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History Have you ever thrown away parts that you thought were worthless?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by HOTRODPRIMER, Jul 16, 2020.

  1. But later on you found out the old adage holds some truth, " one mans junk is another man's treasure?"

    I suppose this as a common occurrence before the internet.

    In the early 70's I had a '65 Dodge A-100 with a 273 V8 and automatic transmission, it had all the appointments needed during the van craze but I wanted better seating so a pair of Mach I buckets replaced the original A-100 bucket seat.

    I stored the original seats in the storage room but a few years later I was cleaning up the mess and needed additional so I saw no need to hang on to these old seats and hauled them to the dump.

    A while back I was made aware that the guys building Thunderbolt clones were searching high and low for the A-100 seats which supposedly used in the '64 Fairlane Thunderbolts.

    I don't have a clue as to what they go for but I bet the ones I threw in the dump would have made somebody happy. HRP
     
  2. Mr48chev
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 33,861

    Mr48chev
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I scrapped several cars in the 80's that I got for free or for well under 100 bucks that would sell for 3/4K in the same condition I got them in now. They were just parts donors then.,

    The best one on me though was that back in 1966 I had bought a 55 Buick Special 4 door hardtop for 75.00 off a car lot in Seattle. I drove it around that night and on the way home it started to knock so I parked it beside the road and walked back about two miles to my dad's apartment. The next morning we went down to get it and he decided to drive it home and let me drive his car and he took off like a bat out of hell and the Buick abruptly lifted up and with huge cloud of smoke and a bang gave up the ghost. There were pieces of rod and piston in the lifter galley let alone hanging out the side. A few days later I found a 55 Buick Super sedan that was about as big as a limo that had a nice engine and good trans for 60 bucks. Drove the super home and on Saturday morning with a rented engine hoist we pulled the engine out of the Special, backed the super up and stuck the engine and trans in the trunk of the super and turned it around and pulled the engine and stuck it in the Special all in time to drive it to work Monday morning.
    We towed the special down the hill to the wrecking yard and gave it to them and a couple of weeks later I had to go back and buy a pulley off the engine that was in the trunk of that Buick. I had saved the radiator but didn't think about saving pulleys.
     
    Last edited: Sep 4, 2022
    3W JOHN and HOTRODPRIMER like this.
  3. dana barlow
    Joined: May 30, 2006
    Posts: 5,115

    dana barlow
    Member
    from Miami Fla.
    1. Y-blocks

    Crap,I was trying to forget about doing that !!!!

    And then too ,I have hunted for days an weeks for something I know I had,but likely forgot about giving away. I must of put it in a safe place<safe from me!!
     
    jimpopper, slayer, clem and 11 others like this.
  4. My first high school car in 1966, a '57 Chevrolet 150 2 door post. A friend of my dad's gave it to me to get it out of his yard. I got the 6 cylinder running on the first day after I drug it home. The car had fender skirts and a sun visor that all got removed immediately. I put them up in my dad's garage. About a year later, he got on a cleaning kick and told me to get rid of the junk in the garage. I watched the skirts and sun visor get bulldozed into the ground at the local city dump.....
     

  5. Moriarity
    Joined: Apr 11, 2001
    Posts: 30,778

    Moriarity
    SUPER MODERATOR
    Staff Member

    In the mid ‘70’s I threw away the original bench seat from my 55 Chevy 2 dr htp
     
  6. Johnny Gee
    Joined: Dec 3, 2009
    Posts: 12,603

    Johnny Gee
    Member
    from Downey, Ca

  7. I remember talking with a guy in the classic Chevy club and he was looking for a bench seat for his car, he had a standing offer of a grand :eek: and someone finally found him one. HRP
     
    Last edited: Apr 3, 2023
  8. Pass The Torch
    Joined: May 18, 2018
    Posts: 1,629

    Pass The Torch
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I *thought* I tossed a factory DeSoto dual quad intake; it got found.
     
  9. Tim
    Joined: Mar 2, 2001
    Posts: 17,097

    Tim
    Member
    from KCMO

    I’ve trashed good parts before knowing they were good parts but didn’t have a way to transport or store them and after months of trying to sell no bites. Is what it is.
     
    brEad, 3W JOHN, HOTRODPRIMER and 2 others like this.
  10. That's what the previous owner of Taboo did in the 90s redo of the car. Pulled the stock 2 dr bench seat out and hauled it to the dump.

    Tossed quite a few cast iron intakes for small block chevy's not thinking they were worth anything till I spotted some at swap meet and saw what they were asking for them. Same thing with exhaust manifolds.

    My grandpa jokes about all the stock multi carb air cleaners he threw away back in the day. 348 tri power air cleaners, bat wings, even just stock small block snorkel air cleaners all tossed in the trash.
     
  11. Yea, bench seats out of tri-five Chevy's are nuts anymore...I don't remember ever pitching one of those...just one out of a Chevelle I built years ago that was probably also rare... I know I have thrown away lots of parts that later became worth alot or I needed shortly after. But, I also have WAY too much crap that I haven't thrown away because of the few times I did and wished I wouldn't have... :confused:
     
    3W JOHN and HOTRODPRIMER like this.
  12. 51504bat
    Joined: May 22, 2010
    Posts: 4,755

    51504bat
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Just before I got drafted in 1971 I had an o/t 1950 mgtd that the PO installed a flathead 60, trans and cut down closed drive shaft rear end. I replaced the Ford running gear with running gear from a wrecked MGA. While I was in Basic Training my dad had someone haul the running 60, trans, and rear end to the dump. I guess they are living the good life with all the exhaust manifolds that got replaced with headers, factory air cleaners that were discarded in favor of Cal Custom ones, and hub caps that were replaced with mags. If only we knew then what the stock stuff would be worth now.
     
