Hot Rods What was the craziest car deal you made?

Was looking for a camaro to drop a 350/4spd into. Saw an ad for a 76 for $500.

It was a 6cyl model and owner said it had a bad timing chain and wouldn't stay running. We'll if you don't know it has timing gears not a chain. Took a look at and noticed the coil wire arching to the block.

Gave him $250 slapped on some plates buddy followed me to the parts store, put on new wires right there in the lot. Drove it a bit sold it for $800

 

I traded a low mileage 1970 Ford Torino for a 430hp 427 BBC. Not sure who got the better deal.

I also traded a mint condition 1974 Camaro for a trashed 1968 Nickey 427 Camaro convert.

 

I got a Dodge Pheonix, 318, 727 auto, for my wife.
Good swap, huh?

 

In 2007 I did buy a wrecked, upside down '53 Skylark convertible out of an old salvage yard. Front frame stub was torched off, motor and trans gone, but the body all there and rotted backwards from usual because it had been upside down. Had slid into trees or something, one door and fender mashed up. But the rest was all there, the hydraulic power window guts, the bent up top frame, the top pump, it had solid floors and rockers, the rear wheels even rolled and tires had air in them yet.

The kicker is we'd been in this yard dozens of times and I'd walked past it and ignored it as a worthless wreck until one day I had to stop to tie my boot and as I bent over I noticed the "Skylark" badge on the side and about crapped myself.

I sold it three times: First eBay buyer didn't pay. Second buyer from eBay from Australia paid me $2900 for it. Three wire transfers. Had me mail him a couple parts so they wouldn't vanish - actually UPSed them to some buddy in LA. Then he vanished off the face of the earth. Nothing, for over three years.

So when a local guy offered me $1300 for it I sold it again, and he used the best pieces of it combined with a couple others to restore one good car. And I kept the pot metal side badges, since they were rough and repops are available.


The other good one is the Model A pickup. Picked up a front axle with split bones and a '40 rear on an A spring free through the HAMB in like 2004. Got a frame from a coupe someone went street rod with, that had been a stock driver, a year later. Came with a fairly decent hood. Same junkyard as the Skylark, bought an AA truck with the filled top, and a 30-31 sedan cut in half and made into a truck with a stock A bed. $600 or so invested in the two.

After more than a year with no offers (not even crazy lowball ones) on the AA and apparently no one smart enough to know the cab was a bolt-on to an A frame, I started putting the chassis together with the axles and some old tires laying around up to my buddy's farm. Bolted on the bed, then pulled the AA over and slid the cab over on two 2x4's after dropping the column. Bolted that down and good to go. All I had to buy repop was a couple of shackles for the front spring and a few cap bolts to tie the body and bed to the frame, which had all the right holes in it already. Added an F1 steering and shock mounts to the package. Wire brushed it and painted it with $15 of Rustoleum. Okay, let's try to sell it again - this time, $3500, bam, from a guy in Sweden or Norway. Had me put some better rollers on it ($40 at the you pick yard) and off it went. And I still had enough left I turned the rest of the other A into a 2-door tub with a body back half I paid $50 for out of a farm dump.


Those are probably the two best deals I've pulled off. But that one junkyard was like a gold mine, that stuff doesn't come around very often.

 

Not a car deal but a few years ago I got a new chimney built on my house in exchange for a McLaughlin buggy and a wood stove. The brick mason remarked that it was probably the first time someone traded a chimney for a buggy and a wood stove in 100 years. Ha ha ha ha.

 

Traded a old chrome sun tach, a old bench seat hurst shifter, and 250.00 for a 63 catalina.

 

Well, this is my weekly hobby- buying, selling, trading so I'm not sure this is the craziest but it is the most recent.
There was an ad on cl for a 70 el camino no engine/trans $1200. Had a new interior, new 3" exhaust, etc. Guy says that the car had been stolen and the engine had been taken, then the car was recovered. Thieves had chucked the hood too. I wound up giving him 600 for it and dragged it home. Bought a 350 and a glide for 150 and put in there. Traded a bottle of wine for a hood that a friend had given up trying to sell. Reposted it on cl. The dude I bought it from calls on it. He didn't realize it was his old car but still wanted one so he came back to look at it. He gave me a 96 firebird w/ lt1 and 1300 cash. I turned around and traded the firebird straight across for a super clean 2 owner Buick riviera. Sold the Riv to a window tint guy for 2400 plus a tint job on my dd.

