Customs Old guys parts stash. What to keep/trash

As is increasingly common these days, I have been given a guys lifetime pre war parts stash. I’m not looking to get rich. I just think I need to get these parts into the hands of people who need them. I’m going to the Pate swap meet this spring. It’s a pretty good haul for me.
Not everything old has value.
The old dude had restored
1913 Cadillac
1929 Cadillac
1929 Pierce Arrow
1933 Packard.
He also had parts for his other unrestored cars as well.
AND… he had a bunch of old aftermarket service parts.
Some parts are no brainers. Headlights, glass headlight lens, running boards accessories etc…
The question is, what types of parts are not worth hauling?
Would anyone build a motor using 60 year old bearings? Going to trash the piston rings that are out of the boxes.
Are old 6v bulbs in the box worth selling?
Oil pump cores? I’ll. Have to try and ID them.
If there is a reproduction of a part available, would anyone want to buy a core?
What about old points and condensers?

 

I’d say there is a small, but dedicated, market for the 6 volt bulbs and the points and condensers, especially if they are in the original boxes.

 

You never know what might sell. I have been buying slotted screws and such lately. Currently working on a guys 31 Pierce Arrow. Looking for a rear seat foot rest. He just found a Microphone for the in car speaker system. It`s a limo.

 

Don't trash it if not sold, give it to a swap vendor ..

 

A lot of 6-vold bulbs are unobtainable. There are some 3 beam headlight bulbs for Packard and other big cars that last I knew were no longer made.
U.S.A. electrical parts will slowly sell. Best if you can identify. I had a hard time finding a 1931 Oldsmobile distributor cap. I have no idea what points availability is.
The headlight lenses will sell. There used to be a website that did well to identify them. I have not tried to find it in years.

 

I can't say that any thing can be trashed Please don't.
The Metals in some of that, can at the least be recycled to the right person.

Yes to old stock items. Absolutely
Thanks for bringing this here, or anywhere these items can be dealt with.
Most all of anything reproduced today does not compare to the slide rule engineering methods of yesteryear.
Cores that are unmarked can be labeled by the right guy. Advertise and find him, please???
Using a trash can would be tragic.
Right off the bat ( can't shake this underline thing )
Points and condensers are endangered species
This a good thing you have
Luck to You

 

$5 each for antique 6v bulbs is a fair price if they,re not oxidised on the outside. Now if they,re modern 6v for a old beetle that might change the price. 100 + year old flat headlight glass will sell beter if you rinse it off first. They,re allways worth $ 25 each .

 

I was faced with a similar situation with older vintage ignition pieces left in my father in laws garage. I inventoried it and ended up selling it all as a package to a vintage ignition seller in the midwest that I found on line.

 

Since you're not swap-meeting 'till spring, to help thin the piles, I would contact the on-line clubs of the cars he had. No clue what the national-clubs' rule(s) are for advertising, but a short email(or ph call) to the ad person or the club pres would solve that. Esp if you don't want to get rich from this old stuff. They would have a clue as to what should be saved, & maybe a decent price on the relevant goods. I'd also run an as in Hemmings, at least under mixed-make parts. Oh, wth, maybe here, too. Bearings would be worth not-scrapping, if you can ID them. Lots of the older stuff isn't available. Just my opinion. Hmmm, suppose a call to Kantor would be in order. To whom else, would depend on what & how many, the cores are.
Marcus...

 

If you don't want to sell each piece individually, put them in big boxes like your pictures show and put them out at the swap meet with a price on the whole box, I guarantee for the right price, someone else will buy them from you and sell them individually. The value of the parts stash is directly proportional to how much time you're willing to put into selling them.

 

I wasn't going to comment because quite frankly, I live in Edmonton. That stuff holds such a limited value around here you might as well plan on forever moving the box's and blowing off the dust.
You'll be that guy at swap meets. Same stuff, too good to throw out, and no one wants.
Hurts me to say it but it's true.
Stand on the street corner offering 6V bulbs for free and see how many takes you get.

Sorry to say, call me a low baller, but really, I wouldn't offer you $100 for the pleasures shown. I don't have the time, space or life left in me.
Someone else will though and if you find him, unload it all. Take the money and run. Fast and far before he changes his mind, his wife say are you crazy?

