How far will you go for parts?

Just walked in the door from an 1100 mile trip to Colorado and back for Ford Unibody pickup parts. Bought a truck from another HAMBer, and parted it out at his place. It was the hard to find big back window cab. We cut the roof off, and loaded all of the parts in my Ranger pickup, and small trailer. My truck is a little underpowered with a 4cyl and auto trans, but it makes 28mpg. That is until you get a real strong headwind, from Cheyenne, Wyo to Casper, Wyo. Down to 50mph quite a bit of that stretch. Then the snow started at Kaycee, Wyo. Turned into a whiteout at Buffalo, Wyo. Went into the ditch, because I could no longer see the delineator posts. Luckily, I kept my foot to the floor, and pulled back up on the road. 25mph all the way to Hardin, Mt. Snow started letting up, and by the time I hit Billings, Mt I was able to travel 50mph again. Glad to be home, happy with my purchase. If you want hard to find parts, I guess you have to be willing to put a little effort into getting them. At the rate stuff is getting crushed, this is probably going to become more common.

 

A good friend and I, r.i.p. J.A.K. drove 16 hours from Vancouver to San Francisco to purchase a 64 Econoline and walked away after the owner was VERY unpleasant and thought since we'd come so far he was in full control of the sale. Even though I walked on the car it was a GREAT time and worth every mile, we still laugh about the trip Road Trips always add value to parts/cars.

 

I had someone drive up from Tenn to buy some extra parts I had from a 1937 Plymouth p/u truck because they are rare . That was a 10 hour drive up , loaded the parts , got the cash ,, BS for about an hour then off he went for another 10 hour drive back to Tenn . He wanted the parts very badly and you just can't find them , so he made that long trip from Ten to Pa and back . He was very happy and so was I !

Retro Jim

 

I drove from Northern Cali to Springfield Ohio after I purchased a custom 32 frame for a Model A build and the guy tried to screw me over. You should have seen the look on his face when I showed up at his door.

 

late 70's. 32 hr (Wi. to Nev.) trip for a 66 charger. Never called the guy to let him know we were coming. Car was gone. Guy felt bad, though we told him we'd gone further for less, and offered to show us some more he knew about. Turned out the guy was a member of some mopar club and knew about 12 others, seven being for sale. All this clean sheet metal overwhelmed a couple of rustbelt boys so we ended up buying all of them. My buddy made about a dozen calls and found a car hauler dead heading back east, so transport got taken care of. To make the trip back even sweeter, on the way thru Vegas I hit a 15,000 progressive slot machine. Took a side trip to see the "World's largest hand dug well" and "The world's second largest ball of twine". 30yrs later and we still get mileage out of that trip.
Oh to be that young, foolish and lucky again.
I don't have any of the chargers, but my buddy kept three. He lets me drive one when I'm back in his neck of the woods. But he won't let me out of the state with it....lol.

 

16 hour plane flight for a front axle,chromed wishbones and rocker covers. As a bonus I went to Bonneville.

 

I live in Finland and have bought cars and parts in many places in USA.

I liked much the trip when I was in visiting Bob Wilson at Wilson Welding and bought a set of his aluminum front brakes. Was Bob surprised when a guy from almost other side of the world kocked his door. He had a big map on his wall and I showed where I live. By the Bob has some very nice vintage stuff and he makes the welded QC centersections too.

Another interesting place I visited was Bert's Model A Center in Denver where I bought both new and used parts from Steve. Nice place with lots of dismantled A's, They also have some cars to sell and do restorations in house.

 

Not as far as you other guys but I drove from CT to upstate NY for
a front clip for my 39 buick- don't want to say it was over the line but
I got stopped by the border patrol on the way back... Jim

 

I always viewed any 10 hour (or less) round trip as a local run.

 

1500 miles to tx and back in one day for a rusty 33 plymouth coupe body

 

The most mileage logged for me was either to Flint Michigan , for some shovelhead H-D parts or mabye Savanna , Georgia for parts for a'58 Impala....I like the southern bound trips a whole lot more , if anyone has ever traveled the West Virginia turnpike , then you know what I mean , it's always a nicer ride south because the weather gets warmer , at least that is the general rule anyway.....

 

Must have been Bill Metz.

 

LR,

Glad to hear you made it back.

Here is the pic and video from yesterday

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=548017

 

Thats about a 20,000 KM round trip, I think your winning!!

 

How far will you go for parts?

HAMB classifieds.

 

What I won't do is drive a long distance to look at a car for sale that I've never seen. Drove 6 hours once to see a 57 Chevy Townsman wagon the owner said had new paint and engine and said it only needed an interior. When I got to his house, had the car been outside, I would have kept on going. What a POS. It had new paint that was over dents, scratches and rust. No paint is better then bad paint. Didn't even drive the POS and wouldn't have bought it at any price. I've heard many others have had the same experience.

