Projects Careful what you buy...

Have bought plenty of 'used' tyres without a problem. Can be a variety of reasons for genuine sale.

 

Ever notice that every SBC being sold is a Corvette engine?

 

and every flathead will run if it turns............

 

10 out of every 7 SBC made was a Corvette engine.

 

The t-5 is a notoriusly lousy trans. Lot of guys had mustangs and camaros and put an aftermarket shifters in them and adjusted the throw wrong and bend the shift forks. Also they were barely adequate for a mild motor.
As far as buying used stuff I always ask why there getting rid of it. As someone mentioned earlier its a crap shoot. That motor might have run when it was pulled several years ago but the rear seal dried out and now it leaks like a sieve.

 

The engine in my '38 Ford pickup is a 307 Chevy that had been sitting under a friend's workbench for several years. Gave it to me to get it out of his way. It had been pulled out of a '68 GMC pickup that was beat up and rusted to pieces (farm truck) although it only had about 30,000 on it. It's been running in my truck for about 12 years now. People make fun of 307s, and granted it's not a high performance engine. but it runs well and is rock solid reliable.

 

I've been caught out twice after shipping down under. I asked all the questions I could think off but too late when items arrived here. The seller was NOT honest and/or truthful and deliberately misrepresented things. Lesson learned. One was a HAMBER

 

I'm sure I bought some cr*p but I did get an AOD core (including TC) for $50. Replaced all the seals, added fresh ATF and filter and so far it works great. I still have the pressure gauge connected to the test port - keeping an eye on it.

 

Let the buyer beware!!! There's a reason someone made that up!!! I needed an engine years ago when I was building my FED. Guy had a "327 with aluminum rods, balanced, stack injection, etc, etc, etc". Car it was in was an Fiat Topo altered. Everything looked old and dirty, despite him saying he had run the car in the last year; I never saw the car before. Told him to pull the pan; the aluminum rods were stock rods that the beams had been ground/polished/free floated, and the assembly had been crudely balanced (holes drilled in pin supports to remove weight). Pull the heads; all the cylinders are rusted, the heads have stock rockers and springs. The guy was real sorry, he "did't know". I bought the short block and heads for CHEAP. Only used the block, crank, and bare heads. Everything else got rebuilt/replaced with new. That was in the late 70's, and I still have that engine today. I have too much in it to try and sell it for what some yahoo would offer. Had some Power Pack heads I advertised for free, that had "odd" end casting marks. The guy I got the complete 283 from said it came from a 61 Vette F.I. car (I did't believe a word of that!). While waiting for the guy to arrive, I took a rag to the heads, and WIPED the casting marks away; someone had made single hump heads out of them with bondo/paint (?????). To make it up to the guy I GAVE him a set of 71-72 LT-1 heads, so he got two pairs of heads for free! Then he tries to beat me down on a Weiand dual quad intake with matching AFB's. He did't get that deal. And then there's the biggest mistake I've ever made. When my wife's Father died, we had to clean out his place. I decided I did't want my wife to have to do that because of me, so I put up ALL my Hydro stuff up for free. Two complete B & M Hydro Stick transmissions, spare flywheels and torus assemblies, two shifters, yokes, and the IMPOSSIBLE to find, Chevrolet V-8 truck Hydro starter motor. STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!!! The guy I gave them to eventually SOLD them to Tom Willford (RIP). Later on, I gave Tom another Hydro and shifter that I came into. He deserved it, the other guy, not so much. I don't sell, or give away JUNK; not hanging onto stuff is my downfall. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

i got burned hard by a hamber from wathena kansas for a rear 54 chevrolet sdn. delivery door that was garbage, spent like $300 on it! it was speedracer2002 and i ever crossed his path i would do my best to jam the door up his ass! one lying mutherfucker! BEWARE!

 

Sometimes it goes the other way, I bought a 302 Ford motor, the guy sold it to me strictly as a core, said he had picked it up at an estate sale 9 years prior and had no idea of it's condition. It was clean and had fresh paint but still assumed it might be a Krylon rebuild. Pulled the intake and heads, brand new 30 over pistons looking at me, new valves, everything looks new and never been fired. I'll still take it all apart and check it and replace seals and gaskets but I think I got a fresh rebuild for a core price!

 

Like some of you,I only consider parts at their core value,unless I know the seller.And there are some guys who make their living screwing people,so no matter how good of a deal they have on something I want,I assume it's junk based on the reputation of the seller.When I was in my early 20s,I bought a BMW 3.0 Alpina coupe that was apart,but the owner said everything was there.Not so.I spent the next year at the dealership,reading microfiche(mid 80s,pre computer/internet)ordering some stuff from the dealer and finding other stuff at swap meets.Lesson learned:If you don't know exactly what you're getting,don't assume anything.