Making money, I'd be making a quicker buck, more of them being a Wal Mart greeter. And you don't need to move the box's or dust them.

How about this, you'd do better to save the planet by giving it away. Reason being, the gas to go to shows is too darn expensive.
Welcome to Wal Mart. Fishing rods are over there.

 

Swap meet is usually not for getting rich It's about participating in a hobby.
The reason I went the way I did was the question about repop parts is most of that is shit junk and not worth the time.
There is no beating original stuff.
So I'll wave to you when I come to your Wal-Mart

 

PLUS 1 on locating the relevant collector's clubs and spreading the news there. And just because a reproduction part is available IN NO WAY renders an original worthless

 

Join up over at AACA forums and throw it out there.
A lot of good people would know what they are looking at.
That pile might even get someone to take a trip and get the whole lot of it.

 

Having dealt with parts for these early luxury cars myself. The market is small, but the prices are high. I wouldn't scrap any of the parts to those cars listed, unless truly junk.

 

That's what they are calling it now, participating in a hobby.
A hobby where you buy high sell low just to make space in the garage, basement, trunk of the car? I call it a gathering. Where ordinary Joe's set up shop for a day on a rented table in a rent space, trying to recover a bit of what was spent to a crowd that mostly doesn't need it anyways.
Welcome to Wal Mart, have a great day.

 

Most folks going to swapmeets know what will work for them. What I mean by that is if you separate everything out in boxes where everything can be seen, ie not have to dig through piles, and mark the boxes as say “6 volt bulbs” ,” ignition parts”, etc, a the “6 volt bulbs draw attention that there is stuff for older vehicles. Sort of an attention getter.
If you’re going to set up at the swapmeet anyways and since the stuff was just given to you, mark all items inexpensive, ie “bulbs 2 dollars each”, “points 5 dollars each” etc.
When I used to be a regular at Turlock and GGs in Pleasanton, unless something was marked in piles/boxes with a price, or at a minimum what the heck was in the box, I’d just move along.
There was a recent thread and in it was talk about making a fast nickel or a slow dime.

 

Thanks for all the replies.
By the hour, this is not a money maker. All of us have had a project stalled because of that “one part” that was tough to find. Silly as it sounds, I feel in kind of the “steward” of these orphaned parts.
I will be joining the AACA, and using /abusing their “what is it?” Forum.
And,,,, on top of this stash, I also have a huge stock of NOS Ford stuff from the 1940’s to the 70’s from my late friends estate. Hundred of boxes of stuff, bought at an auction of a closing ford house back in the 1980’s.

 

I've been collecting mostly 28 to 36 Ford parts for several years and have a pretty good hoard now. A friend has a 22' enclosed trailer that he's going to loan me so my wife and I are going to tag all of the parts that I'm ready to sell and put them in the trailer and track everything with a spreadsheet. The next step will be to tag every other part that I own and enter those parts in the spreadsheet as well. For the parts going to the swap meets, I'll have a Thursday price, Friday price and a Saturday price so the wife can run the swap space while I shop. If someone offer's less for on Thursday, she can tell they what the price is on Friday if they want to take a chance and wait. We may camp in he trailer too since it has heat and air. Our first swap meet should be Pate and the primary stuff I'll be taking is my 33 thru 36 Ford parts since I don't think I'll build any more of those. I'm going to concentrate on 32's, model A's on 32 frames and tri-five Chevy's.

.

 

Interesting, MO RUST. You've indicated an interesting concept that all of us might consider, just in case our families get stuck, er that is to say, get the privilege of disposing of our "stuff ". Catalog, attach an approximate value, and take pictures of it all, for them to use to make informed decisions on the disposal of the stuff.

That way should the inevitable happen before we do it ourselves, they may be able to get a little remuneration for what we have collected.

On the other hand, I'm going to be an SOB, and put my nephew thru the wringer! I'm betting that he'd probably enjoy it...

 

I plan to put tags on everything with an assigned number that matches the tag so I'll have a true inventory of all of my parts. It'll be a large undertaking but at least I've gotten pretty well organized in the last few years. If nothing else, I at least want my grandson to know what everything is should he end up with it all.

 

Let us know which spaces you have at Pate

 

I'll post it when I know. I haven't got spaces yet.