  13. LAROKE
    Joined: Sep 5, 2007
    Posts: 2,079

    LAROKE
    Member

    I tossed the factory air pump on my '69 Javelin SST. I still feel good about that.
     
  14. Hotrodmyk
    Joined: Jan 7, 2011
    Posts: 2,302

    Hotrodmyk
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    1. Northwest HAMBers

    Story of my life.
     
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  15. 302GMC
    Joined: Dec 15, 2005
    Posts: 7,856

    302GMC
    Member
    from Idaho

    Didn't so much throw away - more like giving it away. Late '60s until the '90s, I'd give shiny flathead stuff to the Ford guys, because "I'm a Chevy 6 guy" ....
     
  16. I never throw away anything but I have given away lots of stuff, including 32 Ford parts that I no longer wanted to use at the time and now wish I had back.
     
  17. vinfab
    Joined: Apr 18, 2006
    Posts: 312

    vinfab
    Member

    I have done that plenty of times as the most mundane parts after a long enough time, become valuable. But this story is about a friend of mine. It is set in the early 70's. My buddy had found a complete early Mopar 413 Sonic Ram that he wanted to freshen up to replace the 383 in his Belvedere. He was still living with his parents and had the disassembled engine components in their 1 car garage. As Fall rolled around, his dad told him to get that junk out of there so he could park in the garage for the winter. He put the block, crank and heads in the trunk of his car where it stayed until the following Spring when he threw those away. The complete intake, carbs, air cleaners and linkage he hauled to a local scrap yard thinking he could get a few dollars for the scrap value of the aluminum. It was Saturday and they were closed, so he just tossed them over the fence and drove away. For those who are unaware, here is what they look like. sonoramic4.jpg
     
  18. 41rodderz
    Joined: Sep 27, 2010
    Posts: 6,540

    41rodderz
    Member
    from Oregon

    I never did throw stuff away . There in lies my situation now trying to simplify.:D
     
  19. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 55,942

    squirrel
    Member

    well, if we hadn't of trashed all that good stuff back then, it wouldn't be worth so much today, would it?

    Because of me, there's a 59 chevy truck bench seat and rear bumper in a dump west of Tucson...happy digging
     
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  20. gnichols
    Joined: Mar 6, 2008
    Posts: 11,345

    gnichols
    Member
    from Tampa, FL

    Worst case. Saved a part to use later. Nope. So then I tried to sell it. No joy. So I tossed it. Now I need it again.
     
  21. olscrounger
    Joined: Feb 23, 2008
    Posts: 4,770

    olscrounger
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    64-65 My Dad gave all my flat head stuff and a nice T coupe to the junk man--gave me $40 he got. Oh well.
    Late 60's got rid of a bunch of Chevy stuff stored at my folks ranch. Couple of sets of 997 heads-big bucks now.
     
    Last edited: Jul 16, 2020
  22. LAROKE
    Joined: Sep 5, 2007
    Posts: 2,079

    LAROKE
    Member

    That story made me cry.
     
  23. WB69
    Joined: Dec 7, 2008
    Posts: 1,958

    WB69
    Member
    from Kansas

    Who hasn't? Far too many to even count and admit too.
     
  24. Me too....I would love that setup for the ‘64 convertible


    Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
     
    3W JOHN, HOTRODPRIMER and LAROKE like this.
  25. Jalopy Joker
    Joined: Sep 3, 2006
    Posts: 31,179

    Jalopy Joker
    Member

    didn't throw away exactly - but, prices that I sold cars for long ago was like throwing them away compared to today's prices ^^ oldscrounger's comment above reminds me that my Dad paid a auto wrecker to haul away a complete '56 Ford with 312
     
    Last edited: Jul 16, 2020
  26. When I bought my '32 Ford pickup for a hundred bucks, it had a nailhead with the Buick 3 speed standard trans and Buick rear end. I scrapped that junk pronto so I could drop a SBC in it.
    32.jpg
     
  27. LAROKE
    Joined: Sep 5, 2007
    Posts: 2,079

    LAROKE
    Member

    I've been following your thread and something like that would be great for you ride.
     
  28. Geez, when I was eighteen we moved, 1970. Left behind and or scrapped a mint 54 Bel Air hood with the ornament and emblem, a set of power pack heads, 283 block and crank, disassembled but complete 361 and complete Torqueflite. Early 70's I tossed a set of Pontiac eight lugs, nobody wanted those. Lost count of the Muncie parts, it was cheaper to buy a used one than trying to fix a broken one back then. Moved across the country, tossed a complete 322 Buick engine and a porcelain Buick dealership sign, thing had to be 12' tall, complete except for the neon tubing. Not even taking into consideration of the things I declined to take because I didn't have storage space, won't even get into that.
     
  29. partsdawg
    Joined: Feb 12, 2006
    Posts: 3,503

    partsdawg
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Minnesota

    I was having a good day. Thanks for the downer post HRP. ☹️
    Seriously,we all tossed good stuff. Get a big block Mopar, Chevy or Ford and the first thing to do was get the headers out on. Originals in the scrap bin. Who knew??
     
    Tow Truck Tom, clem, 3W JOHN and 3 others like this.
  30. Just the opposite. Back in 1963 someone threw a Rochester FI unit, complete with distributor, in a trash can.....it was in terrific condition......pulled it out and ran it as-is on my '55 BelAir.

    EDIT - I built a 283/315 long block to put under it.
     
    Last edited: Jul 16, 2020

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