Hot Rods Any embarrassing moments while looking for parts?

I won an ebay auction for some 39 buick parts, the ad gave a New York address, I never looked it up first. Turned out to be as far north as you could go in New York state, in fact to get there I actually crossed into Canada. On the way back I was stopped by the border patrol, they could not believe I had a complete nose/fenders/hood/ side panels etc on the back. Last time I bid on eBay at 2 am.

 

Moved to Lubbock Texas and found a pile of old cars on a couple acres of land on South edge of town. Trailer, but no one ever home. My adult son n I decided to look it over with no bad intent and no tools. Got about midway into stash of old vehicles and I spot one of those igloo dog houses. I told my son "dog" just as this dog starts barking and chasing us. I'm running as fast as I can and my son is right behind me pushing me.
Few days later catch the owner home n he has a good laugh cuz dog is old and BLIND. Nice guy. Owner died a few months later of brain cancer. RIP Jack Allen.
Estate sale there were truckloads of stainless steel trim with no markings to show what they fit. Lots of v12 lincoln stuff too. I bought a couple cars.

 

Many years ago, living in South Carolina. Friend told me about some cars I should see at a good old boy's place. Forgot to mention he had a really nasty, very territorial and free ranging dog. I'm almost up to a car when I both hear and see the dog starting to charge me, foaming at the mouth and snarling. Oh holy mackerel, Andy, what is I going to do now? No place to hide so, acting on pure impulse, I charged the dog thre up my arms and yelled at him to BACK DOWN! Son-of-a-bitch. It worked. Dog stops in mid charge and sits down. I back up, very slowly, eyeballing the dog and slide back into my car. Just make, when this dog - who is neither old nor blind, gets this funny look on his face, like he's saying to himself, "Wait a minute... what's wrong with this picture? Why should I be

 

afraid of this asshole? So he renews his charge and gets a a face-full of gravel as I power out of there in my V8 Ford.

 

Say...Some burglars broke into the police dep't Wed. night and stole all the toilet seats!
Cops had nothing to go on...

 

Was looking for a bench seat for my F100... the old Lincoln 6 way power seat was just too thick-backed, shortened up my legroom a couple of inches, too short for long legs.
Pick-n-Pull had a Mitsubishi Diamonte (??) with the coolest looking buckets I'd ever seen, power driver's, controls on the seat side, and it was 1/2 price day.
Carpet was oldish, (for a newer car) so I had some tools, and cut the carpet with my 10-inch Bowie. (sharrrp) I was peeling back the carpet when I ran into something...thinking it was a bolt, I pulled the carpet back some more, and Holy Cow! It was a pile of quarter-dollars, ('quarters', you know the kind...U.S. Quarters.)
Well...I would have just thought, "Eureka...This'll shave a coupla dollars off the half price..." But, the seats Usually $75 the pair, were today 1/2 price, $37.50 the pair.
I unbolted the drivers seat, and it 'jinged' when I tilted it back...I dug a little, holy crow...the seat bottom had been the recipient of every dropped quarter this character had ever fumbled! Why all the quarters?
Maybe the toll on the Bay bridge? Work in San Francisco, live in Merced?
I got both seats out, drivers was still 'dripping' quarters. Took my Bowie and cut back some more carpet. More quarters, tens of 'em at a time! They were under carpet clear past the console, into the passenger side.
I filled pockets and side pockets of my cargo pants, and loaded the seats into my wheelbarrow. (my own, always take it to the wreckers!)
Some quarters I dropped into the bottom of my tool box, the rest just rode.
I got to the desk, and paid $37.50 plus tax, and was on my way out the door, when the wheel of my 'barrow jumped over the building's threshold, some quarters fell out of the seat...One of the guys said, "Hey, yer losing yer piggy bank money!"
I turned beet red...but bent to pick up some quarters, a Mexican gent with a sombrero walked up and handed me 3 of them. "Almost got away!", he said...Meaning the quarters, but for a second I thought he meant ME, and my misdemeanor meanderings!
Loaded it all up in my F100 bed, and despite rolling quarters up to the cab (!) got in gear and drove home.
Daughter's boyfriend helped me unload the seats, and I told him about the $$. We laughed like hell, turning the seat, emptying out the lower 'catch sack', and all the ones in my Cargos. Then in the bed, about 15 more...
Finally, counting what was in the toolbox, we added it all up...$43.25, so Pick-n-Pull actually PAID ME $6.00, not including tax, for these seats.
Don't love bucket seats, but they sit nice and low, exhume a serious 'cool factor'...
We still laugh about that find, one day I was working on my Moon gas pedal, motored the seat backward and a quarter rolled out.
"Thought that mine was played out!"