 

I’m in the process of selling and shifting house and the thought of moving and sorting my collection of (Stuff) is absolutely daunting.
What to keep ,sell and what to trash are some of the biggest questions I’ve had to deal with in my life. Being in the same spot for 33 years hasn’t helped.
As said though, if you’re not into swaps and getting rid of all the smalls one at a time, advertise as a job lot, someone will be interested.

 

@4SpeedGuy Sadly, your demographics at a swap meet is going to be an elderly gentleman between 75 to 85 in a handicap scooter with a milk crate on the back. Do research online in places like Hemmings or places like Kantners. Perhaps you might find someone interested in buying the whole lot. Don't expect much in the way of money, or contact Highlander on here, it sounds like his shop still does a lot of these types of cars and may have source ideas to get them a new home. Otherwise, your just putting off the inevitable witch is a date with the dumpster. I have been at this for35 years, opportunities to sell parts are getting smaller and smaller. The ones that tell you otherwise are the ones who still have a big stash of parts they horded and think they have the Motherload. The very reason you got them is because someone died, and nobody knew what to do other than finding someone else who could not bear to throw them away either. Many on us grew up in a time where we learned to never throw anything away, now we live in a time where they throw everything away. Good luck to you. Larry

Just saw the post about your Ford parts, Did the same thing in 1995. when the dealership I worked at moved to a new location. The old dealership had been in the same location since the late 30's. I hauled out three 24 ft enclosed trailer loads, and then spent an entire winter in the parts dept after work and on Saturdays cross referencing part numbers. Alot of the parts that crossed over to fit Mustangs, Torino's. Fairlane's and their Mercury brothers sold fast. but eventually the leftovers just sat so I would place them in one of my 12 stalls at the time and put a free to a good home sign. The rest eventually met the dumpster. But I did well on what I did sell at fair prices and the fact that the boss gave me the stuff to save on paying for more commercial dumpsters to haul it away. I did not lose too much sleep about an NOS 1977 LTD taillight. lol Larry

 

As far as my stuff goes the bulk of it is tin. Bodies, doors, deck lids and fenders for 29 to 36 coupes and roadsters so I don't see any of it hitting a dumpster quite yet. I'm still building model A bodies and fitting them to 32 frames so that will be my focus for awhile. I'm really not in any hurry to sell anything anyway. It's just after collecting and never selling for so many years, I thought it would be fun to start going to some of the bigger swap meets. I went to Hershey this year and it was fun but I didn't see a lot of old Ford tin and what I did see for what I thought was a decent price, I bought. I've recently bought a cool 55 chevy 2 dr 210 and a 57 chevy convertible to build too. Anyway, I'm just doing this for fun. I've got a day job to support my car habit.

 

^^^ Body parts such as @Mo rust has will continue to be in demand, his look to be in very good condition and are of desirable makes and models. now imagine if he was into early 40's Dodge 4 doors! lol The point is We have been programed for decades to believe that Fords from 1923 to 1940 coupes and roadsters are what you're supposed to build hot rods from. All the other makes can be cool as hell, but Ford stuff is going to win out. Regardless of age car guys are attracted to what was cool when they came of age at 14 to 18 years old. Fortunately for most of us that are between 40 and 100 the exposure to everything from T buckets to Pro street late 80s Thunderbirds was pretty steadfast. Now days unless I go to an event like Back to the 50's I don't see much in the way of pre 48 rods or 50s customs, Most events now are becoming more and more late model Camaro, Mustang and Challenger or the so called life style stuff of young people with run down sedans they picked up after Grandpa put it in the shed 40 years ago, with no intent of doing anything other than keeping it running. This is where our market is heading, maybe not tomorrow or next year but itis coming and the decision about collections futures are going to come up more often. Best of luck with your sales and I mean that in a good way. Larry

 

Thats because most traditional hotrods were Fords, almost no off brand cars were street driven hotrods. Off brands were not used until about 1971 and those became street rods.

 

I decided to clean out my garage a while back and found parts I hadn't seen in 20 years, parts I didn't remember. I sold some, gave some away to people who could use them and still have some in the garage. I had a bunch of old tags and offered them on the HAMB for free if they paid the shipping, had takers on all of them.

 

I never needed anything I had until I got rid of it, then it was too late!