Best and Worst eBay/Craigslist/swap meet parts finds - what you got??

[C10agent]

I was curious what you guys have found of value that others have overlooked. I was able to get all my autometer gauges for my cluster build about half off retail on eBay. Some people simply don't realize what they have and it is fun to take it off their hands. I am always searching eBay and Craigslist for whatever I can find. I swear I have a problem and the wife just looks at me funny when I get excited about a good deal on a factory radio. Anyone else here share my obsession and what have you guys found???

[Grumpy old man]

I'm collecting many parts before I start my '67's build and I am constantly checking ebay /Craigslist and in here for what I'm looking for and I find deals daily ,I refuse to pay retail if I can avoid it ,try searchtempest.com to search all craigslist ads at 1 time instead of searching every different town one at a time . and as far as my OL LADY looking at me funny when I find a great buy ,Well....She's been giving me funny rolling the eyes looks for YEARS !

[CC69Rat]

69-72 NOS pass front fender on CL - $200. Sold it for $400 about 35 min later.

[C10agent]

That is awesome!!

[Eddie H.]

I admit it, I'm a swap , meet addict. I have found so many good deals over the years that I can't even remember them all. The best ones are when the husband is wandering off looking and leaves his wife in charge of his stuff. " How much for that"? " I don't know, it's my husband's and he didn't put a price on it" "Would you take $20" "sure"

[beetle1960]

Originally Posted by Eddie H.

I admit it, I'm a swap , meet addict. I have found so many good deals over the years that I can't even remember them all. The best ones are when the husband is wandering off looking and leaves his wife in charge of his stuff. " How much for that"? " I don't know, it's my husband's and he didn't put a price on it" "Would you take $20" "sure"

Ha ha ha ha...Yep!

[Olive1970]

Bought a 1972 parts truck that ended up being rougher than I hoped for $300. Dragged it home and robbed the parts off it I could then got it running for $20 after sitting for 12 years. Sold it the next week for $750

[WIDESIDE72]

A few years ago I came across a pair of 68-72 stepside fenders at the New braunfels swap meet. I picked them up for $100 and commented on how hard it was to find them in such good shape and without the spare tire cut out on the driver side. The seller asked if I would be interested in more (?!) he said he had a friend that worked for the local electric co op and back in the daytuey removed the fenders and replaced them with bed sides that had tool boxes. He called me a week later and said there were four more pairsyhy hanging in the rafters of one of the co ops pole barns. I made the drive from Leander to Wimberly with my old bull dog Bubba and had a truck and trailer load for the way back. My wallet was $400 lighter. Eventually I sold all of them for $400/ pair. I also stopped in Wimberly and bought a pair pretty decent of swb fleetside 68-72 bed sides for $100. Sold them for $400 a month later. All of that money went toward the birth and raising of my little girl Sophia, who will be three in April.

[WIDESIDE72]

A couple of years ago i responded to a local c list ad regarding 68 chevy truck parts "everything must go, make offer". I called and the kid who answered said he bought a 68 lwb stepside at the beginning of the summer. He tore it all apart without his dads permission and had cluttered up the garage and back yard. Dad said it all had to go before he went off to college in the fall. I really only wanted the lwb stepside bed for the nice fenders. I was short on funds as my daughter had just been born, and told him on the phone i only had $100 for the bed. He asked when could i come pick it up (!) when i got there he talked me into the 68 hood fenders front bumper grill and a decent 69-72 rad support for another $50 (!) I sold the 68 grill but still have the other parts. I am keeping the stepside fenders for a project but the rest is still for sale.

[WIDESIDE72]

I have also bought several msd 6 boxes at garage sales and swap meets for $10-$20, mainly because the seller didnt know how to figure out the wiring. FYI you can go to the Msd wedsite and print on instructions to attach the box to any vehicle known to man!

[WIDESIDE72]

A few years ago i bought a 73 cheyenne 3/4 ton with a rebuilt 454/th400 from my dads friend. He had used it to haul round bails of hay to his cows. It didnt have a stright body panel on it but no rust (!). He always parked it in his barn at night but had a stroke a fews years back and the truck was parked with a tank was full of old gas. It would run off a gas can and he only wanted $400 for it. He knew i would part it out and wanted me to use the profit for my little girl. I pulled the engine and trans for a future project. The truck had a nice grill and headlight rings that i sold for $200. The original dash pad was perfect and brought another $200. Ithad a good tilt column that i got $100 for. I sold the rest of the truck for scrap after i loaded all of the other loose junk laying around and gor another $400. I later swapped the th400 to a fellow who needed a good trans and was low on funds. I got a running 89 (?) s10 blazer 4x4 with a 4.3l and 700r4 and no title, a pair of new 255/70r15 cooper cobra tires and $100. I sold the tires for another $100. I tried to sell the nlazer for $400 as a deer lease truck with bill of sale but got no takers. I decided to pull the engine and trans from the blazer for my 55 first series on an s10 lwb frame.

[WIDESIDE72]

Last but not least i am pretty proud of my 70 longhorn buy fm fellow board member 70chevytruck for $1200. It is 99% rust free with 80k miles. 400/400/Dana 60. Cab and doors are almost perfect. It had taken a light tap in front, ruining the grill hood and bumper. I bolted on a 72 grill and bumper and 70 hood i had from other trucks i parted. He also threw in a 71/72 5 lug rear that i sold for $150. The bed is kinda rough. It runs great. Iam still on the fence about swapping the cab clip and engine onto a 72 swb frame i have. I also have a swb step bed i pieced together.