 

Never buy anything from rodders in Wathena I actually bought the worst condition '63 Split Window in Wathena that I have ever seen..It wasn't what the guy said it was,but it was sort of worth the trip.

 

Last fall I found what was listed as a running 1958 283 (like they all are) on CL for the price I've seen cores go for. I called the guy expecting the usual story, ran strong when I pulled it 10 years ago and so on, but I really was surprised. He told me it was still in the car and to come by to hear it run and check it out. He was honest about everything. I came back the next day to pick it up. Good guys do are still out there.

 

Unfortunately this is not an uncommon story to hear anymore..
Very sad indeed..
And yes, I have been there done that...

 

Camaro......Theres no E in Camaro.

 

I typically spend more time looking at the seller than the parts. Unfortunately that is really hard to do on line.
The line about how cheap/easy it will be to fix whatever is wrong with what is being sold really sets me off. I tend to ask that if it is so easy why don't you fix it and call me back.

 

Bought a Nova from an older gentleman , seems he was getting forgetful and the car didn't match description , was a good car though so I cut him some slack......what goes around comes around.....made a deal on another 40s car , was supposed to be pretty rust free , damn had rust holes everywhere , floors , rockers, trunk etc....if you can't check it out maybe a fellow Hamber can .....

 

Heck my first hot car was a basket case and was sold to me as rebuilt this, replaced that. I was young, honest , and I didn't know any better. OT car that the automatic tranny gave out on a few months later. Then the sbc gave way with cracked off piston skirts. Disassembly proved it had mismatched heads and a host of other issues. Looked like the whole drivetrain was thrown together with whatever the previous owner had laying around. Thousands later from a poor kid's part time jobs I got it straightened out into something. Tough lesson.

 

In 94 I bought my first truck, an o/t 70 c-10. Put a rod through the side of the block a little over a week later. A guy that I had machine shop in high school with said his dad had a good running 350 for sale for $500. I spent my last bit of cash to buy it. I was only making $4.25 an hour at the time, so that was a huge chunk of money for me. His dad was a local rodder/wheeler and dealer. The motor looked clean and he said it ran good, didn't leak, or smoke. I put the motor in and the rear main poured and it smoked like hell. I pulled the motor to replace gaskets and give it a once over. One piston had a chunk out of it down to the first ring and it ended up being a 305. Needless to say it was nothing like it was advertised. I learned a good lesson from that one.

 

Don't know if this counts so forgive me if it doesn't. When I still had the wagon in my avatar I pulled out the y-block for a 460. The guy I bought it from said it was a 312. Good enough for me. Was trying to get rid of the motor (selling it for like $100 just to keep scrap guys away) since it still ran good and what not. Tons of interest till I looked into the numbers and it was a 292. I felt bad misleading people but I guess that's what happens when u don't do your homework. Long story short a friend of mine took it and stuffed it in his "a" where it's nice and happy.

 

<<if they are in such good condition why did they take them out?>> Exactly! I bought the T-5 locally and immediately took it to a good (trusted) rebuilder. He gave me back a box of chewed up gears. Guess I just need to find the right bellhousing now. Love the posts, guys.

 

<<if they are in such good condition why did they take them out?>>
Apparently some guys here upgrade items such as carburetors or change from a stick to a automatic and just throw the perfectly good parts in the trash.

 

I was a kid of 16 years old, went to a auto flea market and bought a dual quad intake with carbs for my 58 348. I remember asking the seller what did it fit and he said, "well what do you have, I replied a 58 348 Chevy. He said, "well there you go, that is what it is for and I don't have to tell you how rare that item is". Well I paid him and loaded it into the wagon I was dragging around (you know, looking cool, I can really buy something--HA HA). Just about ready to leave, heading for the parking lot, when a guy comes over looks at the intake and carbs and wanted to know if I wanted to sell. I said no, because I just bought it. Well he made me an offer, of a third more than I paid for it, so I sold it. He paid me, and I offer to drag the wagon over to the parking lot where his car was. When we got to his car, it was a Olds, I asked him if he had a 348 in it. He said no, why would he put a boat anchor in his car. He educated me on the workings of a 394 Olds and how that intake would fit his car but not a 348. When I got home, I told my brother and my dad, the story. They smile and said, you know you got a heck of a deal on a dual quad setup for a 348, but gave it away to some guy in the parking lot. Later on they told me they were just kidding.

 

I'm a cheap bastard which protects me quite a bit. I don't mind digging some coin out of my pocket but I am adverse to throwing good money after bad money. Used engines are seen as cores only. Standard transmissions, I figure the cost of a standard rebuild kit into what I'm willing to pay. Internal parts, I only buy as new. Cars have to be a really good price and I'll tell people (who are trying to sell me something) that if it's a fire sale, you have my attention.