Technical I believe we are past the ....Peak. buy now if you can

Glad to hear you got the part you needed; I work for Napa. Sadly, those good fortune moments are getting far and few in between. And Napa has changed policy on things they accept cores for. Unless it's a demand item, but if it is something that was used on vehicle's 10 years or so ago, they don't consider them worth rebuilding and inventorying. There are exceptions, but it's an operations cost thing. Also, a lot of remanufacturing outfits went under during the Pandemic. It sucks. but corporate bean counters have the last word. Larry

 

Hemmings motor news is still fat with shows,swaps,junk yards,parts vendors for every make you could think of, etc. The way I see it, if you REALLY need a part, you can find it. Not by always calling Summit or Speedway, but by calling friends and fellow car guys. The old car guy network is far greater than any store.

 

I used to think that way as well. I'm one of those old guys that had lots of Mopar parts, "had" being the important word.

I no longer have many Mopar parts around here, more accurately, there is almost nothing. I've used it up, sold some off, and scrapped some because I got tired of tripping over something no one seemed to want anymore. I'm not alone, I used to have a pretty good network of guys I knew that had a lot of parts, but them like me, no longer have much, and some are no longer even with us anymore. Many of us are getting as old as the parts we used to love, and can no longer keep them, or have the patience to deal with people that think we should just give our stuff to them.

Simple things that used to be plentiful no longer exist.

We see auctions listed very often with hoards of stuff, that is a double edge sward. It means that a lot of parts are suddenly being released to the public, but it also means another source of vintage parts is gone. It make some of us wonder how many collections never made it to auctions, or into other peoples hands.

I have to agree with the OP, we are in a time where if you think your going to need something, this might be the time to get it. But I also believe you need to keep a reasonable time frame of needing the parts. Much past 2-3 years on something you already have and are working on, should be towards the outer time limit. Someone might need that part now, instead of you adding it to your collection where it will sit for the next 20 years.

 

I can see where the op is coming from. How many brass era parts do you see anymore? Even though there were millions of Model A's built and there are lots of parts out there, the restorers are fading away and when their oem parts hit the market, they are gone. There will still some reproduction parts made, but less and less. The market for that kind of stuff is shrinking and has been for some time. Now as hot rodders we will take what we can get and make it work for us, but the restorers won't. And as time goes on and natural attrition takes more and more cars and parts off the market and companies see less demand for parts, they will move on to something else to profit from. Some things and some popular cars will still be supported, but the less popular stuff will start to disappear.

 

The sky is falling. It's not the end. Life will go on. Parts have been bought and sold forever. They may get sold now but they will be back up for sale in a few years.

 

Nice to see the requisite disdain for flippers and specialty suppliers. Are we supposed to do it for the love of the hobby? 90% or more are 1 project guys who may NEVER return for anything else. What markup is fair? 10%? 100%? Nothing, dollar for dollar cuz the guy love this shit? When you don't understand how to amortize a major parts investment it's best to just remain silent or give it up completely. Take up dance classes. Let's say I offer to buy a trailer full of wheels, average retail per wheel is like 30 bucks. I have inventory, transport, storage and advertising/shipping costs. Let's say there's 500 wheels and I offer a buck each. How many are scrap? Dunno, risk. How many are useless and will never sell? Dunno, risk. Where will I store them? Cost involved regardless. It's easy to imagine I might score 1 set of 4 that pays me back on the purchase, but what about the rest? How much is a fair earning for KEEPING THEM IN THE MARKETPLACE AND PROVIDING A SERVICE AT MY EXPENSE OF TIME AND $$$? Replace wheels with anything, engine blocks, distributors, repair parts. I want retail, but what's fair? I'll wait...

 

ain't it the truth! Parts? damm right, i can use a bunch of NOS on my old worn out body right now!

 

Let’s all be responsible and neaten up our stash. Inventory what you have. Let your loved ones know the basics. When I leave this life, none of the goodies will get scrapped. They’ll be put on the market for the next enthusiast.

 

There are plenty of parts out there.

The problem is, many are in hoarder collections, that will never be sold.

 

You have the right idea.