 

Minneapolis, MN to Tampa, Fla. for a set of windows for my Willys Aero. It was part of a trip to visit my wife's family...I probably wouldn't have gone if not for the stop in Tampa. I've gotten parts from Brazil and Argentina, too, but those came in the mail.

I sold a holley 3310 with a Proform main body to a guy in Hawaii and a set of 1957 corvette grill "teeth" to a guy in Germany.

Sending crap halfway around the world is pretty common these days.

 

Drove 11 hours one way in a rain storm,loaded up and 11 hours back again in the rain for this one ,it turned out pretty good and had a ton of fun.

 

How about a 38 hour trip 1 way from where I live in MI to Sacramento, CA to pick up a Studebaker. Or a trip 2 yrs. ago to CO, ID, then Montana to pick up cars & parts from my home in MI. I go pick up a project or parts at least once a year that is at least 12 hrs. from home 1 way. Has anyone gotten the vibe yet that there is no decent tin where I live?

 

From SW Saskatchewan to Yellowknife, NWT, for Army truck parts. 3600 plus miles, round trip. Lots of fun, sightseeing all the way.

 

One year I flew to the LA Roadster show. I took a big suitcase. Inside was a fold up carry on for my clothes. I bought some old chrome backing plates complete with shoes and w/cyls and a nice lightly patina-ed 32 gauge tunnel among other things. I was afraid that they would not let me on the plane. I was sure it was too heavy. I was embarrassed when the ticket taker lady had to ask for help to get it on the belt...but I got it home.

I saw a guy shopping for a bag in the flea market that he could fit a Deuce grill shell in. I came prepared!! Of course this was before 9-11.

I did the same thing a few years later at the Hot August nights show in Reno. We stayed in Carson city to save on the motel bill...more money for parts. I got an early dropped axle that was shipped home by the vendor but I loaded up that big old suitcase once again. I had to stop twice and rest on the way to the ticket counter.

Each trip 6000 miles round trip.

Both trips were parts chasing trips. I looked under my bed and out in the shed but if I wanted the good stuff I had to go to where it was.

With the new rules, I probably wouldn't be allowed to pass go. I can't imagine what an Xray tech would think. I'd be in shackles in seconds.

 

Last may went 17 hours one way from Colorado to down by Corpis Cristi Tx for 4 NOS IH fenders, a few years ago drove from Colorado to Wisconson 18 hours for a 1938 IH D-2 rust bucket. Most of the trips i take for parts are in the 3-12 hours away range.

 

In 98 I made 12 trips from southern Indiana to Arizona around Phoenix and Tucson to bring back cars and parts to resell, I was driving an 85 Suburban with a big block and pulling a trailer. I wonder what it would cost to do it now.

 

Glad to see there are some die hards out there. I was afraid that most people were only willing to travel from the refrigerator to the computer. Had so much fun, I'm debating a trip to Pomona for the swap meet. Will have to leave in two days. Good luck with your future purchases.

 

I've driven from Arkansas to Colorado for F100 parts, to Wisconsin for '40 convertible doors and to Indiana for a 5 window body but really like such excuses for a road trip.

 

Yes the trips are a big part of the fun. I feel sorry for the guys that only want websites to order their parts. They miss a lot of the fun.

 

New Zealand to Idaho for a OT Dodge pickup - cant remember the mileage hopwever it must be aROUND THE 16,000KM MARK
mY BROTHER IN LAW BOUGHT A ot 70 mUSTANG 428 COBRA JET PUT A DEPOSIT DOWN AND SAID TO THE GUY HE'D SEE HIM IN A COUPLE OF DAYS TO FINISH THE DEAL OFF. tHE GUY THOUGHT HE WAS COMING FROM A COUPLE OF sTATES AWAY AND FELL OFF HIS PENCIL WHEN HE UNDERSTOOD MY bROTHER IN LAW HAD COME HALF WAY ROUND THE WORLD (nEW zEALAND TO tEXas) - AND THEY ARE STILL FRIENDS TO THIS DAY

 

in 2000(?) i sold this model A (see pic) to a guy in Klamath Falls, Or. got paid to deliver it, so i loaded it up on a BORROWED trailer, bolted a hitch to my '56, loaded my 12 yrold son, my sister and her 10 yrold son, and away we went. picked up a '69 camaro in upland,ca on the way home (Albuquerque, NM). that was the best "vacation" my son and i have ever had.

 

Im glad you make it back safe Greg.... Doing it today would have been no fun at all, its coming down out there.

 

Connecticut to LA to buy a 1956 Ford F-100 and drove it home in 5 days. My first crosscountry trip, and I loved every mile of it. Fried a left front wheel bearing in York Nebraska on a Saturday night. Sunday morning the guy in the gas station got the Chevy parts dept guy to open up and get the needed parts for the Camero front clip. I was on the road East for $80.00, this was in 1975. Sure would like to redo that trip again. Just remembered I hit the Longbeach Model T Ford Club swap meet and filled a box with Winfield carbs and some other race car bits for the ride home.