Hot Rods Time to let go of that coveted/rare part

As viewed in this forum there are several of us who have accumulated/collected multiples of certain desirable /rare parts.
Collections of: Steering wheels, Intake manifolds, Valve covers, Gauges, Rare speed parts, etc.
Years of finding/collecting/recognizing that rare sought after part, that "some day" will be put on that "next project"..but project never materializes, yet the collecting continues, adding to said collection.
What determines it is time to sell? Financial, old age, space constraints/down sizing, getting out of the hobby, etc..
Curious if in the future these collections will be broken up, and back into circulation for others to put into their builds, or thrown away considered value less by your survivors.
I attend swap meets on a regular basis, and know, as you do, that rare, desireable part/s to finish off a "period correct" build are harder and harder to find.
Do you have, known to your survivors, plans in place upon your death for these coveted possessions (not to come off as morbid, just being realistic)?
I've given thought to this lately, and realize it is time for me to assess, and deal with reality, while I'm still able to do so.
For me in 5 years or so, we'll be moving/downsizing to another place (personal choice), which means I won't have the luxury of the space I currently have.

 

Start selling!

when I had the 261 in my fleetline I had hoards I’d speed goodies

vette intake and exhaust
Holly wood deep tone split exhaust
Hoards of intakes and carbs
Distributors etc etc etc etc


I sold off the car kept the parts as I’m an in-line 6 freak.
And realized I found it once I’ll find it again.
Free up the space and cash for things I need now.

if you are down sizing to a smaller place, figure out what you really want to keep and the rest list it.

it will give you time to sell it for good money, as opposed to waiting and then selling for pennies on the dollar, scrapping or giving it away.

ive sold lots of stuff I no longer needed or cared for, free up the cash and buy stuff you currently need or want.

 

Consider it a gift to your heirs, less to try and figure out and sell. At minimum tag everything with what it is what it fits to make is easier for them. When I cleaned out my Fathers garage he was into model planes, I had zero idea what some of the stuff was. Some of it I was able to get help on from his flying club members, but the hobby had changed from gas powered planes to electric power so a lot of what he had was outdated. What tools I could not take I donated to his local woodworking group in the retirement community they lived in. Now I have to practice what I preach.

 

Some guys wait till death. You're smarter not to. I'm 33 and have bought out a collection or two, and in one case the gentleman decided to sell when he was no longer physically able to work on cars or engines anymore. Fair enough. He was smart enough to sell me his collection (20 flatheads + parts) before he had passed so that it would be easy for his wife to move out of the house if she wanted to.

I'd buy a lot like that again in a heartbeat. To me, the treasure hunt is half the fun, the other half is lessons and stories told by the seller.

If you're located near Colorado and have a collection you'd like to downsize send me a message.

 

Just yesterday, I hauled a truckload of stuff to my place. A good friend died last fall and one of our friends is in charge of selling everything off. 15 cars with 10 parts cars. I`ve been helping sending serious prospective buyers. Noting was rare and very desirable in money value. Just stuff he accumulated in the last 20 years. The building is huge and all was inside with ample room. He had lots and lots of stuff. The prices are reasonable and people still want to get it cheaper. We say no, leave if you don`t like the price. Only had 8 people walk thru. This was how the man spent his retirement. His friends would come by and was a social time as well. He enjoyed his stuff and enjoyed buying more. He had the money, so what`s wrong with that.

 

^^^^ (Pinstriper40) Hunting for parts , stories = pure enjoyment .

 

I need to sell off parts more to room constraint .

 

The way I see it, when you sell something, everybody wants to low ball you. Say you will never get that price, it has a little blemish here. It will piss you off with what people will say. If you aren`t used to that, it will make your heart pound, not good for people in poor health. So I can see not dispersing early. Plus the job is a bit over whelming to say the least for the owner. ^^^^^ Only had to call the cops once with somebody saying where`s my motor I had stored here.

 

My father in law was a 58 - 64 Ford hoarder and the hoard was large . It took 2 years to get his collection down to zero so that his wife could downsize to a condo after he passed away. My wife and I are old car people and her mother and father are such excellent people that downsizing the cars and parts wasn’t that big of a deal really.

I think you are smart in realizing you have to cull the heard so to speak. You are the best person to know what your parts are , what you payed for them and what you should get for them. And oh yeah don’t move to a condo - old car guys don’t do well in condos!

 

I'm in the turn it loose stage right now. I have younger folks I know that are building rods this stuff and I have been a resource for some parts along the way. Most are the small original parts that the catalog shops don't have or re pop.
I often times give the stuff away to those that need and will use it. There are some folks I know that will try to low ball me to then turn it over for profit. I know most of these clowns now and no longer deal with them.
My wife has no clue of the value of any of this stuff and I will not burden her with it.
Should we decide to downsize, I hope to have the garage pretty much emptied out and only the cars left. Of those I have explained the value to her should the need arise.
For me it's the right thing to do.

