Favorite swap meet stories/scores

I read the "guest blog" and found it quite entertaining. Got me rememberin some of the many days spent at different swap meets. Obviously if your sellin you want the biggest buck for the weekend that you can get. Or the best deal on that 1 part that only shows up at the swaps.

I once bought a Red Devil paint shaker at a hardware auction. It had decades of latex spillage but if any of you know this piece of equipment they're about as bullet proof as can be. It worked, it was quiet. It was mine for a mere $137.50. I already had one but what the hell, a nice backup. I peeled off the latex, bought a new crank handle ($6) and even matched up some colors and painted it to look like new. Bright red on top and that seafoam turquois on the main body. Dad says we can probably get big bucks for it at this weeks swap meet. So just for grins I took it along and priced it at $650, knowing full well I'm takin it home Sunday afternoon. To my surprise it was the 1st item gone before I ever got set up, and if I recall there were a few guys waiting "in line" to get it if the buyer passed.

At Hershey PA one year I was on the hunt for 1934 Packard headlight lenses. I needed the flat ones for the Eight series (Super 8s and 12s were V'eed). To my surprise every one that I found was a vee lense until the last day and what I got was awsome and 1/2 the going rate. He also had quite a stash of 3003 light bulbs, like 5 or 6. I took it all for less than $200 and walked on air the rest of the day. 2 years later I needed some vee lenses, and go figure, all I found were flats...3 pairs!

So what are some of your favorite "war stories" from swap heaven? I can go on for hours but I won't.

 

Garage sale some time back..

Bought some 55 T-Bird take-offs.
Hood grille, taillight lenses, T-Bird hood or deck symbol and best of all 4 bumper guards that had dull, but un-pitted chrome.

It was stuff found in the garage leftover from a long ago T-Bird customizing job.

Guy wanted $7.50 for all of it.
I offered $5.00 and got it.
I thought most of it was 55 Ford stuff and having a friend who restores 54 Fords, figured he could use it.
(In fact, the red 54 Ford convertible cruising by "Don Garlits" and "Shirley Muldowney" in the Heart Like a Wheel movie is his . . . the barely seen black Henry J race car at the start of the movie is little brothers.)

Checking Hemmings I found NOS 55 T-Bird bumper guards were $800.

I sold mine for $200.

 

To this day I think the best flea market deal I ever got was the one on three 18 inch lock ring Dayton wire wheels for my 1933 Riley 4Port race car restoration. The project came with the hubs and four 15 inch drop center wheels, nice but too new for the 1933 appearance the car was going to have. Got to a local flea market early and started looking around, and couldn't believe a guy had the 3 Daytons in the bed of his pickup. This was in the early 1970's and $150.00 per wheel would have been about right. I asked the guy what he wanted, and had to listen to a long story about how rare the wheels were, how good they were, yada, yada, yada. So I figured he's going to say $500.00 for all 3 or more. NO, and I'll remember this line forever. "They are rare,........and I've got to get $20.00 for them." Ok, great $60.00 this is my lucky day! It got better.. THREE 18" Daytons with lock rings for $20.00!

 

I work at Year One--one of the biggest suppliers of muscle car parts in the country. And Mopar parts are really our bread and butter. In another life, I was editor of Mopar Muscle Magazine. With that in mind...

We have a bulletin board in the show room that anybody can come and post stuff for sale. I happened to cruise by it one day and stopped to look...Hadn't looked at it more than a couple times since I started there a year earlier.

"For Sale: Mopar Max Wedge Cross Ram intake manifold. $500 obo"

Snagged the ad off the board, and asked a couple of the Mopar guys. "Yeah, I saw that..." AND?! "You don't see many of those." Yeah, no shit.

Called the guy up. "You still have it?" Yes. "I'd like to look at it. How about after work tonight?" Sure. "I get off at 5:00, I'll meet you at 5:30"

It was 3:30; I left work, hauled ass to the bank, pulled out the money, stopped by the house to pick up Boy Wonder, and then went to meet him.

Dude shows up. He's a Mopar guy, and he got it from a friend a few years ago who was into Corvettes. Friend got it from his Grandpa, who had it forever.