Last week I traded a wood furnace (that came in my house but wife didn't like the smell so I couldn't use) and a 2n ford tractor (paid 325 for the tractor) for
92k 65 galaxie 500 ltd 2dr hardtop, 352/at. Not sure what to do with the ford but I'm sure I can get 25-3000 for it.

I have fun trading stuff-

 

I have had a few deals that worked out pretty good. A guy needed gas money to get from Florida to Colorado for a new job. He asked if anyone at my buddies shop would be interested in a 1927 Chrysler coupe. No takers so I go and check it out. Turns out to be a rust free complete car minus the deck lid and all the wood was gone. The body and doors were stacked on the frame. He said he needed $300 fast. Borrowed $100 from my dad and picked the car up. It sat on my car trailer for about a month. Took it to my dad's shop and about 2 hours and a stick of 1 inch square rubbing got the body tacked together. Hauled it to a swap meet and before I could get parked sold it for $2800. Funny thing was I drove about 100 miles to the swap meet and had to deliver it back 2 miles from my house. The guy offered to pay for the gas but I figured I did good enough and the trip home was on me.

2nd deal. I bought a fiberglass t bucket body at a swap meet for $200 built a square tube frame for about $100, had a set of 35 wire wheels with a set of decent white wall rollers from another project I was working on. A friend gave me a 9 inch rear to move and picked up a 38 front axle with spindles for about a half of a day labor. All together I had about $800 in the whole deal. Ran it on Craigslist and 2 days later a guy offers me $800 and a new 400 EX Honda four wheeler with new ride g gear. Made the trade them sold the four wheeler for $2500.

 

I bought my Engine (Ford 300 L6) for $325, complete with the Offy intake, Holley 600, dual headers, two bells, flywheels & pressure plates, and the granny gear 4X4 transmission/tailshaft.

Sold the transmission to a guy building a Bronco for $275.

I have $50 into my engine (for the moment).

 

Traded a '65 Ford full size station wagon for a '66 Fairlane GTA Convertible.

 

1981, a guy pulled into our service garage with a '67 GTO. It was making an awful thunk thunk thunk noise. He tells me he spun a bearing and would give me the car in exchange for a safe ride home (10 miles). Drove him home, he handed me the paperwork and the keys.

Tore into it that night after work. It turned out to be a cracked flex plate. Fixed it and was driving it the next day. I ended up selling it for $3500 a few years later. Damn, I wish I kept it.

 

Back in 1979, I was 16 and working at a Sohio station. A guy came in wanting to sell a semi-rusty 74 Olds 88 Royale for a bus ticket back to Columbus Oh. It ran great, but he lost all his money in a poker game in town and had no gas money and just wanted to get home. I bought him a $30.00 ticket and away he went. I didn't have a trunk key so I forced the lock and found a craftsman tool box full of new Craftsman tools, about 300 ft of new 3/4 inch yellow nylon rope, a 25 ft jumper cable set made of welding cables, and some misc junk. My buddy needed a demo derby car, sold it to him for $250.00. Wasn't a bad deal, $250.00 cash in my pockets, brand new tools and big ass jumper cables, all of which I still have, all for $30.00 and two days time

 

About 20 yrs ago I had a buddy who owed me around $100. His daily being a nice mid 80's Regal quit on him at a strip mall. After it sitting there for 2 days he said he'd even up his debt by giving me the car before it got towed to impound. That night I went to look at it and found the rotor button to be cracked no fire. Less than $10 and a forgivin $100 debt I had a nice daily for the next 2 years before I sold it.

 

about 10-12 years back a buddy got stumped on his 1963 buick riviera. -wouldnt start!
agreed on $1500 -But i didn't have all the cash.
$300 down , and a week later my buddy says $300 more and get this thing outa here.

rebuilt the carb and drove it for 3years before i over hauld the car- 1963 in my ALBUM PAGE-3 YEARS LATER.