 

The kind of cars most hambers are interested in seems to be falling out of favor as compared to years ago. I would sell sooner better than later if you are going to eventually get rid of it anyway. Look what has happened to the Model T collectors. T Model parts are as cheap as they were back in the 60s from what I can tell. Not much interest anymore.

 

Send It Down The Road And Let Others Enjoy And Decide...

 

The crowd of people you will be selling to gets smaller every year. Even hard to find parts have a finite list of qualified buyers. I get requests weekly to either buy or help sell collections of parts and stuff from widows or 60-70-80 years old car guys.
A lot of items are not rare or valuable enough to really spend much time on. I look at every lead and try to help even though it's tough to tell a guy his 30 year collection of car club newsletters or his used parts stash of (insert car make and model and year) isn't worth more than scrap.

 

When we moved to Pennsylvania almost 3 years ago, I gave a lot of stuff away, scrapped a lot, and we still filled 4, 40 yard dumpsters. I still have too much stuff now. A 12 x 26 garage full, a 12 x 20 storage bay, and a full cellar.

 

Given the current state of affairs of the world right now, it probably isn't a good idea to start selling off rare and hard to find hot rod parts. With almost everything being closed up and people being out of work, it would be a good idea to wait until everything gets back to normal before you start selling off your collection. Back to normal could take some time getting here. It could be this fall or even early next year before we see what normal actually looks like.

In the meantime a complete list of parts could be made up and a price expected for each individual part or piece. Personally I am not going to buy or sell anything hot rod related until this entire situation is resolved. The most important thing right now is everyone's health and safety.

 

back to the old saying - stuff is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it - yes, this can be hard to agree with - maybe argue about - more than once, when selling at a swap early on someone will make an offer on a part - a little less than what I valued it at - so pass on offer because if one guy wanted it bound to be another than is willing to pay more - near end of day just to move it out sell at extra low price because I brought it to sell and usually having some cash better than having to haul it to next swap - I have done the downsize transition and know how hard it can be

 

I had a lot of sorting to do when I bought the 20+ engines etc... There was 3 tons of scrap cast iron (broken exhaust manifolds, stock heads and intakes, etc.. That I simply scrapped. I probably should have scrapped a bit more, as I moved this stuff from MN to Colorado. There were some goodies in the bunch, but it was a LOT of hard work cleaning up the place.
One thing I'm very happy I got was his hand tools. Lots of 50's and 60's Snap-On stuff that I will cherish forever.

 

I was buying metal flake steering wheels, all colors, for a dollar or two apiece , years ago. I ended up having at least twenty or more when all said and done. I have GIVEN away all but two ( gold and blue) for free to friends and other gearheads needing them. I was also buying old small outboard motors for five to ten bucks also but sold all I had of them when we moved, for pennies more than paid, the guy felt guilty about just taking them. For me the reward of helping out a "friend in need" is worth more than the cash. But that's just the way I've always been, KARMA is king. Mitch

 

When I closed the motorcycle shop and went into engineering I had a large accumulation of projects and bits. I continued to add to the pile as cool stuff came up and daydream pleasantly about what each completed project would be. One day it dawned on me that I could never get to it all and I didn't want to be one of those old guys with a yard full of stuff he'd get to one day but never did. All the Triumph stuff went; all the Velocette stuff went; all the Ducati stuff went. What I didn't sell was donated to a local motorcycle museum. I have an occasional wistful feeling for some of the cool bits and "what might have been" but overall feel unburdened and have no regrets. As I enter my dotage I have a relatively manageable project list (see avatar) and stay busy. Just my experience.
regards,
Phil

 

A friend of mine passed away last year. He was a hoarder. Never sold anything, including the 50 the Merc. convertible and 65 Corvette convertible buried for years under the pile in this photo. Inside the house was the same, floor to ceiling. Don't know what happened to all his stuff. Sad.

 

My dad told me, " Someday son this awl will be your's", and sure enough it is! HRP

 

In the last few years I've started selling some of the Deuce parts I've been hanging on to, I've sold 3 nice original Deuce grille shells & inserts along with a very nice 25 louver hood and a mint firewall. HRP

 

Good point..

 

At some time years ago there was "Car Money' and the "House Money" once they got mixed to cover whatever needed to be covered things got looked at differently. There is a pile of stuff that is always for sale on line or swap meet/ flea market, a mix or car stuff and crap. I'll only part with my good stuff if I need to upgrade to better stuff.. That may be past history now, hope things get back to how they were. Bob

 

I think it maybe too late already. The repercussions of this nation-wide shut down will be a lose of 100s of thousands of jobs...and nearly emptied 401Ks. This could cripple our economy for YEARS. At the very least, it will eliminate a lot of folks from buying "frivolous stuff" (like hot rods/parts) as they concentrate on necessities.
I've been selling Antique toys on Epay for 20 years...and as of last week, the bottom has fallen out of the "collectables" market...the friggin' place is a ghost town.
I'm afraid those $1000 Deuce grill shells (and all other parts considered valuable) won't be worth much if nobody is buying anything.
I hope I'm 100% wrong and the economy swiftly recovers...but I have my doubts.