I obo'd him $400, and he took it.

Guy on Ebay obo'd me $1600 two weeks later, and down to Florida it went to be on a restored Super Stocker.

The guy selling it was a Mopar stroke, and the guys from work all saw it on the board too. How the hell can a bunch of Mopar strokes NOT know that a Max Wedge Cross Ram is worth a ton of money?! Oh, wait...it was a '63 Max Wedge engine...not a 440-6 pak or Hemi 'Cuda part. I LOVE early '60s cars. They fly under the muscle car radar.

For swap meets: I spent a summer putting together a collection of Motors Manuals: was real picky about them--didn't want any that were falling apart. One at a time, I collected a set covering 1937-1987, never paying more than $10 per volume.
Always shop with a check list.

-Brad

 

was searching for a track nose for a project. Been looking all summer. Told my buddy if he ever saw one to let me know. After about eleven shows I'd just about given up. We're at some little podunk show (59 miles from nowhere, 60 miles from nowhere else) and we split up to cover more ground quickly. All of a sudden I hear, "Hey Randy, this guy over here has that track nose you've been looking for all summer!" I go over and sure enough it's just what I had in mind. My buddy's standing there grinning from ear to ear because he found that elusive part for me. The seller has that shark/fresh meat look. I hadda ask, "I guess offering less would be a waste of time, huh?" Seller shot me that "What DO YOU THINK look". I bought at the asking price, but my buddy bought dinner on the way home for the difference I'd have probably got the nose for. He was also educated on the proper procedure for swap meet finds. So I guess dinner was my best find.

 

Damned near tripped over an old gas globe on the last day of the Hershey swap meet several years ago. Wound up buying it for $45. After cleaning it up, I put it on Ebay and got $1150 for it.

Just two weeks ago I scored a set of four Cal-Custom mini trim rings at a swap meet for $10 for ALL FOUR !!

 

I don't collect license plates, but I'll buy them to flip for project funds. You always do better asking what the seller wants for the box full rather than cherry pick the ones you think are the hot ones. Bought one box at auction for the mid '50's California plates I could see. Never saw the full run of Florida plates from 1930-1948, that was worth a weeks pay!

 

I bought a big twin Harley frame from behind a house once. Gave the guy a Ben for it cuz it had the round swing arm. The swing arm was all I wanted. So I get the frame back to the shop and removed my find and started eye-ballin the frame through the mud and shit that was on it. It really was a nice straight frame but '73 and up. I cleaned it up, dressed a few areas and sprayed a quicky gloss black paint job on it. I think I had 3hrs in the whole deal and the paint was free. I took the frame to the annual bike meet here in Motown and got nearly assaulted just backing up to the door to unload. I wanted $175.00 for a quick sale, and pretty much told most of em to wait. The one guy wouldn't have it and he just hung around while my buddy and I loaded the cart. He offered $125 and of course I said fuck that. "You saw the interest, I know". He pulled his money out like that would impress me. I told him "look...if you want it now pay me. Or I'll see ya at my space in a few." He offered either $150 or 160 I don't remember, and I said "you got 'till I get it off the truck to pay me and I'm reachin for it right now!" 'No, no, no, wait, here's the cash!' Once paid I said "Fuck it man YOU pick it up and carry it outta here." Later that day I see my frame in another booth all together for $250.00. At the end of the day it was gone. Happy with what I got for it, happy the 1st guy made some $, and happy the 2nd guy did too. To this day although the bike's long gone I still have the swingarm. Sometimes a swap meet is the most fun you can have with yer clothes on.

 

Vintage Halibrand Indy car fuel cap.....$10. Sold it on eBay for $475.

Bought a Halibrand Champ Car steering gear from a guy for $100. I'll get at least $1500 for it.

