Price of parts

[Krylon32]

Maybe it's availability but it seems the price of parts is rising and the price of cars falling. Just saw a single 32 sedan front seat offered for 1000.00 and a very rusty 3 window seat pan for 1000.00. Small parts seem to be getting more expensive also. It's crazy?

[95476]

I have noticed this as well, especially on places like Instagram.
4,000 dashboards, a "kit car" '34 for that was nothing a big pile of dented patch panels in a pile for 15,000, wide 5 ford wheels for 150 bucks each ?
This looks to me like the end stage of "tulipmania".
On the other hand a lot of the left over parts I have from long ago builds are just going to scrap or being given away, very few are building early Ford's these days.
I guess you have to have the parts the rat rod guys want.
It's been fun but the ride is coming to a stop.

[5851a]

I would like to know where all the people that pay the high prices work? Wait, let me guess Dr. offices.

[supereal]

As the hobby continues to shrink, both selection and price are under attack, with scarcity boosting price. Unfortunately, quality of these items is also a problem. The time is nearing where availability will over shadow price as a consideration. It began years ago when the salvage yards dwindled, and scrapping became common.

[cas3]

if you have a brass model T its worth way more in parts than you would get for the car

[KiWinUS]

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Stay focused
Asking & selling prices are waaaayyyyyy different

[FortyNiner]

Originally Posted by KiWinUS

Stay focused
Asking & selling prices are waaaayyyyyy different

Bingo. Askin' ain't gettin'

[redmodelt]

Brass Model T's are still holding their value, the black radiator cars from 1917 up not so much.

In any case bet most the good parts were bought up years ago and were ether used or horded. Bet a lot of the horded stuff is getting sent to scrappers by families after the one that got the stuff passed, because they don't want to deal with a lot of old junk.

[Andy]

I was at a swap meet last weekend. Nobody even looked at the early V8 parts. I had a lot of good parts. 32 clutch arm, 39 banjo wheel, 38 horn button and rod, 32 radius rods. Front springs. Took it all home and did not go back the next day. Our buyers are gone and the new guys know nothing.

[FortyNiner]

So, an example to demonstrate the folly of hoarding and over-valuing.

A couple of years ago, after my brother bought a vehicle from a local-ish woman, she and I spoke a bit more after the deal was done. Come to learn that her father - and then his children - had been holding a collection of car parts since the mid-70s. Her father, who had owned a parts store, had insisted that they were 'a gold mine' and they had moved them and paid for storage in the subsequent years. I expressed and interest in helping to value or sell the stash and we arranged an inspection date.

Long story short, they were really mutts. A collection of mostly gaskets, broken take-off parts, and shelf filler that couldn't find a buyer back in the day. Poorly marked, poorly boxed, and without any record of exactly what was there - my meagerly trained eye didn't see much of value in the parts. The seller presented her research - a limited amount of checking and an insistance that her parts were worth the maximum asking price found anywhere.

I politely told the seller that I wouldn't be making an offer, that the value had likely been already exceeded by the storage costs, and gave her a couple of NOS specialists who might be worth contacting.

The seller later paid for a stall at large area swap meet. Their presentation consisted of stacks of boxes crammed with random unmarked parts in the back of a rented truck. If they grossed $20, it would have been epic. Ultimately, the seller got the stuff listed with some outfit that seemed mainly focused on vintage clothing and home goods. In short, it didn't sell, there wasn't any mother lode, and there wasn't any gold.

This stuff should have been sold decades ago when any potential buyers were alive and the parts could have been used for vehicles that were still on the road. Alas.

[Tim Ayers]

Don’t agree with some of the posts here saying parts are worthless. Good, in demand parts are bringing absolute top dollar in the current market. Price a Pines winter front for a '32. $10-12K. Or an Alexander V8 intake. $5K. Original '32 grille shells, cool head lights, neat original speed parts, etc.

Verified and checked, non-cracked 239 c.i flathead blocks will bring $750-$1K all day long. Nice banjo rears that could be bought for $25-50 ten-fifteen years ago, now bring $300-$400. '39 transmissions? Same thing. Rebuilt transmissions with nice gears, etc. will bring $750-$1,000. Add some LZ gears, even more.

Hot rods are in demand more than ever. Yes, stocker parts may not be selling. If you’ve got some cool stuff from key model years, buyers (old & young) are chomping at the bit to get them.

I’m 48 and have been lucky to buy stuff years ago reasonably. Have you priced a nice ‘32 wish bone lately? A nice set of '32 pedals?

A poster on this very thread sold me a nice ‘32 axle that I paid top dollar for just 6 months ago. It is currently under my AV8. It was a nice one and I was glad to have it.

Junk parts like the one poster said he encountered will always be just that.

I would also agree there is certainly a decline in demand for totally stock vehicles, but that’s the name of the game.

Very few people ever wanted a 4 door anything, unless it gets them into the entry level ‘32-‘34 game.

I saw more young people driving around Model T’s at Hershey last year than I ever seen older dudes driving them. I've been going to Hershey for 39 years.

A lot of those "traditional" Model T guys still have that show car mentality and don't want to dirty their white tires by actually driving their Model T. Heck, I want a Model T Touring with a Rajo head, Buffalo wires and Ruxstal rear in the worst way. I'd pay for the right car if it came around.

TROG and other events have caused an explosion in interest in traditional hot rods. I don’t want to hear otherwise for it’s just yelling at clouds.

[Krylon32]

I'm as guilty as anyone in pricing the cars and parts I have for sale. The cars are priced at a loss and the parts I'm offering are about what I paid for them or less. I think Tim is right, lower priced entry level traditional cars are selling as are vintage parts to build the traditional cars but higher end cars are tough to sell. I think interest in the kind of cars I'm selling has sailed and I will be force to sell them at giveaway prices.

