After reading all of the posts about the Hamber getting ripped by his buddy I wondered this....what was your best score at a swap meet? What could you hardly control yourself over when handing over the too low asking price? As for me I depararely needed a left rear fender for my 40 Olds coupe back in the day. I found a NOS fender at a swap meet with a $75.00 tag on it.I knew what it was but asked the vendor anyways.He says "Hell I don,t know what it fits but give me $35.00 and its yours!" Hell I,d of paid double the initial asking price to get it!!!!
A perfect yellow metalflake Grant steering wheel, covered in sticky friction tape, at a Jeep swap meet for $2.00. A 50 Ford PU trans w/open drive, complete and nice, for $65.00. A perfect, painted, 29 radiator shell for $10.00 and an excellent 30 pickup painted shell (not the AA shell) for $35.00. A pair of complete 50 Pontiac tail lights, original, for $5.00. Those were all this year.
I've been to so many swap meets that it's hard to pick just one, but a few that stand out are the secondary AFB from a 425hp 409 out of an "any carb for $5.00" pile, a N.O.S. two piece accessory hood ornament for my '53 BelAir for $7.00, a '56 Corvette dual point off a guy's dollar tarp, and an Edmunds dual intake for Chrysler/DeSoto sixes for $5.00.
A bag full of really nice MOON dics for free from Dean Moon in 1981 at the Pomona Swap meet. They were wrapped in newspapers from 1967. They were free...really. He told me they were off some of his old race cars. Some still had salt crusted on the inside. I told him I was looking for some but I just could not afford them so he went in his trailer and came out and handed them to me. I was blown away. TRUE! still have them. Wish I had kept the newspapers also. BR
i payed $50 for a complete set of lincoln brakes with drums i got an nos rear fender for my 41 olds coupe for $75 31 model a widebed fender for $35 set of original 31 model a roadster doors $35 a piece tom
A friend got a complete J-2 olds set up. It had been a auto shop project. Carbs rebuilt,linkage, lines, painted. Was asking $75. My friend got it for $35. He also bought 2 39 wheels for $35. I bought a deuce shell for $135
stuff bought in the last couple years & some swaps i came late. got a "complete" NICE 66 chevelle SS hood for 60.00 56-62 vette steering wheel complete for 35.00 within the last couple years i got several pairs of cal custom valve covers for under 30 bux. an "OK used car" (chevrolet 0riginal) neon sign fior 100.00
bought a brand new Mopar thermoquad complete carb kit for 1.00 --sold it on e bay for $316.00 --had 37 bids .. Bought a set of Hurst "lightning rods" @ swap meet for 6 bucks-- sold that on ebay for $422 had 26 bids I laughed
I picked up an early Winfield carb from a high end vendor at Hershey. He wanted double what the market price was at the time. I paid him instantly! The look on his face was priceless! It sat on my shelf for 5 years and I doubled my money.
Too numerous to mention all. But recently scored a new in original box, chrome Hollywood license light and holder for 15.00. The art deco box is as cool as the light. Also picked up 2 nice 50 Ford hoods w/hinges for 95.00. Sun 2 tach complete for 20.00, a couple of nice Holley 94's for 5.00 each. Sold more stuff than I bought, I love swap meets.
At a foreign car swap meet at Long Beach a few years ago, scored two vintage Halda rally odometers for $15. One was a single display, one a double display. These are very accurate mechanical odometers used in time speed distance rallying in the '60s before electronics. Sold the single display on the big E to a guy in Switzerland for $645. Still have the double display sitting under my desk at home.
I picked up my current 348 at the XY swap meet for $250. Was completely rebuilt and had less than 500 miles on it. Had papers and it was apart so you could see the fresh machine work and brand new pistons etc. It spun a rod bearing because the guy who put it together was a moron. I had an extra rod and an extra crank at home. $150 after that with new rings bearings and gaskets etc I basically had a brand new 348 for $400. Still runs like a bat outta hell. Travis
Oh, just remembered the 1910 Lozier hubcap I bought at a Street Rod swap meet for $10.00, turned into a $245.00 profit.
There were the Mopar 440-6 pack connecting rods along with three sets of forged aluminum pistons (BBC and hemi) all for $10.... didn't even know the rods were what they were at the time, but I did think ten bucks for three sets of forged pistons was OK! And then there was the magnesium Thompson third member for the '57-64 Olds/Pontiac rears (not the earlier ones) for just $200.... but unfortunately my rent was due the next day so I flipped it within the hour to another friend of mine for enough profit to cover the rent. Too bad, I looked for 15 years to land one of those...