 

Kind of a long read, and it wasn't at a swap meet.........
I got introduced to the slant six Mopar back in about '79, and even though it's a six-banger, I fell in love with it. I was working for a local performance parts warehouse at the time, and started hearing tidbits about Hilborn having offered an F.I system for the slant sometime in the late 60's. Well, I started researching and discovered that what I was hearing was true, and started making phone calls. Finally got 'hold of somebody at Hilborn with some memory, and he told me to call this engine builder that it was originally designed for. Dug up a number for the guy, and actually talked to him on the phone. He remembered having taken a job to build a salt flats motor for somebody in the mid-60's but he was sure he had nothing around anymore. Oh.....this engine builder?...none other than Keith Black. Well, I just filed all of that info into my vaccuum chamber, and fast-forward to 22 years later. I'm perusing the local "swap sheet" put out by a large community credit union, and stumble across this ad with a batch of "Little Tykes" kids toys in it, and the last thing listed is...........Yep.......A Hilborn injector manifold for a slant six Mopar. Well, I know of only about two people in my area with any interest in slants, so I waited till the end of the day to call. Asking price.........$175, (Holy Shitte, I'm gonna wet myself) but the guy was gonna be gone over the weekend......had to wait until Tuesday, (dammit). (I been looking for one of these things for 22 years, and he's gonna be GONE over the weekend, WTF?) Wait.......he said he was going on vacation the weekend after that, too......hmmmmmm. Well, Tuesday came, contacted him again and went out to take a look. Boy was I pleased. This thing was missing only the fuel pump, and it looked real sweet. Mildly tarnished aluminum manifold, barrel valve mounted with the linkage, even had all six stacks hangin' off it. I had to really try to contain my enthusiasm. Had to ask outta curiosity where he had got it from. Claimed he pulled it outta a scrap pile at a Harley dealer in Des Moines about ten years before, and had it hangin' on his garage wall as a convo piece all that time. Well, figurin' he was gonna need the cash for the upcoming vacation, I "meekly" infomed him that the best I could round up was $150, and he says....OK. MAN!....It was just a touch hard to keep my hand from shakin' as I wrote out that check.....let me tell ya. Oh.....yeah.....I still have that little trinket, too. Kinda toying with the idea of putting it on my 'glass T-bucket instead of three singles.

Roger

 

i always find what i am lookin for when i aint lookin for it, got the finned edelbrock valve covers and a set of long tube headers for 60 bucks for the 302, that was my most recent score. a guy had a ton of effie hood hinges at one too, got a pair for 7 bucks..whoo whoo. i made a few bucks off some stuff i later found i didnt want, but i lost money on a lot of other deals so it all works out. never any gold nuggets for a buck yet.

 

We were doing a courtesy fire department inspection at a local equipment rental place when I noticed a crusty old Tokhiem 39 series gas pump. I asked the owner (who's infamous for being a grouch) if he wanted to sell it.

"What the hell do you want with that old thing? I don't think it even works anymore"

I just told him I'd always wanted one and he said

"Well I guess if you want the damn thing you can have it"

I went straight there when I got off work the next morning - before somebody told him what it was worth.

I did buy him and his son lunch at the local diner later that day though.

 

Local mopar muscle car show. Big name MOPAR engine shop with their display trailer. One of their employs was on site. I knew he lived close by and had a stash of early hemi stuff but he had never offered to sell. Figured he knew what if might be worth. I hit him up. He stated that he didn't recall exactly what he had but would take $700 for the lot. Off we went, he had a '54 331, ' 56 354, a set of '55 331 heads and a set of the rare 4 bolt "300" series exhaust manifolds. I didn't want the whole mess (as the engines were in pieces and would need everything re-done) and tried to pick and choose offering him $300 for what I wanted. He responded that I had to take it all or nothing.....at the same $300 that I had offered!! End result, I filled in the missing bits from my stash, listed it on Hot Heads site and sold all but the 4 bolt manifolds for $2,300.. I pat my new Miller MIG everytime I go into the garage in remembrance!

 

Pate, Texas 1981 was the first swap meet I ever went to. I wanted some rear fenders for 35-37 Ford pickup. It didnt take long for me to find out everyone else is looking for them too. They simply dont exist! I looked everywhere for more than 20 years and never found even one. I did meet a lot of guys who were looking too. I went to Pate and lots of other swapmeets during those 20 years. Then about 5 years ago, at Pate, 2 vendors showed up with a total of FIVE. Of course I bought'em all.