Unfortunately, you would be the exception to the rule, in my experience.

 

Agreed. It's getting harder to get anything. Availability of listed parts is also an issue.

 

Another thing I been coming across is guys parting out Parts. needed a couple window regulators and I keep coming across guys that take the assembly apart and sell it piece meal. I want the whole assembly not a box of high price parts I have to reassemble and hope all the pieces are there. I went to a swap meet this summer and a guy had 4 or 5 full size 1964 Ford/Mercury consoles, when I inquired about them, he said some other guy had just bought all of them, plus a bunch of other stuff he had. The guy made a great sale, and that's cool but its getting to be next to impossible to buy things at a reasonable price anymore. When you can find it even for sale.

 

In this day and age if you can't find that unobtainiam part, you're not looking hard enough. Everything is out there somewhere. And when you find it, step up and get it. Keeping your hands in your pockets and bitching about the price ain't gonna get it done. I've gone to swap meets with guys who were looking for the same shit I was. End of the day my bag was full, and theirs was empty. Then I had to listen to the whining and bitching about the high prices all the way home. They were still bitching about that part they couldn't find as I drove off in my finished car.
And the bitch about hoarders. They had to get that shit somewhere. Bet at one time they were the guys at the swap meets that left with their bags full.

 

There are still places if you put Early or Antique as the first word in your search, the net will find a place that sells it. for you.

 

I have no problem with people hoarding parts. Those parts are still intact and will most likely be available at some time. What bothers me is the scrappers. Once it’s scrapped, it’s gone for good.

 

Every hoard that is scrapped by heirs when the owner dies increases the scarcity of parts, and drives prices up.

That's not an opinion. That is a hard fact about market forces. Everyone is free to ignore it, but destroying portions of the supply of things that are already rare makes building a vehicle with them that much more impossible.

This poses a larger existential threat to the continuance of this hobby than legislation, insurance, or fuel prices.

I personally know of large collections, all with in 50-miles of me, that disappeared without a trace over the last decade.

None of those parts were sold. None exist anymore.

We only have now. We are not guaranteed a future. Selfish action will guarantee that we do not have a future.

For a good example of this, a guy that I knew, who would never part with the goldmine that he was leaving to his heirs had just about every single small-production blower manifold. blower, and drive combo that was ever made, and multiples of many. He had a whole bunch of the MFI stuff that many of you have been looking for, too.

Early Olds, Desoto, baby Dodge Hemi, Y-block, Cragar, Weiand, magnesium, aluminum, 4-71, 6-71, Potvin, Donovan, you name it. He had drives for all of them, and the super-rare ones, too.

He died. It was all scrapped.

Never chastise ME about decrying hoarders.

 

Kinda proves my point. You knew the guy. Why no contact with the heirs and offer to buy the stuff for little above scrap price? Sounds like your bag stayed empty. I've had to deal with a few of these situatuons. You find the person in charge, show the cash, and be ready to haul it away. Due the seperating offsite then get the scrapper. It's gonna be on your dime, put in the time.

 

You assume too much, so no, it does not.

Every member of his household had my telephone numbers, email addresses, and my home address, just 3-miles away. They already knew my offer and that I had cash.

I found out that he died a month after he died, when the property was listed for sale. My wife works in luxury real estate, and spotted the listing.

They just wanted it all gone, and that's what they got.

As soon as the house was empty, they sold it for $3,200,000, the day after it was listed, which was $1,000,000 over asking.

The parts meant nothing to them, at any price. They wanted to unload the property and take their millions.

$125,000 from me did not move their needle.

 

Define reasonable. Opinions will vary.

 

OK

 

Current project: OT 1969 car, frame off, I've bought most major parts required to complete (interior suspension weatherstrip) need to buy wiring, gauges, AC, engine rebuild kit, paint etc. The price keeps going up but it's available.

Project on deck: 1963 impala. Have car, full good trim set, bumpers, bought as a stalled frame off - chassis was rebuilt and painted over 20 years ago ( replace soft brake parts), needs body work and paint.
The choice here is direction of the build - I'm not completely sure what I want the finished car to be. SBC driver ? Big HP build would need rear end and rear suspension upgrades? Stick or auto ?

