could play it.

There are still old retired mechanics who do some repairs at home. I try to find them and check out their "stash" of leftovers. One guy has a bunch of carburetors I need to go thru and another has collected flatheads for about 40 years.

overspray

 

**Mental note: make friends with overspray**

You coming up for the Toppers show? I'll buy you a coke..

 

Heres an ad that got my attention today in the ArDemGaz.

WILL TRADE 1929 Roadster truck for 1966-1967 Chevelle project. Call 501-745-6865

 

**Mental note: make friends with overspray**
"Diet" coke-lots. I'll be up all nite at the "Toppers'" show helping some other HAMBers do the judging.
I've got vacation that week starting Monday with some "Automotive Archaeology" in North Dakota and Montana-and finishing up in Fargo at the Toppers Rod and Custom Show. (I sure am glad that gas went up 20 cents a gallon.)

Also when you guys and gals are out on patrol for parts, don't overlook trucks and busses and industrial equipment. I've scored some nice curved glass SW "crescent moon" pointer gauges that way and old Ford trucks have spoon gas pedals in them like the cars do. I've found lots of things in trunks, gloveboxes and back seats, like banjo wheels, Olds/Cad air cleaners, shifters and some neat old oil cans and advertising.

Always bring: CASH-CAMERA-TOOLS-NOTEBOOK-PHONEBOOK-CELLPHONE

overspray

 

I've read where a guy bought an abandond project from a body shop. After he finished it the legal owner show up & claimed the car. Ended up in court where the judge ordered the owner to reimberse the builder what the builder had paid the body shop! The owner got a finished far for a song.

 

That was a consern of mine too. The guy who owned the car was elderly, we figured he kicked off and the family didn't car about the rusty old car. I had the front frame cut off pretty quick (for an attempted project), so if they wanted it, they could bring a couple of trailers to get it....

 

UPS guy's.......eletric company linemen.....them guy's get into deep places.

 

We visit my wife's family every now and then, about 3-4 hours away. I always try to take a different route to get there. When we went out there on Tuesday, I spotted an old gas station with two '57 Fords and three or four early-mid 50's Ford pickups and panels. Up the road a few miles there was a farm with at least a dozen 40's-50's cars and trucks just sitting. Across the road was a barn with what looked to be an early 40's International flatbed. Inside the barn was something that at first appeared to be a wagon, but turned out to be a truck of about 1920's vintage. Farther along was a '72 Caddy hearse. About a mile from that was a garage with at least five Studebaker Hawks, Larks, and a President. Before we got where we were going, I found a '57 Buick, a '48-50 Ford pickup, and a few more. Anytime I go on a long trip, I always look at my maps and try to take a different route back.

Another thing to consider is if you find something and the owner isn't willing to sell, try to find shared interests and keep in touch. Bringing pictures of your other stuff helps, makes for conversation. Also try to get an idea of their personality. There's a junkyard near me with over 2500 cars and trucks from the 20's up. Only problem is the owner hates anyone under 40 and absolutely will not deal with hot rodders. Good thing I look over 40! I'm planning on visiting as soon as I get my STOCK '49 Studey truck painted. If I were to take anything else there, I probably wouldn't have a chance.

 

BTW, nice doodlebug. Looks to be a shortened Model A with a tractor radiator on it. What does it say on the rad... is it a McCormick-Deering??

 

Yes, that's a great one, taking a different route home each time.

I got another one I've used many times.

Besides the obvious asking "got any thing else" query to the eBay sellers, or anyone with a classified ad, I also will take the time to answer questions via e-mail with people looking for info, if I can answer their questions honestly. Then I always follow the e-mail with, "BTW, got any...?"

 

Hey Bob......your right..the stub's raditior says McCormick on it... the old buildings in the back had a few goodies in them too.