 

I brought $10.59 to the Iola swap meet this past weekend and brought home a whole pile of incredible scores. Read about it here.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=119483

 

not really swap meet scores but i built a lot of cars from my buddies left overs and $50 rust buckets with good running motors, ect. not reallt traditional but i got a 97 s-10 extended cab for 600 with a blown out driveshaft. Shaved it put in 89 caddy taillightsin it. painted it ford tractor blue put on some bent up bald 17's some kid offered me $5,000 for it. so i made 4200 or so!IN a month

 

This Happned last year at Dearborn,.....
A friend of mine comes to my spot all frantic,... says "there's a Deuce firewall out there for $400.00, look it over for me will ya?",.... i said OK and left my Son at our space, as we walk up there is another guy looking at the firewall,.... he picks it up and looks at it and sets it down about 5 times, than finally starts to try to work over the owner on the price,.... I pick it up and start to look it over for my friend,... Nice firewall I tell him it's just what you need,..... the guy that was trying to work over the owner is now yelling at my buddy, and my buddy is yelling back,........ as they are arguing I walk over to the owner and ask " got any other 32-34 stuff ?",...... He looks at me and says yeah I got that old 32 front wishbone and dash in the back of the truck, I take a quick look and ask how much? (as those other two are in a verbal battle royal) The guy says 20 bucks for the wishbone and 35 bucks for the dash (they were both in really nice shape),......... I asked in a calm voice "take 50 for them both ?",....... Heck yes ! was his responce,..... I fork over the 50 clams reach into the bed of his truck and start to walk off,........

Well my buddy and this other clown see's me and the air that was filled with profanity,....... goes silent, as they stair at the best deal of the day being carried off by yours truly ! ( I love this story )

 

I once bought a 30 Model A tudor from a guy who was in the process of restoration. Nice car and ZERO ZERO rust. Dad and I decided that no matter how clean, the car was better off as a rod and we'd sell all the done stuff to get started moneywise. So, off to Dearborn we went with 5 perfect wire wheels and tires, a drop dead gorgeous radiator, a totally restored front axle, awesome steering box, and a NOS running board/apron. We paid $4000 for the car. We also had a fresh rebuilt motor but that went before the meet and also got paid to install it. Well, we had fights goin on some of the stuff at the space. In the end, by noon Saturday (1st day), everything was gone. We ended up getting all of our $ back and had the body, frame, hood, fenders, and interior for free + cash. Dad says he felt bad parting it out like that and maybe someone really wants the car as a resto so maybe we ought to try to sell it in Hemmings. I agreed on the hitch that we run a one month only ad and give it 6 weeks from when we got our copy. He asked what I thought was a crazy price of $6000 for the car, but I tell you it was fuckin as clean and perfect as they come. Well by the 4th day of week 1 it was fuckin SOLD!! Damn...I really wanted to cut that thing and make a rod out of it.

I got this funky lookin Hilborn injector at an IRS auction once for $1. I had it for years tryin to figure it out. So, some 10yrs later I took it to the annual swap. Had a guy knew what it was but wouldn't tell me. I didn't price it and always marked it best offer. He gave me $150 and a dual plane BBC oval port intake. I marked the intake $75 and sold it within 1/2 hr. You can't beat a good day of swapin.

 

My best was $40 for a set of 4 1967 aussie GT Falcon hubcaps, mongerel wouldn't take $30 but I was pretty happy, ran them on my car a couple of years (non Gt just a stocker), pulled em whne I sold the car and after deciding about 5 years on that they were just sitting in the shed, tossed em on thelocal version of Ebay and they went for $780 in a mad bidding war..... you gotta like that.

 

Just a story.
Theres a guy that sells all kinds of made in china chrome shit at the LB Swap.
Valve covers,timing covers,pulleys etc.
He's there all the time,& sometimes Pomona too.Seems like a cool dude.
One Sundy,I stroll by his usual spot & ran into a buddy of mine.
The chrome guy had come up with a go kart with a 5 hp Briggs on it.He was trying to start it,because an older guy & his kid were looking at it/interested.
My buddy & I are watching all of this unfold as we are bullshitting.
He pulls,,& pulls,,,,& pulls trying to get the thing to fire.Like 5 minutes worth.
Finally,the son of a bitch starts.(Centrifugal clutch)
Of course,theres no one sitting in it.
It fires up,& takes off in what sounded like full throttle.It went across the isle in the swap area(about 20 feet) at an angle/arc,& went full boogie into another guys BIG pile of 50s-60s chrome trim stuff.
Shit went flying everywhere when it hit.I dont remember if the older man bought it for his kid or not,but it sure sounded good when it fired.
I still grin every time I go there.