Do I buy known / needed parts now (interior, wiring, aftermarket ac, patch panels) at today price and hold them ?

I guess the benefit of my builds is - mainstream cars - chevy engines - easy to find stuff.

I do have a 1967 buick 430 with switch pitch trans that i saw running strong before pulled. If I find a good buick (1930- 1965) hmmmm. Or....1963 impala with a buick 430 would be a FUN car.

 

Not so fast....
Common as water...." in the Mohave."
No joke, I have literally kicked through piles of brackets and stuff for SBCs...
I have walked through sheds with SBCs all over the place. 283s, 327s, 300HP 350s, 400s, big blocks of multiple flavors, stacks of "Double Hump Heads", intakes, ramhorn manifolds, script covers, generators, and then there was the ...yard.
That stuff is Gone. ^^^^ Like described above Gone, Gone.
LKQ came in and bought the yard. They scrapped all that stuff, now there's nothing past 15 years old. None of it is for public sale in the traditional "walk the yard" sense.

Above is used parts, what about new?

A few years back my daughter had her transmission rebuilt and I talked shop with the builder.
He said the "Hard Parts" for TH350s are pretty much unobtainable. He stated that the "Soft Parts", were very difficult to get and slow in coming, if you can find them. This was several years ago. It might be better now, but I doubt it. He said on the other hand, C-4 stuff is available.
Don't let the "commonality" fool you. There's plenty of things that were once common that are scarce now.

 

I suspect that in the day-to-day experiences of some there is a significant disconnect between the experiences of others.

It may be about location.

A full 81.4% of the population, or about 268,213,000 people live in coastal states, on 57% of the nation's land area.

That land is under pressure for housing, businesses, infrastructure, etc. Yards are disappearing outright, and those that remain are high-turnover, late-model focused ones.

The remaining 18.6% of the population, or about 61,287,000 people live in the non-coastal states. They are spread out across 43% of the nation's land area.

It is far easier to have a long-standing yard full of old parts out there, and much easier for an individual, or many individuals to have large properties where they can have stashes of parts/cars/etc.

 

I might add, that the aforementioned 43% of the land area that the rest of us would need to look for parts in is about 1,632,710-square-miles.

 

Good job Gimpy,
You always have statistics and information in your posts to explain your point .

Like has been posted here before,,,,,,,most of our relatives don’t really give a flying,,you know what about ,,our hoards of stuff .
Yes,,,,,they say they will follow your wishes,,,,,and they probably mean to ?
But,,,,,,when the hour comes,,,,,,most are not really capable of handling the problem .
They are in shock and grief,,,,,( we hope ),,,,,and really just want to go on with their lives .
It can be a daunting task to handle,,,,,,,and after a while they just want it to be over .

So,,,,,,,it’s scrap city !

It happens all the time,,,,,they just want it Gone !
Even if it means less money in the long run by selling for a scrap price .

Go ahead,,,,,keep all those things piled up,,,,,,,it’s coming,,,,it always does .
Death and taxes,,,,,,they are both confusing to me ,,,,but I’m doing the best I can .
Lol .

Tommy

 

400 to 500 for a driver quality, console, not 12 to 1500 and it needs restoring. I spent 30 years in the hot rod and restoration business. I bought, restored and sold countless parts and cars in that time. I know what it cost to restore a part to useable condition. If you want to spend 1,000 dollars on something that will cost, you another couple of grand to make it nice that's up to you. Google a 1964 Ford XL console and look at all the chrome that is always pitted and crazed after almost 60 years and tell me what you think is fair! Larry

 

I have been in the cut-throat hardcore corporate world for long enough to know that if you do not have every single number to back up your assertion, you could not only get verbally eviscerated, you could actually lose your job (and possibly your career).

 

As a future 18.6%er , my small and petty hoard will go with me and onto the cars I have. IF that can't be done due to health or situation it will be sold or given away.....NO scrapping (everyone that is behind me in line is in agreement).

But to the original post, the parts are still around, new and used, you just have to dig, do research and be patient.