Well, if he takes your advice and sells 'that pile', given what has been said about the rise in parts prices, he'd likely get some return on his investment in those parts and have a nice down payment on the finished rod. Worth considering if he's willing to adjust to a different perspective to be able to start driving his dream before he (and me and others) take our final cruise....
31Vicky with a Hemi : "LMAO!! I sorta work hard at putting things together. That doesn’t leave a whole bunch of time to go hunting things down at reasonable prices,,, I could possibly shift sometime from productivity into procurement but that’s not where I feel most comfortable. My “man a cure” is atrocious so that puts me into those 2 out of 10 I think." Yeppers....you and other full time builders are in the 2 out of 10 category.
Exactly, but he’d be driving something, someone else’s dream not his. He’s got more than a few other rides that some guys would kill for. Not exactly Hamb friendly but Pro street ish 32 roaster, AC cobra, mid 60s caddy coupe de something, OT convertible Mercedes and a few more.
I built my bus cheaper than what we paid for one of these But how stupid would a 33 look like with this as a grill I guess it’s all relative
I do understand the time, material,commitment , salary that goes into producing a product from idea to in hand for all of us out there to buy if we need that particular items. And that is great for some . I have my individual perspective and likes. I do not desire a $21,000 Brookville body to go hot rodding.....or an Art Morrison $15,000 chassis . That is not the "traditional"experience I enjoy.
Sure, but there is probably something out there that is quite close to what he has in mind. Buying that and tweaking it's details could be alot easier and quicker than the scratch build route. Kinda what I meant when I said 'adjust to a different perspective'.
You mentioned sheet metal and that's what I was referring to. Fenders, grille shells hoods, quarter panel skins, floors, subrails and several more similar bits. On their way to building that Brookville body there are numerous individual parts created to build the body that, as you know, are also used to repair/restore OE bodies. If they didn't produce complete body assemblies there would much less available as repair parts. My main point is simply that it costs big bucks to produce, stock and market parts. A warehouse, storage racks, materials handling equipment, people ($$$), real estate taxes, insurance, utilities and more......And, when compared to what it often REALLY costs to cherry out a used piece, not just initial acquisition, the cost of the used piece and new piece may not be very far apart. There are no absolutes here. But looking behind the curtain helps to put things into perspective........if a person wants to.
I did just get home from a swap meet , one set of Kong finned ford heads for $3,000 ,a pair of 15x10 magnesium slots for $2,000 , 1962 T10 with shifter for $750 . Rest of any parts was brackets ,lights ,tools and household items..
I commonly refer to my collection of stuff as a Hoard. Other folks opinions don't effect me. quite often many folks become fond of telling others to so a certain thing about their stuff. The thing is that the only person that has any authority is the collector & hoarder themselves.
Then may I suggest you invest in reproducing some body parts so we will have more affordable options ? Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
There are some people that are willing to pay a premium for really nice original parts even though there are reproduction parts that are difficult to differentiate from the originals. I am fortunate to have a all original sheet metal sedan, I don't have a problem with the aftermarket parts but don't want to pay a inflated price for them. HRP
On a side note, Rootlieb has finally started making the 1932 Ford 25 louvered hood sides that are as close as you can get to the real thing, it's taken a long time and they have made a couple attempts at getting it right but they got it this time and at 825.00 it's a bargain compared to the last on I saw on egay that brought 0ver 6 grand. HRP
I’m with you there . I’m the worst as I am a Capitalist and a hoarder , and I don’t care if people like it or not. Prices of original parts generally come about from : “Availability vs Demand” , accept it or choose to play with undesirable and/or more common stuff Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
With your money ,no problem. All I am saying I personally am not going to pay $20,000 plus for a repro body. Anybody that does, all is good. Only people that truly knows to the penny what a body or fender to reproduce is the manufacture or the retailer that has the part manufactured. You do the leg work and with a bit of luck you can find usable parts .
I’m actually into a mostly original, full fendered ‘32 roadster roller now for somewhere into the $11k range simply by buying smart and being lucky. I even have a full running driving flathead drivetrain. Years ago I wouldn’t have dreamed this possible but lots of folks are casting off older parts in favor of perfect reproduction stuff and I’ve been lucky to be in the right place at the right time, and I’m okay with fixing stuff myself and not having that “perfect” car though That being said, when I do sell my spare stuff to help fund the project and I do I go for what the market is bearing at the moment.
when I had a several parts of one kind I use to help people out by letting the have one at a lot less than I could have sold it for ,then they turn around and sell the project and brag about how much they made now I get going price or do not sell it
I found the term hoarder is something that seems to be the catch phrase used mostly in the last decade or so. I know a lot of guys who have amassed a huge collection of vintage parts but it was never the intent to cash in on them. They simply collected because the stuff was cool and probably got them for little to no money at the time. I'm sure we all remember years past when guys were practically throwing away parts that are very desirable now. Years ago I knew an old farmer who had a barn with a bunch of old ford flatheads who tossed them to scrap cause in his opinion they were only good for making hot water. Who knew? I'm sure we all have stories like that. I know in my case I go to swap meets and buy stuff all the time. What I find funny was for some reason I wanted to keep track of what I had so I began to write it down in a little book with how much I paid and what year I bought it. I soon found how time flies between buying the parts and how much the prices here have gone up from what you paid and what they are going for now.
