Has the SWAP gone out of the Swap Meet????

An entire thread could be devoted to.."What has changed about swap meets in the last 35+ years".

1. Swapping parts
2. Model cars/diecast cars
3. Monster pull carts/wagons from Hell
4. Price
5. Lack of rare parts
6. Household items
7. Professional vendors
8. Amount of people attending
9. Just plain junk..p***ed off as parts.
10. Parking

To name some I have noticed..sure there are more. None of these things stop me from going though, can't help myself. Swapping/bartering is a good thing, too bad we have veered away from it so much.

 

You left out...

11. A ****house full of junk Chinese tool vendors

 

And #12,,,, Fat white chicks with baby buggys blocking up the isles! This is more ment for indoor swaps. N.N.

 

I have, when the hotdogs are marked down half price at the end of the day.

 

I attended Lebanon Valley swap meet this weekend, mostly roundy round dirt track stuff. Picked up two Buick finned brake drums with the hubs a 100 bucks, Two Trico RB-12 wipers for $2.00 each, 18v cordless Milwaukee impact wrench $20.00, two doors for my rust bucket ****velle, and a bag of apples. I went home satisfied.

The swapping usually happens between dealers the night before the public is let in.

 

definitely, the internet has taken a big toll on the swapping part of swap meets. I have the best luck if I go not looking for something specific but just for cool **** I may or may not use. anytime I'm needing something in particular it's either not there or WAY overpriced. it's sad but almost everything I've got for my BSA chopper has been online. I'll look at swap meets first but people seem to think the stuff is plated in gold instead of rust...

 

you all have shattered my world. no parts swaping. no running. what is happening?... i have never really seen any parts being swaped. i duno. its all about the green. i gave away some parts before. i had acquired a truck bed of stuff. mostly junk. i kept a few things like some old holly carbs. i traded a pizza dough roller for small block chevy. well we are still swaping. im swaping parts for paper...

 

no kidding...i found some old *** corroded stock flathead heads and intakes covered in a inch of **** on a few tables and the wanted between $75 to $150....come on!!!

 

Gee, wazzz that BEFORE the first gasoline shortage , or after ? scrubba

 

I would try to swap more often, but I really don't want to swap my Model A parts for diecasts, NASCAR stickers, and old corroded SBC accessories. That seems to be mostly what I find at some swapmeets.

Josh Quick
Quick Speed Shop

 

Last swap I made was a set of Cal Custom staggered bolt pattern SBC valve covers (purchased for my 55) I gave $40 for... I was walkin off with em and a friend approached me with a 58 BelAir steering wheel and offered a trade... I figured I liked my Vette covers better anyway and traded. We both went home happy.

I love to barter on price though. I enjoy being on both sides of that dance at swap meets.

 

Well swapping at a swap meet is hard - Unless it is a**** vender's them selves
It kinda like the famous " Be Back Powder " I have spoke of - The cell phone
photo is better than nothing - Then were are you located - So forth - Now if it
feasible for you to just have in your truck or under your arm - Yes you then can
swap at a " Swap Meet " Did I say all this right?

 

For me, this is what it's all about!

 

Ive been swap meeting for 35 years but have never swapped parts, never works out. I have however had an offer years ago to trade my dualquad intake and carbs for a 48 chevy pickup!

 

Really no swapping at swapmeets? You must be dealing with scalpers... People that actually get into this stuff often won't sell that certain rare item but the right trade makes a deal most every time. Almost everthing I have is make offer or TRADE.... Now dishonest internet hotrodders that take selective pictures and leave out what is missing from the part they are trading make it a bit harder to be a nice guy without ripping yourself off but it can be done.

The big summer Canfield meet I barely sold anything but I swapped an Eelco tank for some sweet 850 base 660's I was hunting and made a new buddy. Then I swapped another for a pair of NOS Ford Ansen 15x4's. Swapped a used pair of 15x4's Chevy Ansen's you mothers with fifteen cars kept beating me up on and giving silly offers for went for a mint magnesium 15x6 I needed to make a pair. Then I got a call back on my 12 spokes and sold them too.

**** I traded an 86 LTD for my CA Fairlane. Better yet I once traded a Socal jacket for a nice bucket ch***is, swapped the frame for my old 4speed back but needed quick cash for something else so I sold it for $700. And... everyone was happy.

The trick is to know what the hell you are talking about and be fair.

 

I was at the Conroe Texas swap meet Saturday, what I noticed was a lot of guys with sandwich board signs some selling some buying one in particular was selling ***les to various old cars.

 

In order to trade you have to spend a few minutes talking with the person. I always ask people if they have what I'm looking for or if they're looking for something.

Best trade I ever made was at the closing of a 1985 Pomona swap. Really late, when it's just the vultures left waiting for the vendors to leave. Traded a 1/2" Craftsman end wrench for 2 pair of BBC heads and a 57 Chevy 283 block.

I wouldn't have gotten my truck started without the wrench and I was gonna leave the cast iron that didn't sell for the vultures anyways.

 

I set up 3 or 4 times a year and I see less swaping than when I started messing with this junk in the early 70's. I once traded a Texaco oil can for a whole truck load of hubcaps( had a 56 fiesta and a set of 4 57 Caddys in the bunch) that a guy was tired of loading and unloading. I find a lot of good stuff just networking the lookers and bebackers. I am always open to a good swap, just don't happen as much as it used to in the good old days.