How far will you go for parts?

In Jan 2007, a friend and I made a 2300 mile round trip to Lousiana from VA to buy and bring back a chopped 35 Ford pkp project that had a complete new Fatman frame under it. It was in many pieces and took a while to load into my Suburban and we put the pkp on a UHaul trailer and away we went. Best news was the the seller was completely honest and upfront on every aspect of the deal and the condition of what I was getting. I was only gone from my house for 57 hours... and we stopped both nights to sleep in motels. No allnight or shift driving. We made great time and had a good time but we didn't waste much time anywhere. Sold the body and related parts to a local fellow and used the chassis and engine and trans to build my 40 pkp that has a 36 car front end on it.

 

me thinks ya mean for sale around your area...not where ya live..........

 

Yes it was. What a nightmare that turned out to be. A simple 90 day project truned out to be a year and half of headaches.

 

Good to know "crazy" isn't reserved for me---I'm in good company

Nashville to Billings MT for my 55 Ford limo
Left on a Sunday morning with a flatbed dually and a 50ft 3 car hauler---broke the truck before we got out of town. Probably for the best as it snowed 2 feet in MT the next day Two weeks later we headed out again, with a brand new truck Hit Billings, loaded the limo and pointed north to Lewistown to pick up another car and a half. L'town greeted us with a snowstorm--Got snowed in there for 3 days. Soon as the road cleared enough, we headed back without the trailer and limo---got 20 miles and the road was passable, so we went back for the trailer/limo, leaving the other stuff behind for the next trip. Drove all night just ahead of another snow storm that would have trapped us probably another week.

Old cars make me do stooopid stuff

 

I've been making western parts hunting trips every year since 07, the longest trip was 5500 mi. I went as far west as Helena Mt and north to Winnipeg Manitoba. The longest trip before I started doing this was 1000 mi down to St Louis Mo. and back in the same day

 

The steel car that I pulled molds from for this 1937 Fiat Furgone was purchased in the south of France. Too far to go get, but a piece of cake when it arrived in a 30' container to the docks in Baltimore.

 

kinda like buying a grille out of germany..and then having to send it to holland to get it shipped to michigan....i still wonder if the guy i bought it from was the long lost grand kid of Aldolf....he wasn't having anything to do with his part getting shipped to the good ol USA...

or having to have new repop rockers sent in from the swiss alps.....or headlites from france.....


gotta love the power of the Hamb relay....

 

From WV to Ill. for a so called good purple with flames pro streeted 49 ford advertised on here, a half inch of bondo later and we were on our way back home what a piece of crap. WV to Kansas for a dirt track car and 401 amc parts great 4 day trip. Flew into Phoenix from Pittsburg and bought a truck and car and a bunch of parts. Flew into Ontario and went to Pomona and bought a fully restored chev p/u and drove it home to WV but in needles 3rd gear in the new trans went out made it as far as flagstaff in 2nd gear and could'nt take it anymore so stop and got it rebuilt, three days later I was on my way, while there I rented a car and bought 4 cheap cameras and drove every street in flagstaff taking pics of old cars that was fun, and the seller gave back 500 of purchase price that was nice of him. WV to Knoxville to buy 53 stude. WV to Ind to buy 64 Econoline van from a hamber and also picked up 64 Ecoline p/u at same timeand all this within the last 4 years, lots of fun and a few dissapointments.

 

Northern NJ to Erie, Pa. to pick up a Corvette. Northern NJ to Syracuse, NY. later on for some parts for it.

 

Me and my family loaded up and went get a "parts" car project in Melbourne Fla. from Houma La a round trip of of 1400 miles and 27 hours. Then a few years later we did it again... Houma to Melbourne to pick up a good friend of mines "parts" car.

The different between a parts car and project car.... When you go look and and all your friends think your crazy that's a project car. When you think your crazy... thar's a parts car.