 

33 Ford hood set, mint, original paint, $40.00 = sold $1500.00

73 Firebird dual snorkel air cleaner for the ram air hood, Free - sold $750.00

NOS EELCO pedal, 25.00 = sold 400.00

Moon fuel hand pump & shut off switch unit, 50.00 = sold $1000.00

Electroline 2200 headlights, XXX = hopefully $2500.00+

It's getting pretty tough at swaps anymore though, even the older guys who don't even know what an internet is, they're standard phrase is "one uh them sold on ebat fer 1000.00". It seems like they use that line to introduce a high price to you and raise your sights. . Oh well, there'll always be deals though, no one knows everything.....it pays to read, knowledge is power, and money.


.

 

Guy had a '33 Ford bellhousing a while back for like $10. Looked fresh off a car. Probably should have bought that. But I knew it wasn't going to be all that expensive.

Around here there's lots of eBay sniffers, you either have to be there early or really know what the hell you're looking at. I've picked up boxes of old trains and sold stuff out of it, kept what I wanted, and been ahead. But you have to know what's what on that stuff. I usually do better sniffing in junkyards. I did pick up a working '63 Caddy AM-FM radio a while back at the flea market - $5 for it - went on eBay for $110, not bad. Norwich I picked up a couple of NOS or near NOS mopar tail lenses, too. Got $40 for the '59 DeSoto and $25 for the '61 Imperial. Not bad for $4. Probably my best find this year.


I wouldn't have my '50 Chevy but for a guy walking up at a swap meet asking me if I knew anyone who wanted to buy a running '49 Fleetline for $200. I went out to look and bought both it and the '66 Impala SS coupe next to it for a grand total of $300. The Impala had no motor, but had been a big block car with air. I sold that in about 2 weeks for $750. The '49 turned out to be a '50 with '49 grille, fenders and one door, and a '56 motor. I didn't think that was bad. I have about $50 in the glass it needed and that's all in gas money going around and getting it.

 

I went to a flea market, not automotive, First table had 2 wood boxes with tools.One was for cutting a fresh seat on your kitchen sink faucet. The second wood box said oil groove cutter. KR Wilson. I've never seen anything like that but KR Wilson was the only company authorized to make tools to repair old Fords. The vendor wanted $15 for it. Got home, checked around, found out its for the new babbit on Model A engines and sells on Ebay for $2000

 

Back in the early 80's I worked at a local speed shop, and bought lots of parts and cars off customers. One such guy sold me a complete pair of 413 Max Wedge heads and crossram intake (including carbs) for something like $400. He threw in a bunch of other stuff, including a never used Max Wedge bare head that had been cut in half and painted up with different colors. He said his uncle had been part of the Rapid Transit System clinic that toured dealers in the late '60's. The 413 stuff was resold, and went on a '67 Cuda that was running a standard 413 wedge.

Steve

S

 

at the last swapmeet i went to i found some sombrero caddy centers BRAND NEW LOOKIN and the guy only wanted 3 bucks each..they sell on ebay for $50 for a pair.i also found an old flashlight for another project i'm doing (not car related) that i paid $1 that i KNOW i could sell for AT LEAST $15...i'll post more if i can remember them all!
creepy

 

