Hot Rods Hot Rod Parts Prices

Just got the latest catalogue from one of the major suppliers of hot rod parts in the country. It sort of takes your breath away when you see what is happening to the price of the parts many of us use. Will parts prices bring a major slow down to our hobby? It's almost impossible to find a salvage yard to get parts at, vintage swap meet parts are drying up. We've all become good scroungers. I'm sure our hobby won't die as it's seen some hard times before. It will be interesting what the future brings to the hot rod hobby?

 

as the saying goes "ain't nothing cheap anymore, except me - not worth a plugged nickel"

 

I’ve been learning for myself that one of the signs of getting older is remembering back when something cost sooo much less.

 

Today....
Is As Good as it gets!
Buy now...
It'll be more tomorrow, or unavailable...
Look around... It's not hard to figure out....!

 

Old hot rod parts are like real estate. You never paid too much, you just bought too soon.

 

Cost to get it to your door. 5 bucks a gallon for diesel isn’t chump change when you’re getting 8 miles per gallon! Trickles down to manufacturers, companies that dig ore, make plastic etc.

 

This is why all my cars are Daewoos, easy to get parts for them...

 

Lol ,,,, yeah ,,,,I started buying some things years ago,,,,,I don’t know why .
I’ve bought up many engine bearings,,,,,in certain sizes,,,,,mains,,rods ,,,,cam .
I bought several sets of lifters many years ago,,,,,good price,,.,,and they are old and in the box,,so,,,should be top quality,,,,,solid and hydraulic .
Several camshafts as well,,,,solid and hydraulic.
When I see something reasonably cheap,,,,new in the box,,,,I’ll try it .
Good brands,,,,Howard’s,,,Comp,,,Crower,,,Herbert .
Bearings are TRW,,,Federal Mogul,,,Michigan,,,King,,,,Durabond,,,and ACL .
I’ve had good service with ACL,,,,so I don’t discount them ,there are many good brand’s around that peoples haven’t seen .

Tommy

 

as you all know, gasoline is up, electric and nat gas will rise big time , major problems with getting people to work so wages go up, raw material way up due to stupid Washington DC polices , plus supply chain issues, the state of California is choking off trade with there over the top environmental regulations on trucks. prices are going up and will continue, we raised prices 15% late 2020 during covid to cover steel prices, no extra profit for us just reclaim costs.
but this year we need to deal with higher labor, and energy. so is the when is the day when we need to raise prices again. probably soon,

 

Well now that's just both funny and depressing at the same time . . . ?

 

Every cost as far as manufacturing just about anything and getting it to the customer is up.
California taxing or regulating to the point that companies that have long made hot rod parts there have either moved or gone out of business or have been sold to a company that moves everythign out of state.
As Ems CS said, Cali's choke hold on trucking from the container docks to anywhere but especially out of state due to their regs on trucks and controlling who can get into the ports to pick up a load.
Raised labor costs for unskilled entry level workers in entry level jobs that don't require a lot of skill or training but just need someone reliable that will show up for work every day.
I looked up a pair of spring pads that are used on Chevy AD trucks to mount and correctly locate an open drive rear axle when you install it. Somethign that Krylon32 could knock out in a few minutes out of short cut ends of tubing in his shop. The cost has gone from 19.95 to 37.95 in the past few months Weld On Rear Axle Seats-Classic Chevy Truck Parts (classicparts.com) The cost of an adapter ring to put a 35 wire on a late drum just went up a bunch if my memory is correct Speedway 1928-35 Ford Wire Wheel Center Support (speedwaymotors.com)
I was poking around the net looking at aluminum 8 BA heads a night or two ago and That sure made me glad that I bought a pair of old used off brand heads a few years ago.


I'm glad I bought about 70% of the pieces for my rebuild on my 48 over a period of several years. I've actually got more money tied up in finned cast aluminum for the engine than I did in the whole truck when I drove it to the Street rod Nationals in Tulsa in 1973. I had a crap ton of labor in it then but not a lot of cash outlay.

 

shop smart..if your in a hurry that means no time to look for deals...me..i take my time so i do ok...

 

Wait untill you go to paint it .
My God.

 

I'm probably building my last "from the ground up" project now. Luckily I had it mostly done before everything went to shit. First time in my life I'm not optimistic about the future

 

I recently bought a glass kit for my car. Just because I waited an extra week or two, it cost me $50 more for the kit and $50 more for the shipping. Same thing with the AC stuff I just bought. The line kit went up $25, the unit went up $50. I bit the bullet and went ahead and got it all because it’s not getting cheaper.

I think I’m through buying big stuff unless something breaks. I still want to paint it, but like everything else, I’ll be doing it myself. I won’t be able to use top dollar paint, but that’s OK. I’m a simple man, I don’t have to have the best….

 

Today.. I don’t have enough money to pay attention!

 

Just like 32’s you never pay too much for parts, you just buy too early.

 

It's all the same. New parts are expensive, and nobody wants to pay for vintage parts at swap meets because they remember when these parts weren't expensive or rare. Buy , build, hustle, sell. I couldn't afford to do this 30 years ago. Nothing has changed, but I still do it, just as slowly.

 

Even old parts are way expensive. I sold a set of fifty year old but still new Chevy solid lifters (in the GM boxes) for a V8 recently for $800. Fifty bucks a lifter.

I'm glad I'm on the other end of the bitching and moaning!