For me, parts hunting is one of the most enjoyable parts of classic car ownership. I love going to junk yards, and swap meets and finding that part that I’ve been searching for.
Sometimes the great deal is not just for a part, but a whole car.
As a graduate of the Cheap Son-of-a-Bitch (CSOB) school of finance, nothing makes me happier than scoring an awesome deal on a part or a car.
I know many of you scour eBay, Craiglist and other on-line venues looking for bargins. I have all kinds of searches saved so that I can check for certain parts almost daily.
The stories we tell about this sound like fishing stories. There’s always the one that got away, like a running and driving So-Cal Karmann-Ghia convertible I missed out on 3 years ago for $2,500 to the ones landed like the 76 914 with a 2.7 911 motor I got for free.
Even great deals like that can be over shadowed by the small deals, the little bits and pieces that you can come across. I got an early 914 combo gauge with oil temperature and fuel level for $5 once. That’s a rare gauge and I got a great deal on it. Or the set of 4 15x6 Fuchs flat-6 alloys for $200.
Some deals require patience and a personal touch. I have a friend that got a 68 Mustang from a widow for some kitchen cabinet work. The car was her husband’s, and it had sat in the garage for years. My friend had been helping this lady out for years doing handyman and odd jobs for parts money. My friend has a Tiger that he’s putting back together. My friend had done a bunch of work, and the bill was over $500, and she offered the car in trade. She didn’t have to offer twice. It wasn’t perfect, but he got it running in short order. He sold it to help finance his Tiger restoration, so at least it went to a good cause.
We all have those kinds of connections. The guy you know that has that car in the back yard that he’s going to restore one of these days. We sit and patiently wait for them to give up and sell us that car, because no one else even asks about it anymore.
Tell me about your great deals, and rare finds.