[Gastrick]

I'm not sure that some people on the west coast realize that not everyone lives within driving distance of multiple swap meets or has old car parts for sale in their local classifieds. The closest swapmeet that I know of is 250 miles from me and only occurs once a year. Even then, the selection of viable 30's and 40's car parts is not plentiful there in my opinion. If I had to rely on this swap meet and parts for sale locally, it would take me a hundred years or maybe longer to put together a car. I am usually at the mercy of ebay and internet classifieds and have been taken a few times as a result. Then there are the "local pickup only" problems because the seller will not ship. In many cases, buying a reproduction part from a reputable supplier is the most sure way that I will receive what I paid for if I can even find it. I searched six months just a find a steering box for my 1934 Ford. I finally found one on ebay and had to hope to win the auction. If that makes me a "checkbook" builder then so be it. I hope none of you folks who deem others lesser builders because they don't have access to parts locally are not running reproduction bias ply tires on your cars.