[WIDESIDE72]

The truck originally came with a propane carb set up but no tank. It had been replaced with a non original q jet. I sold the propane set up for $200. The seller called me a few days later and wanted the later model 16" steel wheels radial tires and rear bumper off the truck for a 68 3/4 he bought. I swapped him the wheels tires and bumper for his chrome wagon spoke 16.5's and bias ply tires and $100.

[WIDESIDE72]

FYI, i am known as quite a "horse trader" in my area.

[sboris]

Originally Posted by WIDESIDE72

FYI, i am known as quite a "horse trader" in my area.

Also quite the typist! Lol.


I like to garage sale, some lady was selling off her husbands stuff.. Didn't ask why.. Got a new blast cabinet full of glass bead, and a nice 20gal parts washer with 10gal of solvent still in the cans plus what was rolling around in the washer.. (Had to drain), for $150 bucks. $100 in solvent easy!
Both very handy this last summer and winter.

[WIDESIDE72]

Almost forgot about the 71 cheyenne k10 and 72 sierra k20 i bought for $1500. The cheyenne was originally 2wd and had been swapped onto a 4x4 suburban chassis. It was rusty but had a rebuilt 355. The seller planned to swap it into the gmc bbut lost interest. I started collecting parts for the gmc but sold it for $3000. The new owner has since fully restored the truck. I used the 355 in my current swb step.

[WIDESIDE72]

I had about $1k in parts i accumulated for the gmc. I stripped the cheyenne and sold the rusty cab and bed still on the 4x4 chassis for $700. It had a th400 and later model t case i sold for another $250.

[C10agent]

Love to hear the stories, gets me jacked up to find the next barn find out there.

[BruthaMan]

Picked up a set of Goodyear 265/70/17 tires last week for our Tahoe. They were new "take offs." Couple were moving and needed them gone. Paid $150 for all four, still had new nubs on them. Cost for the same tires at Discount tire was almost $700. Deals like that don't come around too often!

[C10agent]

Heck no, that is a big deal!

[midniteblues]

my recent swap meet find of the 12 bolt hickey covers was a great find.
few years ago my kid an i got a nib repop drivers door and two new repop inner fenders for $175.

some of my good cl finds
very nice 67-68 cst horn cap $10.(they had no idea what it fit)
tach dash $25.
nos inner fenders$125.
nos rear step fender $150.(painted but never installed)
millerautoset140....still on it first spool $275.
bbc mounts$50.
awesome 69-72 black steering wheel $5.


i find good deals at the jy all the time my local yard is very good on prices.

the only good/great deal i ever got off ebay was when a boardmember here posted a link of a local 71 cabless long stepper from ebay. nobody bid on it. i got it for $201. the fellow was p.o when i got there too pick it up he said,"i could've sold this for way more money in the past few days localy"
he was new at ebaying. he wouldnt even help push it on the trailer
i paid him the 2 bills an forgot the extra buck i ended up sellin the 292 for more than i had in the entire deal.

most times my good/bad deals equal each other out

[colgad]

I was having a garage sale and one guy I had been talking to seeing the two parts trucks I had outside the shop said, I have one of those behind my garage would you want it? How much I asked?

I don't know how about $100 and the stuff I am getting from your garage sale? I said sure! And then he said he would deliver it tomorrow!!! Deliver it! He said yea he already had a trailer backed up to it.

He dropped off the 71 long fleet the next day. The bed was super and the tailgate must have been fairly new because it just had a little surface rust. The cab was pretty bad but the doors were good enough to keep. No engine or trans but the five lug rear was there!
I scraped the frame (-the disk brake assembly) and the cab (after taking anything good out) used the bed for my C50 project (it only needed new wood and paint)

You just never know what folks have behind or in there garage's

[Grumpy old man]

All 6 of the 67's I recently bought I paid less than $3,000.00 total for and everyone came with extra parts and pieces from failed projects and guys who just gave up on them , The blue '69 GMC I sold after taking a brand new 4 core aluminum radiator and a nice GMC tailgate off of and sold it for $1,100.00 doubled my money and kept the best parts it had ,it sold in 22 minutes on Craigslist .

[jmking9]

A couple of years ago, I got a 68-72 GMC tailgate that had been taken off the truck fairly new and stored in a garage for $80 on Craigslist. A month or so later, A guy that was buying some other parts from me, seen it and had to have it. He offered me $500. I really wanted to keep it so I told him no. but when he offered $600, I had a change of heart. It was a good deal for both of us, that gate was 100% perfect. Fast forward to about 5 months ago. We were cleaning out a barn at my grandfathers house after he passed away. We found 4 tailgates on a pallet back in the corner that were taken off new trucks the day he brought them home. One 67 GMC gate, 2 chevy gates that were from the 73-87 trucks, and an 80's Ford gate. My dad and Uncles let me keep the GMC gate. I left it just how we found it and have it hanging it my garage. Needless to say, I wont be selling it. Every time I see that gate I can picture my Grandpa putting out hay with that white 67 GMC longbed 4wd that was beat to death.

[67ctener]

First is worst... Countless "rust free" cabs I've looked at all over the state that were anything but.

The best... Traded a set of doors I got for $20 and $100 cash for a set of ver nice buddy buckets