History Is it time to start hoarding older motors and trans

yes i have engines here 440 service block.2 283 chevy spare for my t-27 roadster.2 347 spare pontiac 1957 for my safari and gmc 1957.one 336 gmc(same as 370 but smaller bore)350 chevys 327 1969 from a opel diplomat 1971.2 331 caddilac 1949.and 5 spare olds/pontiac 9.3 rearends.have some spare pumpkins fore my d-100 and t-27 roadster.2 389 pontiac.power pack heads and some pontiac heads.3 od 833 .iron case muncie.my6 gm.

 

Yes, I´m a hoarder too. I currently have a´56 283, a ´58 283 bored to 301, one 61,one 62 and one 63 283 with power pack heads, one SJ camel hump 327 and a LJ one, a late 60s 350, a 454 BB ,one 401 and one 425. Whenever I com across a good old engine for a good price I buy it. A lot of guys are going the crate route, but I prefer the old stuff...
I was reorganizing my shelf the other day to make room for a couple more engines and trannies, hahahaha

 

I buy them mainly to keep them from the scrap yard and from the yahoos that buy them and jack the price up to astronomical limits and hopefully put them into the hands of some traditional type builders on a budget. My shop is too small to hoard. I can barely get around in it as it is. Nothing gets left outside. I sold three nailheads and two st 400 trannies in the last three months. Going to the Decatur Texas swap meet this weekend and may bring home some more.

 

Your question about is it time to start saving old engines was thought of and acted on at east 100 years ago. Where do you think the single cylinder CadilacandOlds engines and others come from? Ford hasen't made a flathead engine in 60 years but almost every day there is a post on freeing up or rebuilding a flathead.

 

shoot, i have a running 360 FE sitting outside. i cant give it away.

 

Somebody come and hoard this old 327 SBC I have sitting here!

 

There is a downside to hoarding. When I moved from CA to TX, I sold/junked about 1/3 of my stuff and bought a semi and forklift to move the rest. I have scale receipts for 4 trips of over 70,000 lbs each! And then I paid a guy to do 2 more trips.

The times are a'changin and you can't stop it. all you can do is make a little niche for yourself and your loved ones. Buy stuff you are interested in and will likely do something with.

I've kept a number of rare parts to save them from the scrapper and have spent years advertising it at below-scrap value on craigslist and it's still here. Next time I move I'm not moving it again.

 

I have three old motors and a project in mind for each; a '29 A banger, a small journal '63 327 w/ dbl. camel hump heads, and a '57 392 hemi. I ran each of them at one time. I'll keep them in my shop until they go in a car.

 

If you have room to store the engines, and are keeping them for yourself, by all means keep a couple. If you wnt to help future rodders, and make a few bucks, good luck. I have been collecting 327 for years, and so far the only person I know who has ever bought one was, well me. I cant sell my big block Chevy, so of course I have thrown more money into it, so I can sell it for a bigger loss. Gotta Love It.

 

If you are a young man and have the $$$ and room for storage, go for it. IMO, it takes years for junk to turn into gems and trick will be , what/which junk will turn into a gem. Next question will be, 2-3-4 generations of Hot Rodders down the road, what will they want? Sincere advice from a guy that has 100% hindsight, 0% foresight. John

 

Well, whether it is time to hoard on not, we have acculated a few...currently have 5 T350's, a Powerglide, a 727, 2-C6, 4 Early 350 Chevys, a 348, a 351 Windsor, 2 Slant 6's, and a bunch of carbs, intakes, heads and external junk. Trouble is keeping all of it in a condition that if and when we want to use it...it will be usable. That's the trouble with hoards...they usually end up "dusty and rusty."

 

You all complain about??? Not me, If some one didn't save/hoard how would you GIRLS have it now??? How will there be "anything" 10 years from now

 

Pros and Conss to hoarding up stuff, all are valid points to consider.
But one thing that hasn't been brought up is keeping your stash secure from thieves.
Good friend here in town that builds some bad ass drag, oval and street engines had accumulated so much stuff at his shop, which, like mine is away from his home and located in a run down section of town.
So he bought a semi trailer and placed it on his lot at the shop. filled it over the years with good blocks, cranks, heads, maniflds, etc. Quite a treasure trove, which he drew from to build engines and sold to those who neeed them, all at a profit.
Well one dark and rainey night thieves broke into the trailer and stole a huge amount of the stuff they could carry, hi po heads, cranks, etc.. Most likely they sold it for scrap, as there is a tremendous problem with scrap thieves around GA these days. Rare stuff like 348 cranks, double hump heads, etc. all melted down and made into more Chinese Shit.

 

Hi,
I have three small block chevy 400's. They used to be hard to find, but now you can buy SHP blocks. I also have a 440 Dodge, and a 454 Chevy and a 383 Chevy setup. Most are core motors, although I bought a couple of them already machined. I'm beginning to wonder whether I have enough years left to use them.

Rick

 

i do not toss anything out that has any slim chance of being used again

 

When I dropped off a 390 Ford at the machine shop, the owner asked me if I had any more and if they were for sale.
THAT'S the day I realized I better start hoarding some more FE Ford parts!

 

raise the price

 

Craigslist is a terrible place to try to sell things and here is only a couple steps up.

 

yea. i've sold stuff here too. good folks to deal with but shipping is a bit of a hassle and only works for piece parts. i still sell them for almost nothing but that's fine, if someone has a good use for it then that's always better than throwing it away.

Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk

 

Big block anything is getting harder to find, be it Chevy, Olds, Pontiac, Buick, etc. Those are the ones really worth saving.

Don

 

If your going to hoard internal combustion engines you better start hoarding gasoline as well. If Obongolo and Al Gore have their way the only acceptable automobiles will be battery powered.

 

I only hoard/keep what I think I'm going to use for projects and I have too many of those. The room and proper storage prohibit anything more. I will buy it if it's priced well to flip to further current projects. I'll preserve history with rolling driving stock.