$600-RIVIERA NOT BAD

 

In the late '70s I worked at an auto parts store in San Diego. One day a sailor came in asking for mufflers for a '64 Corvette. "Regular or Lifetime?" I asked. "Cheapos, I'm selling it and shipping out, $1,000". I took my lunch break and took it for a test drive while the sailor waited, right to the Corvette dealer a couple of miles away. They offered me $1.500 for it. I didn't even have the thousand, so I called a friend and together we scratched together $800, which the sailor took.

We drove him back to the base and dropped him off about 2pm. Took the 'Vette on a drive out to Santee, had a couple beers, drove back to the Corvette dealer and walked home with the $1,500.

 

late 60s, I paid $35 for a front end wrecked 55 Ford Country Sedan 4 dr wagon sittin in a vacant lot in Ocean Beach -- it was a MESS, but w a littl work it ran -- found a 56 Crown Victoria in a Otay area wreckin yard that had been *rear* end wrecked -- paid $50 for the front clip offa it -- put em togeather - -my first wife drove *that* car to the "castle" [ San Diego High ] to finish her senior year --

*that* car eventually beCAME "Beulah"

www.SandiegoHighwayman.com

many years, 600,000+ miles 4 engines, 4 transmissions, 2 differentials, unTOLD numbers of wheel bearings and U joints, and transformations later --





then *this* happened ---



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6Oz0HE8yNA German television --



question is -- is this her *final* chapter?

 

Not sure....got pix?

 

won a 62 impala in a card game over a 40 dollar bet , what a bluff that was hahahah

 

Saw an ad for a 61 continental for $1200 w extra parts. Ended up getting it for $500, complete car-just not running, 8 loaded doors(2 matching sets), enough stainless trim and misc for 3 more cars, glass, hinges, misc 61-64 interior parts. Filled the bed of the dually and the 16ft trailer that i brought for the car with parts and ended up having to call a tow truck for the car. Sold the parts etc and was kinda forced to get rid of the car... still pissed about it.

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I see a common denominator on this thread....The 60's were kinder to the car guys.
89 or 90 a guy I worked with had a ragged old 64 Chevy pickup he gave me. The 283 was really wore out. I traded it to a guy for a 59 GMC 1/2 ton with 270/4speed. I stripped out the wiring which included 12-2 Romex and rewired it. It needed a carb and I drove it for about 5 years. Sold it a couple years ago for $600.

 

$600 67 firebird rolling shell, was gonna make a drag car. Ran the vin tag and found out it was an original 400 car, sold for $4000. 1970 boss 302 owner had it blasted in the garage when his divorce started, wifey pushed it out in the snow, the parts mostly new were all in the car. I bought it from the scrapyard at scrap weight plus $50 to the desk clerk who tipped me off, had less than $200 in it sold for a couple of grand. Buyer had it acid dipped, restored, won a bunch of awards, had pretty rare options. Used the $ to build engines to go street racing.

 

This 68 goat last summer for 4000. Been in storage for 20 years. I threw some factory ralleys on it . Changed fluids and drove it all summer

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In 1986 I traded a 85 Pontiac Fiero GT even for a 70 Chevy Nova SS with duel quads and tunnel ram sticking out of the hood. My Mom lost her mind. Sold the Nova 15 years later and got my 66 Pontiac Catalina. That Nova is now worth 5 times what my Pontiac is worth but I don't regret it. I had a lot of fun with both of them. I'm trying to sell the Pontiac right now but not having much luck.

 

Back around '75, I bought a '67 Chevelle SS, less the motor & transmission for $200 at the bar I hung out at. Complete otherwise, nice interior, ladder bars, 12-bolt rear, decent wheels. My dad sees it and said finally you got a nice car. A couple of days later, again at the bar, someone offers me $500 cash for it. The car was gone as fast as it arrived. I really should have kept it, probably partied the $$ away...

 

Traded a Yamaha 80 cc trail bike and $175 for a running Austin Healy 100-6 in 1967.