[Tim Ayers]

Originally Posted by Krylon32

I'm as guilty as anyone in pricing the cars and parts I have for sale. The cars are priced at a loss and the parts I'm offering are about what I paid for them or less. I think Tim is right, lower priced entry level traditional cars are selling as are vintage parts to build the traditional cars but higher end cars are tough to sell. I think interest in the kind of cars I'm selling has sailed and I will be force to sell them at giveaway prices.

Gary:

It's funny. I'm about two months away from finishing my '28 AV8 on '32 rails. The car will be a knock out with mostly original paint on the body and some killer patina.

I've stopped adding up the receipts on this build for I truly don't want to know. I could have bought a similar car that was done for much less, but I didn't. Unless you don't charge the hours you but into a build, you'll come out ahead, but time is money. Doesn't matter if you paid someone to do it or you did it yourself. Someone put time in and that time is valuable.

I will have a very cool car that is done exactly how I want it to be done and I will have an monster of an engine (297 c.i.) built exactly as I want.

I just hope my son's like the choices I've made when it becomes theirs or a potential buyer likes the way it was done too down the road if they pass on it. Haha.

[Ziggster]

I'm new to this, and maybe I was lucky and picked up parts cheap (C59 engine in good shape (no cracks) - CAN$100, Model A front and rear axles with rims and radius rods - CAN$250, T5 Trans - CAN $150.00. The guy that sold me the engine was tired of it collecting dust and had planned to use it. The guy that sold me the Model A stuff was willing to give me the entire chassis and drivetrain for the same price as he also wanted it gone from his yard, but my trailer was too small to haul it all away. The guy that sold me the T5 threw in a couple of extra complete T5 cases, and misc parts. This lead me to believe I should be able to build my speedster for under CAN$10K. What I have quickly realized is that building a flathead is NOT cheap. I'll likely have CAN$5K into my non-performance build with no fancy parts, and that is for a short block. I'll be assembling the long block. I listed a bunch of Model A and flathead parts I didn't need and didn't get one call. So yes, hoarding the wrong parts is a waste of time, and some parts are expensive.

[qmdv]

Originally Posted by Tim Ayers

A lot of those "traditional" Model T guys still have that show car mentality and don't want to dirty their white tires by actually driving their Model T. Heck, I want a Model T Touring with a Rajo head, Buffalo wires and Ruxstal rear in the worst way. I'd pay for the right car if it came around.

TROG and other events have caused an explosion in interest in traditional hot rods. I don’t want to hear otherwise for it’s just yelling at clouds.

In 1969 I was driving my 21 T touring with a ruxstel and an updraft Winfield Carburetor when I met my current wife. Actually my only wife. What a fun car. My avatar pic. Wish I had it today.

[Tony Martino]

Been a little out of the parts thing for a while but this struck me.
Guy in Mass has a complete, I mean complete '37 ford chassis, with everything
including a V8 60 still in it, front and rear end ,trans, radiator etc.
Wheels and tires, completely together. Looks really good.

Asking price $1500! Ad is a month old!


4 years ago I sold a bare '37 frame for $500 and the guy said it was cheap!


Just my $.02

[sawzall]

The sky is always falling somewhere.. sell umbrellas, or complain about the rain.

[Tim Ayers]

Originally Posted by Tony Martino

Been a little out of the parts thing for a while but this struck me.
Guy in Mass has a complete, I mean complete '37 ford chassis, with everything
including a V8 60 still in it, front and rear end ,trans, radiator etc.
Wheels and tires, completely together. Looks really good.

Asking price $1500! Ad is a month old!


4 years ago I sold a bare '37 frame for $500 and the guy said it was cheap!


Just my $.02

Great example. Bare frame, pick it up and put it in a pick up bed and drive away.

Complete chassis, need a trailer. Plus, V860 cars were never great to begin with. So, unless you have a '37 V860 car, the parts on that chassis aren't too desirable.

V860: Antique midget racers, maybe? Hot rodder? No
Trans: V860 only
Rear: More than likely has 4.44 gears due to V860.

Rear radius rods? Great.
Mechanical brakes? Cool, but only a die hard, traditional hot rodder would use
them.

Wide five drums and spindles: Maybe????

So, here is an example of some parts that folks believe to be a good deal, but if you really focus on what's being offered, you realized its a very narrow field who would want or need this. There is a reason why this ad has sat for 4 weeks.

If this was a '32 chassis, it would have sold within a week.

I'm not trying to put anyone or anything down, but I think the mindset has changed and the scope of desirable and wanted parts has also changed along with it.

[GaryU.]

I could use the horn and bracket off that chassis. Wheels if they are correct are 3 1/2 inches wide rather than 4. Bought and sold a pair at swap on Friday, $20 for 2 and sold them for $50 after carrying them for 1/2 hour. Air cleaner would sell as well as carburetor if correct. Would be hard to get the asking amount if you were trying to make a buck off all of it.

[Tim Ayers]

Originally Posted by GaryU.

I could use the horn and bracket off that chassis. Wheels if they are correct are 3 1/2 inches wide rather than 4. Bought and sold a pair at swap on Friday, $20 for 2 and sold them for $50 after carrying them for 1/2 hour. Air cleaner would sell as well as carburetor if correct. Would be hard to get the asking amount if you were trying to make a buck off all of it.

Good catch. Yes, it does appear to have a Stromberg carb on it. Hopefully it's an 81 to whomever buys it.