 

Got up at oh dark thirty one Saturday morning, grabbed my coffee and off I went with trailer hitched to the truck. The trailer had a pair of ragged rear fenders and running boards off my 46 Chevy Pickup. I headed to eastern Washington to barter for a windshield. Was disappointed at what the guy had for parts, but made a nice connection for some old Chevy Military trucks. I dropped off the running boards and fenders, loaded up the windshield and hauled ass back home.
The first picture is just before day light @ the Yakima Rest Stop, that snow capped mountain is Mnt. Adams, an old volcano. The second picture is from this old wheat farm where the truck stuff was. A couple of pictures of the Military Chevys they still use on the farm. Last picture is of Robert's 41-46 Chevy he's putting together with my old fenders and running boards.
Despite being disappointed at the windshield, I had a great trip, returned home that afternoon after putting on 500 miles, installed the windshield on my 41 Chevy 6 Wheeler and made it to the cruise in by 5.

 

forgot the picture of the 6 Wheeler

 

I used to work for Northwest Airlines. Flew my brother in-law and myself to Chicago from Minneapolis at 6:00am and then took the "L" train, then a taxi to a U-haul store on the south side. Drove the box truck and trailer to the suburbs to get my 72 blazer then all the way home - got home at 9:00pm the same day after massive rain storm. Oh the "good ol days!"

 

from n. alabama to fl. keys hell we could almost see cuba.lol to get a glass frontend for or nova.man said if you want it come and get it. good thing it was free because what i spent for gas and fl.toll roads i could have had a new one dropped off at my door and still had money left over but damn we had fun.then 2 yrs later we went from n. alabama to napa valley ca. to buy a custom bike from a guy who didnt want it anymore and what we paid it was WELL worth the trip.i enjoy the roadtrips as much if not more than the build.

 

200 miles one way is my longest so far. Everything I seem to need/want is in CA! peace

 

I have made a few long trips when I was younger and enjoyed the trip whether sucessful or not. I would be willing to make a reasonable trip to get a better trunklid and doors for my '40 Chevy sedan before I paint the ones I have this Spring.

 

lets see.. my van of course.. drove 1700 miles round trip to get it, just got back from a 700 mile trip to get the motor. and once this thing is done.. we are going to rent the house out and travel all over the place..

 

Im 1976 My wife and I drove from Western Pa. to San Jose Cali, Purchased a 32 Ford pickup All ordg., a 57 Ford 2dr post all ordg., and a 55 Ford crown vic. (390 4 speed)
I drove the 57 and towed the 32,, My wife drove our new Ford van and towed the crown vic..6000 miles round trip..Had our 2 boys with us, ages 4 yrs and 6 mo. A trip we never will forget..Got stopped for speeding in Nevada at 3:00 am, and got off with a warning. Looked like the gypsies were heading East,,,

 

I drove 4,800 plus miles for this 1949 M-47 pickup.



To see the trip ... go here

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=498255

We went thru a lot of states and crossed into Canada for the truck. We saw Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse and the Sturgis SD motorcyle event on our way home. Crazy thing is that we had just went to Los Angeles CA and back ... and had seen sight seeing on that trip also ( almost 7,000 miles on that trip alone ). So in a short period of time we went 12 thousand miles ... for the old car hobby.

 

No record for sure, but Kennedy & I logged 800 miles last week to pick up my '59 El Camino. They way I see it, if you wait for it to come to you, you may have to wait a LONG time.

Anything less than a day's drive is local.

JH

 

I put my 16x11 magnesium Americans and Racemasters on craigspay Thursday night, and got a call from a guy in El Lay Fri morning, wanted them for his Willys. Went to the UPS store to see if they had boxes big enough, and when I talked to him again, he said he had made an offer on a pop-up camper in Medford, OR and was waiting for an answer, if he got it he was going to drive up to get it, might be able to pick the wheels up as Hwy 5 isn't that far away. Calls me later, they accepted, he's hitting the road and driving up that night, and can I meet him somewhere closer to 5- so I tell him a place to meet a little north of Vacaville with a big parking lot (a bar ), right at the bottom of the 505 off-ramp, had him call when he hit Williams, and described our trucks. So I get up there, exit and turn under the freeway, and see his truck (with camping trailer) pull up to the stop sign of the other ramp at the exact time I pass him- just waved, and we both cracked up- pulled into the bar parking lot, rolled the wheels/tires out in front of the headlights for a short-arm inspection, made the deal, loaded the wheels and cash, gave him directions for the quickest way back to 5, off we went- 6PM last night

 

I went from Syracuse to Niagara Falls on a day trip just to pick up some Model A parts and some knockoff wire wheels. Ended up with an axle with split bones and '40 brakes and a '40 rearend out of the deal. Was a nice drive. And we went down to Middletown a couple times to pick up cars. My buddy's hauled cars to Florida and had a guy meet him halfway on a swap deal from Virginia.