 

I traded a fiberglass 1953 corvette go-kart body that was left in the root cellar of a house my parents bought for a 1968 Impala Wagon with a small block and a power glide...later, I pulled the engine out of that car and put it in a 75 Chevy Monza that I traded a Myers snowplow for... interestingly I got the snow plow as a trade on a Hodaka combat wombat 125 dirt bike.... that I got on a trade for a ragged out generic go cart and a Rupp C-350 mini-bike frame...
Chappy

 

I suppose the craziest deal was when I was 17. Driving down a downtown central Oregon street late afternoon when I spot George's 40 tudor sedan sitting at the curb in front of a bar. I was driving my 56 Olds convertible, a car I truly hated. As I drew nearer, George walks staggers out the bar's door and sees me...waves me over and says to me with obviously slurred speech.
"Hey, I ran outta money and still need to drink more beer. Buy my car" George was my age but passed for an older man. I asked how much and he says "10 bucks"
Well, I'd ridden in this 40 and knew it was a pretty good car with a flathead and a 39 floor shift gear box. I told George I only had 8 dollars and he said "OK...title's above the visor" as he grabbed the cash, threw me the keys and disappeared back into the bar.
I left the Olds at the curb and leaped into the Ford...drove it around a bit and decided to cruise past my girlfriend's 2nd floor apartment. It was right at an intersection of 2 city streets. I saw her window was open...perfect opportunity to "impress" her with a nice burn out. The tires went about 1/2 revolution before something in the transmission broke....left a 5 inch long patch.
DAMN! I limped the car home in 2nd and 3rd gear and parked it in my parent's gravel drive. When my dad got home he was about 3/4 tanked and in a bad mood.
"Who's blue ford is that in my driveway?" When I told him the story with a lot of satisfaction on my part he said..............
"You've got 2, '50 Fords, a 41 ford, an Olds convertible and now this blue 40 ford parked on my property.........when I come home from work tomorrow I'll see ONE CAR that belongs to you or I'll call the junk may to haul 'em off!"
About that time another classmate of mine drives up and says he's taking the full moon caps off the 40 as he'd only loaned them to George. Then George's dad calls and says I gotta give the 40 back and he'll give my money back.
Just like that the 40 ford went away. I got my cash back and not a word was ever said about the grenaded tranny. Spent the next day hauling old Fords to the junk yard and kept the Olds because I was making payments on it.

 

bought a 69 Cougar coupe with a 428 CJ and a c-6 for $300 that was setting in a guys back yard. It belonged to his brother and he bought it new after getting back from Vietnam in 1969. He really wanted a Mach1 but couldn't get one as it was late in the year. A Mercury dealer had this one on their lot that was a special order but the guy that ordered it refused it when it came in. Was suppose to be green with black interior but was green with green interior.
The guy I bought it from drove it for 3 years and parked it when gas prices shot up in his brothers back yard on a gravel driveway. I came along 10 years later and asked it if was for sale. The brother that owned the house called his brother and I bought it for $300. They both thought they were making out, gee $300 for that old Cougar that's been setting for 10 years!
A close friend of mine drove me over there and we changed the oil, bleed the brakes, put a new battery in it and a gallon of gas. Off I went down the street and pulled into a gas station to fill it up. I had just finished putting $20 in 93 octane in it and two guys in a Ford truck pulled in and asked me if I would sell it. They both knew it was the old green cougar from down the street and wanted it bad. One of the guys said he would walk across the street to the bank and get $1500 for it. I told him to run instead.
20 minutes later I had made 5x my original cost on a car I didn't even drive 1 mile. When I got home I made arrangements to get my 1969 Buick GS repainted. It was a really good day.

 

So, I met a guy who needed a prosthetic leg and it just so happens that I had one from my time as a janitor for a traveling carnival...

Joking, but I've really enjoyed reading these. If anyone is interested in trading their running vehicle for a washer, a goat, a 6 pack, or whatever, I'm game!

RS
Mike

 

How about a case of cassette tapes and a box of model cars for a '57 Dodge D-500 Coronet 2dr hardtop? It was missing it's engine and trans but I had a '63 Chrysler 383 and torqueflite to put in it...... 1985. Been a minute since I've been that lucky again..... did trade a junked '53 flathead with fordomatic for a '75 Maverick a few years back... scrapped the Maverick to get the discs and rear axle for one of my Falcons... ran the 200 in one too.