 

Buddy and I were traveling US 287 in Texas when we spotted a salvage yard that looked promising. He needed stainless trim for his '42 Buick and I needed trim for a KB-8 International. This yard had both! and we could not believe it! We worked judiciously removing trim from the very rusted shells, the trim was about the only thing left of any 'value'. The whole time we were working we kept saying over and over to each other that this stuff was unobtainium and we couldn't believe that we found any of what we needed, let alone in the same yard.
On the way back out we disclosed all of our takings at the office.
The fellow behind the counter looked and said " You want ALL of THAT"?
My buddy and I looked kind of sheepishly at one another and got ready for the screwing.
"Yes we do" was our reply in unison
"What do you think ALL of THAT is worth" he ask, as his partner approached the counter, shaking his head, to look over the take.
...............pregnant pause and sheepish looks exchanged again between my buddy and me................
when he broke the silence and said "because I don't think it is even worth twenty bucks"........
"give me ten bucks apiece for interrupting my nap and get out of here"

 

I worked at a salvage yard a few years back sorting and loading lite iron and #1. Junk cars that were hauled in got dropped in front of the "prep pad" for the crusher guy to to grab with a Cat 966 to put on the rack to poke the oil and trans pans, whack the cats, pull batteries, etc.. Was out of my view (and earshot) but a guy with an older crew cab came in for parts the parts guy sent him out back to look for himself. Must have eyeballed something on one of the new arrivals and while he was checking it out the crusher guy put the forks through his windows and was lifting it up to take it to the rack! Crusher guy told me the guy was yelling and screaming and was highly distraught! Yard owner wasnt happy either but he knows "shit happens".

 

Not embarrassing but a cute story. A guy had a nice '40 Ford DeLuxe grill for sale and wanted $500 for it. The guy that wanted to buy it, stopped by his flea market table several times and started out real low with an offer and every time he came back raised his offer only $10. The seller got annoyed and took the grill off the table and put it back in the trailer. A while later the purchaser came back and saw the grill was gone. The seller told him that he sold it for the asking price of $500. The purchaser was annoyed at himself because he told the seller that he was desperate and really needed and liked the one that was for sale. The seller then told the buyer that he had another, but really didn't want to sell it, but if he did, he would take an offer of $750. The buyer told him he would take it for the $750. The seller made an extra $250 for the same grill. There is a lesson to be learned here.

 

Reminds me... I worked at a Texaco in high school. Every couple weeks this kinda weird little dude would stop by in a battered Pinto station wagon. He maintained the coin-op condom and Kotex machines in the restrooms. Sometimes he'd buy gas, and when he did, he paid the bill entirely with quarters...

...nobody wanted to touch those quarters.

 

That story reminded me of when several years ago I was down in the Kimich, looking at a tractor. I spotted Mercury , a model that could have a two barrel 390 or a four barrel 410. I’m always looking for a 3.98 crank that comes in the 410. I stop and go up to the ramshackle house trailer and ask if it’s for sale and can I look at it? Yes and yes! Well I step out to the car and raise the hood......four barrel....410! Huray! But me being me I wanted to double check by finding the air cleaner lid which was missing from the carburetor..........So...I dig around in the car and find it!.......... 428 Super Marauder!!! Oh boy!
Back to the guy in the trailer house fir a price... he says , we bought that car to race it , because it has a racing engine in it .....four door barge! So I go, well here it comes as it obviously had been setting for a while........ he says as he rears back” it will take $200 to buy THAT car! I looked like Matt Dillon....... going for my wallet!
I still got that car, it’s waiting to donate that 428 to my avatar...... hopefully soon..... and swell up to 480 something!





Bones