On the other hand, if you have ever tried to sell your hoard, you'll find out there are 9 cheapsters for every 1 who is willing to pay a fair price. At swap meets some guys are downright rude. By fair price I don't mean Ebay prices but some fraction of it - down to 1/3 or 1/2. Most of the time the parts go to dealers, and the end customer winds up paying full boat.
buy high, sell low. that's my motto. seems that part i just had to have isn't worth 1/2 of what i paid for it when i try to sell it 6 years later.
seems like whenever somebody finds an old rusty model t fender sitting in a field somewhere, they instantly assume it must be a '32 ford. someone told them that those cars are hot now, & car guys are dumb enough to pay anything for it
A body & paint man in Santa Cruz commissioned me to build his 350 Chev engine, 1979. I quoted him a fair price, and upon my picking the core up, he gave me a MINT '38 Ford V8 60 tube axle. (N.O.S., had the FoMoCo tag wired thru the king pin bore) "Just a bonus, I don't have use for it..." I treasure it. My friend Dennis Moomjean practically gave me another N.O.S. '37 V8 60 tube, it was leaning in a corner of the upstairs storage of Merced Ford...Dennis bought all the old fenders, hoods, etc., mostly from '36 on back. He had it under his bed since 1960...I bought a slew of stuff when he was cleaning out his shops and barns. Son Rich and I were at Turlock, 1994. Guy there wanted $400 for a 'wiggly' '34 Chrysler tube axle...(center bows down rather than forward: rare piece) I passed, but on the way out, an elder gent with a car trailer FULL of stacked Model A, '34-'40 axles, wishbones (most attached) was trying to 'move' these items, I spotted a '37-'40 tube, with spindles, wishbone, and brakes! I asked how much, he said "$15.00". We unstacked some others, and pulled it out. NICE!!! I had a $20 bill, he said he didn't have change! I insisted he just take the $20, for 'babysitting' this old relic. He 'blessed' me. The first tube axle I ever saw under a stock car was in 1955. Eddie Dias had an old '38 Ford tudor sedan, with a '60' in it...He was junking it out. I asked about the front axle, I had seen some drag cars and street roadsters with the tube axles, and reading divulged where they could be found. I was 14, Eddie was 17, he said "Whole front end, $8." Cool. "Will you take it to my house when we get it out?" "Sure, if you help..." My hands were shaking as I removed cotter keys from 'U' bolts, and wishbone sockets... But we made it, and the tube was mine! I built my first 'roadster' (actually channeled '31 Cabriolet) channeled over Deuce rails (body $3, frame $5, Deuce rear $5. Engine free, for doing an engine swap for a friend; transmission was free, removed it from a '41 Ford pickup abandoned at a defunct paving co. '34 steering a gift from a friend's older bro, for replacing the rope seal in his 59-AB milled '34 coupe!) When I sold the roadster (1963) I nearly swapped an I beam axle in there, hated to part with it...but my friend buyer said, "Please let me have it like it's built, that's the whole car." O.K. "Scrounging"? Yep... "Hoarding"? Not if yer gonna use it... There was a guy at the swap meets (Lodi, Turlock, Ford Co.,) who'd ask, "You gonna USE IT?" My bud would say, "Why would he care? He's sellin' it, isn't he?" More thought.
I'm gonna use everything I ever buy. And if I don't, I'm sure gonna get a fair price for it. Lots of things I pay market rate for, so just because I get lucky and buy a $100 part for $5 doesn't mean I'm gonna sell it for $5. Guys who get in a hurry will always have to pay the market rate. That's what's great about having a collection of parts. I can just go pull what I need off the shelf.
I totally agree with you on every point . Just to add I buy parts or whatever because it is cool to me . Valve covers ,intake, grilles. Sure, I may have plans to use at some point and if not,well it can sit there looking all pretty like and get the dust wiped off once in awhile.
Yep, I’ve been guilty of this, - but there is just something about using 87 year old parts over ‘new’. ( To me anyway) I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve spent refurbishing old parts, that could replaced with reproduction ones for less time and money. Just the way I am......
High prices have always been a reality in my part of the world. At the end of 2017 I paid about $9000 AU for my 29 Cabriolet Body and 30 Pickup Cab. The cab was listed for $4500 and was missing the roof, all the timber and visor. There was no way I was going to pay that much for it but I needed it for patterns. Had I known it had been through a fire I could have knocked another thousand off the price of both. I also paid five grand for this.
The Jalopy Journal