But I used to know where to find most of what I needed, local, there were a few yards with good stuff in them. Most of them have scrapped out now.


I find too many guys won't even look further than their computer, though, they want me to sell parts off sometimes a running, driving car because they can't even go to the closest swap meet or pick up a Hemmings.

 

Wow,you guys are making my 1 day trip to Wisconsin to do a deal with "Squablow" look like a trip to the local parts store. Ha!!

 

It wasn`t a parts trip per say but I flew from St Louis to Seattle and back on vacation and bought a Holley Carb. I would like to fly somewhere to buy a rod of my liking and drive it home.

 

drove 900 miles to TX (in Aug) to wire a friends friends 69 Camaro, was given parts in trade. Blew up the Tahoe on the way home, wife made the same drive to get me. Three months later I returned to get the Tahoe($500), New engine($1000) lasted one week. New Tahoe for the wife $6000. **Guess you could say I ain't a bad friend** Another of my friends went with me and we get a lot of mileage out of the whole ordeal.

 

I found a nice straight, rust free big window pickup cab at a junkyard in Indio, CA while on a business trip. Price $200. About 1/3 of what just patch panels would cost for my crappy small window cab in the Midwest. I had to go back on business so I rented a Ford Ranger pickup from Budget, no mileage limit. I left the hard toneau in my garage here in Chicago and drove there and back. Ranger was a nice ride and with a full size cab in the bed, quite a sight. I got a ticket doing 80+ in Oklahoma. And I had a chimanea fireplace in the passenger seat on the way home as a gift to the wife. Over 5,000 miles round trip including some business driving in CA. My company paid for the truck and gas, it was cheaper than a flight. I still think I'm crazy.

 

Earl Schieb, was that the 55 Ford Airport limo at Don Hurley's? I wondered where that car went. I always thought it would look better a little shorter. Possibly I might build one someday. Project #346. It's fun to dream anyway. Hope you are making good progress with it.

 

Road trips are fun, relaxing, a time to day dream about projects, and a time to get your head screwed on straight. I use to crew on a NHRA Drag Race car. While the engine was being rebuilt during the winter we went through the rest of the car to freshen the drive train. The engine got done, we needed it the next week for dyno testing, only one problem, it was at Panella Racing in Stockton Ca., over 800 miles from Seattle Metro area..
Not much was going on for my business, no big deal, I'll drive down and pick it up. I pulled into Panella's as they were spinning a small block ford with 8 webers, up on the dyno. A quick tour of the shops, a look at Bobby's Pro Stock (Sox and Martin tribute car) and off to Cloverdale in The California Wine Country for a visit and dinner with sister and brother in law. Next day headed north on I-5, a stop in Red Bluff for lunch with old high school friends. Home by mid night. 1600 miles , 27 hours of driving round trip.
We dynoed the engine to over 860 H.P. , you ought to hear the engine scream @ 10,400 rpm.

 

In 1990, I was living in England but attending a conference in Virginia. I called a British Car Parts guy in Richmond looking for an overdrive for my Triumph TR4. He had one. I asked if he shipped overseas. He asked me where I wanted to ship it. When I told him..England, he said, "Hold on, there is a guy here now buying a boatload of stuff to go to England. Turned out to be a guy I knew, and he put the gearbox in with his shipment. I had to drive about 30 miles to get my part that had originally been on the other side of the Atlantic.

 

Drove to Portland Oregon and back, about 8 hours round trip. Got home, ate dinner. Drove to Spokane and back about 16 hours round trip.