Michigander's post reminded me of one "Not swap meet related",

When I worked at Gratiot Auto Supply, we had a table of used speed stuff that guy's could trade in for a few bucks off there new parts, Most guys that had the Tri-Power G.T.O. got tired of fooling around with the trips, and would trade the complete thing in against a Aluminum intake and a Holley 4 BBL. we had so many of them we were only giving $10.00 for them,... I bought a couple of them (for the carbs and linkage) but for months we had like 3 of them on the used parts table and like another 6 of them in the back,.... Our Manager got tired of seeing them one day and they all went into the dumpster.
While I was working there if any Really old stuff came in My Manager would offer it to me first ( I could buy any of it for what it came in for), one day a Kid comes in and wants Headers for his 65 Comet,.... I pull up for my shift and there is my Manager and this kid looking in his trunk,.... Dave call's me over and asks if I want any of this old junk,...... this Kids trunk was "filled" with Flathead speed equipment, and about 25% of it was V8-60, The cyclone headers were on sale with collectors, bolts and gaskets for $59.95
I asked Dave what he wanted for all the stuff, kid pipes up "I want to trade even !" I told him I would give him 50 Bucks toward his headers, Dave says to him "you better take it cause I don't even want that crap in the store!"
Great stuff, Edelbrock, Grandcore, Almquest, Edmuns,..... seems the kid's dad raced midgets and sprints in the 40's and 50's got out of it, and gave this stuff to the kid to use as trade bate. well for the next couple years I was making a killing on that pile,.... usually between 25-50 bucks on a pair of heads, 15-20 bucks on a intake (30-35 with carbs and linkage), but it took a long time to get rid of that V8-60 stuff that nobody wanted, ............... ( Things have changed )

 

It always amazes me how familiar we become with our own cars.
With that in mind, after I picked up my 54 Chev years ago I was in The Car Shop in Orange, CA and noticed some NOS Visor thingymabobbers (forget their technical name). These are the chrome deals that use 3 screws and hold your visors to the headliner/roof. Anyway, they wanted $55 for each of them and I almost bought them as mine were shot. Thought better of it and about a month later I'm walking Pamona with friend and notice a milk crate full of mixed up visors. I stoop down to get a closer look and find a mint set of visors for my 54 with these hold downs still attached. I ask the guy what the deal is and he just says "$12 a pair, and I don't know what any of them are for". Well, I can spot mine from 50 feet and these were gorgeous, so I scored the chrome hold downs + the visors that almost didn't need to be recovered for the price of a 12 pack.

 

I just walked in the gate at a swap meet a few years back at 7:00, and about the third space in, a guy was unloading his truck--and I mean UNLOADING. He was heaving everything out of it like he was unloading firewood. I mentioned that he must not be in love with any of it, and he replied, "It's all goin' on the $1.00 tarp! I'm sicka lookin' at it!" I looked at the pile and said, "I'll take all of the shifters". We counted twelve, and he told me that $10 was close enough, since I was taking all of them. Twelve N.O.S. Dragfast shifters in beat up boxes, and one of them fit '38-'54 Cad/LaSalle.

 

About 10 years ago I took a bunch of stuff to Chickasha to sell. As soon as I got unloaded and set up, another vendor that specializes in intakes came over and ask what I'd take for a 340 Six Pak intake and heads I had for sell. I don't even remember how much I was asking (not as much as they'd bring now), but it wasn't out of line for the time. Anyway, he didn't want to give what I was asking and walked off. He kept walking by and checking out the parts, but wouldn't buy them. On the last day of the swap meet, a guy and his son walked by and asked me if he could look at the intake and heads. He said he didn't have any money, they were just there killing the day and looking at stuff. I tolds him I didn't have a problem with him looking and appreciated him asking. The vendor (who I assume was gonna wait and try to low ball me when I was loading up) saw the guy looking at the parts and almost broke his leg getting to me and giving me the money I was asking. Still makes me smile to think the guy thought he was running in under another buyer.

 

I had a set of 36 big truck fenders for sale . They were perfect. The problem is that they will only fit a big truck. I had 175 dollars for the pair written on them with soapstone.

I had a guy looking at them, I told him they were big truck, he replied that "he knew what he was looking at" and says "I'll give ya 300 dollars for the pair and not a penny more."

I look dazed.....and glance at my dad who's manning the booth with me. He's rubbing his leg on the fender, trying to wipe off the $175 /PR without anyone noticing.......

So Dad snatches up the chalk and writes SOLD over the top of it........it still cracks me up to think about it.