Garage sales work better for me. I bought a stromberg 97 and intake, and a Holley 48 for $30. a NOS 57 Chevy headlight ring in the box for $7.00 and the Craftsman 1/2" drive breaker bar that was broke for $1.25 with a pail of nuts and bolts. Once I cleaned the cruddy crap out of the pail, the bottom 3/4 of the pail was full of brand new 1/2" bolts in all lengths. There was probably 10 pounds of new hardware in the pail, and the breaker bar I took down to Sears and got a new one
Pretty nice '32 insert for $50.00, 2 aluminum bomber seats for $20.00, a complete open drive 3 sp. trans. w/ top & shifter for $40.00 & a really cool Stewart Warner Land Survey speedometer w/ odometer & mounting bracket for $1.00. Oh yeah, Eelco white face amp gauge and Judson boost gauge mounted in an Offy 2 hole gauge panel for 10 cents at a yard sale. My biggest regret or swap meet pass was on an original Thickston PM-7 & original air cleaner & Stromberg 97's at Hershey for $250.00. This was '94 & I was already humping around an Edlebrock Super with 48's & linkage that I picked up earlier for $200.00. I said to myself, "I'll get it later." Of course it was gone. Oh well.
All kinds of stuff. My best recent score was a free '60 Chrysler power swivel bench seat. Came with a set of 15" whitewall radials (1.75" whitewall) and a freshly restored set of Chrysler 15" steel wheels. Helluva deal.
Last swap meet I went to I saw some expensive 12" 91-fin Buick al-loo-min-nee-um drums, $100 for just drums or $400 for the whole set-up, almost bought the $100 drums. On my way home I stopped by my favorite auto wreckers, and found a pair of 'em on a rack. Only $40 for the pair! I still kick myself for passing on a MoPar 413 dual quad manifold, with carbs and linkage for $75. I said I'd think about it, and by the time I went around the swap and came back, it was gone.... stupid stupid me!!! I keep finding cheap, $10-$25 Model A fenders at swap meet when I don't have a truck with me. When I do bring a truck, they're no where to found, or more than I want to spend on fenders. What's the deal with that?
For me, a 1964 Atlas Slot Car track NOS in the box... $5. I almost shit myself. Re chomed 63 Impala original grille guard complete with rubber bullets $110 NOS 56 chevy drivers side mirror in the box $10 Those are the top 3 on my list.
A homemade wood tacklebox/striping box with 2 vintage, large, circa '63 Rat Fink stickers on each end- for $10.00...
I do my best work in old junkyards. Best thing I found this year was a '41 Chevy spinner steering wheel I tripped over on the ground. That, a '60 Pontiac 4bbl intake, and a bunch of old headlights and a few bits of stainless cost me $50. Out of that lot of stuff I did $800 and I still have the intake and most of the headlights left - wish I could do one of those every week. There's a thread on this down the board somewhere, but I did hit a couple of nice Mopar taillight lenses at the swap meet for $4, this year, and sold them for close to $50 between the two. I've bought and sold so much crap I can't even remember half of it.
haha i bought a 49 Plymouth steering wheel for $20 and sold it a year later on ebay for $160. Funny thing is- the starting bid was 99 cents with no reserve. People are friggin nuts
Probably 4-5- years ago, a spotted a '32 heavy axle. As I was reaching down for it, I hears the guy behind me go "shit". I couldn't get my wallet out fast enough to get the $50. It's beautiful and is under my '30 5 window being built now.
I found a really nice trunk lid for my 40 dodge in a pile of lids at Carlisle. Funny thing was I was going by memory of what the opening looked like on my car as it didn't have a trunk lid when I got it. I got it for $50(all I had with me), it had come from a yard out west. later shawn
Two years ago I bought an old custom at woodlands swapmeet Looks like a 63 vette from the doors back the front looks like one of roths customs the body is made conduit then wrapped in steel its really rough but very cool, only paid a couple of hundred dollars for it.This year at Lincoln i bought a franklin Quick change Rear complete with extra gears for hundred bucks. Some Great scores.
I bought a good set of guide lights for $50 last winter, my dad bought a perfect 32 grille from the same guy for $250.
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