Sorry for being such a downer

 

I recently lost my uncle. He collected more then build .... he was 89 years old and collected a lot ...
When he passed, the family was more concerned with getting the huge chore of liquidating done.
His children had their own lives to live .... they wanted the money for the sale of the house. And move on with their life.

The engine shed had a rebuilt 283 with less then 1k miles, a 312 y block with 0 miles after rebuild, overdrive trans, was a beautiful red and white 64 impala dash and steering column, wheel .... several other engines, trans and parts. That building went for free to the first guy willing to bring a trailer and load it up for scrap.

A 1957 chevy 2 ton truck with a nice 283, power pack heads and a cam, I yard drove it $100 to the scrap yard.
Same thing with a 52 chebby rebuilt 235 with a dump bed ... $100 .... 57 packard, 66 merc list goes on

Point is, this is your hobby, your family may not feel the same way about it as you do.
I may think you died and left a pile of gold.
Your family may be groaning about how crazy the old man was, and left them a pile of crap to dispose of.

Responsible thing would be, to not leave a burden to your family. Pass it on to those that will use or preserve it.

 

I enjoy being able to help somebody else get their car done more than making money from a part. I don't own or hoard any rare stuff, but if i have something that'll help get another hotrod on the road, that's satisfying to me

 

There's far more "unused parts" than parts "in use". I'd wager there's enough Hot Rod parts and project cars in existence to build at least 5-10+ additional finished cars for every finished Hot Rod/Custom that's registered/on the street. Maybe not quite so high for a few cars that have always been ultra desirable and/or manufactured in relatively low numbers (rare) (early 30's open cars, 55-57 Nomads, etc), but for example, when I see a finished 49-51 Merc at a show, I'm thinking there's 5-10 "cousins" stored away in garages and never brought out, in progress projects, or sitting on someone's back 40.
Same goes for Hot Rod parts; for every Hot Rod I see with American Torque Thrusts, I'm guessing there's another 5-10 perfectly good sets NOT on a finished car. Every aluminum intake on a running car, there's multiples more not in use.
The problem is very few of theses pieces are undiscovered or "in the wild" as collectors call it. Most has been scooped up by car guys. That's good (vs it being scrapped). However, getting someone to let go/sell some of it off, especially if they don't NEED the money is the obstacle. Maybe at 30 years of age, a guy can "justify" having 5 Deuce grille shells hanging on his garage wall-for his next projects, but does a person need 30 Deuce shells or 30 sets of magnesium wheels? No, but car guys are inherent scroungers and collectors. A fortunate few of us (not me), can afford to walk through a swap meet or browse ads and buy whatever they want w/o any worry of making a dent in the family budget. It's also "better than money in the bank". Thank goodness, because if guys weren't "collecting"/saving it 50 years ago, we'd be SOL.

I've labeled my few extra parts with a Sharpie, so my Wife and kids know what it is and what it fits. They're smart enough to look on line to know what fair market price is. They won't be calling for a construction dumpster.

One things for sure. At present, it's a buyers market. Those with assured income over the near future will probably see some deals becoming available when those less forunate make the decision to let a few things go to make ends meet.

 

I'm hoping I will still have enough money to buy a 58-60 Corvette if they become more reasonable..I mean, who needs food? I am too fat anyway!

 

Several years ago before I was aware of the hamb, or
understood the internet, I attempted to sell off a hoard
of 55 - 56 F-100 parts I had 3 complete trucks and lots
of parts I had removed from various junkers. Tried a few adds in the local news papers. Advertising was expensive then. After very little sales, I gave away what I could and threw away a lot more. I did hold on to a few items and still am. I have been considering selling a
31 model A coupe I have. Not junk but not restored.
All original. I was perusing The free facebook market
place adds just this morning. There a are a dozen or more running driving model A Fords of various body
styles within not to far of a distance. The prices are
very low compared to what I thought I might be able to sell mine for. I did not buy this coupe with profit in mind, Good thing it will be a break even deal at best I am thinking. Most of the fellows I encounter, even old
guys like me are just done with working on old vehicles
and lean towards the new LS type technology. I have an assortment of odds and ends parts that I have offered up with little or no interest. As I see it this part of the hobby we embrace is declining just like the notices of members and friends passing is increasing. I do have a note book of what items I have and what they may be worth. My son knowsthe old vehicle hobby and will see to things. I hope not to leave a burden on him and will thin things out. As others have noted this crisis we are immersed in is a culture changing event world wide. The vehicles we have may soon be without any sustainable value.
When a person can not walk into a grocery and get a loaf of bread with certainty or with out risk of contamination, we are indeed in dire circumstances!