Our Two Cents: Our Best Vehicular Find
It takes a special person to own a car after the 10 year period its manufacturer (often) commits to supply the parts needed to keep it running. While some of us own a vehicle with a significant following in the aftermarket, with pages upon pages of support from catalogs, others are in a constant state of searching for something on our ride.
But my strongly held belief is: Diligence pays off, and if you search long enough, you will find a solution. So we asked the folks behind Hagerty Media about their best stories of finding something, anything for their vehicle, and this is what they came up with!
A Replacement Engine
“Spend enough time in this hobby, and you’ll eventually know a guy who knows a guy for just about anything. My cousin needed an engine for his ’79 Dodge W150, so I asked several racing buddies if they knew of any leads. Sure enough, someone who raced a few times on our endurance racing team had several older Dodge pickups sitting around his place in upstate New York. We settled on a good price, and that old 360 has been powering memory-making between my cousin and his son for the last couple of years.” —Eddy Eckart
Steelies For A Steal
“Black stealies steelies! Estate sales are gold mines for great buys. While they don’t hit often for automotive-related purchases, when they do, scores can be significant.
I found a set of black steel wheels that fit my 5-lug Tacoma well; a few cans of fresh paint and 75 bucks later, my gamble had paid off and had made the cost of tires less painful. It was a real Cinderella-slipper moment.” —Bryan Gerould
Fueling Victory
“Last summer, I needed to drain a fuel tank. One morning while out on a walk around the neighborhood, I passed an estate sale, where I spotted four old fuel cans for $3 apiece. They were exactly what I needed, exactly when I needed them.
Bonus: Some lady who bought several crates of DVDs somehow forgot to close the slider on her minivan and they all fell out as she drove away, which was amusing.” —Stefan Lombard
A Guiding Ligh….Button?
I previously mentioned how difficult it is to find parts for the 1988-94 “Essex” Lincoln Continental. This example might not be my best find, but it’s one of the more recent ones. And it wasn’t just good for me, either.
Out of dumb luck, I found another Essex Continental a year after that article, and it was mint. I looked at its overhead console, and was rewarded with the fact it had the optional compass with intact “compass” lettering on the button. Most of them have been wiped away by harsh cleaning agents over time.
This is one of the finishing touches I’ve wanted for my car, so I ripped the junker Continental’s tan overhead console from its surprisingly nice cabin. Once home and binge watching some terrible show on TV, I transferred the perfect compass module into my car’s blue console. Perfection!
It worked great, especially since I gave my old compass unit to a fellow Essex Continental owner looking for an upgrade to their compass-free interior. I also chucked in a spare hood ornament so they can truly feel ‘what a luxury car should be.’ It feels good to share the joy with others, too!” —Sajeev Mehta
3D Print Me a Dream
“This wasn’t a junkyard find, but I did find someone within the Montero community who 3D-printed a two-piece cupholder contraption that you could screw right into the bottom of the center console ashtray. Now, I don’t have to worry about water bottles banging around the seats and the footwells as I turn this tippy rig on generic 90-degree city corners. Money well spent!” —Nathan Petroelje
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My best find was the nose emblem on my Fiero. It is for sa 1990 Fiero. But wait they never built a 1990 Fiero?
Well a buddy did work for a company in Michigan that made emblems for the MFGs. He was given two emblems and gave me one when he moved to FL.
I knew what I had and then found a couple that showed up on E bay. No one bid on them not knowing what they were.
I then contacted the company about info on them. I got that and about 12 more emblems they had left over. Finally I contacted GM and it took two years but they sent me the engineering drawing on them.
The funny thing is GM has one 1990 Fiero GT left and it has no emblem just a GTA trans am emblem filling the holes in the nose.
Not only did I save the emblems but the history on them. A few others have shown up and others have picked them up. There were over 120 made but most were destroyed.
Those cupholders are really neat, Nathan! 👍
This find wasn’t really for me, but my neighbor does demolition and brings home ‘treasures’ from time to time. He had a 66Kw genset sitting in his yard that I could see had an SBC in it. He finally wanted to move it along and brought it over to my place so I could remove the generator from it – which he wanted for copper. I changed things around so the engine would remain freestanding with the generator removed, removed the LP fuel system, and made up an adapter plate so I could run the engine with a 1BBL carburetor. My neighbor up the road checked it out and bought the engine for his 68 C10. This engine had about 58 hours on it, and he got basically a brand new engine for significantly less than what a crate engine goes for. I would have kept it, but I already have two SBCs in ‘bench stock’
I’m confused. I admit I’m a little behind on FoMoCo tech, but does this little screen do more than indicate a compass direction? If it has multiple uses, why aren’t there buttons for those? And if there aren’t multiple uses, why does it need a button? And if there are multiple uses that are accessed by cycling through button pushes, why does it only say – okay, you get where I’m going, right?
There is a compass in the dash of my 2008 Jeep that tells me the general direction all the time – ever on (at least while the key’s on). No button needed. Enlighten me, please!
The button only had one use, to turn the compass on and off! It’s pretty hilarious, but I like it better than what my car came with: a block off plate.
The reason for a compass on/off button is probably this: older Contis/Mark VIIs had an outside temperature gauge in the same overhead console, but that was phased out for Ford’s 1990s style HVAC panel with an external temperature button. The console had to be redesigned for the new body style, and I guess they ran out of ideas to put up there instead.
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The unobtanium rear window seal for my 1971 Chevrolet Townsman station wagon. I took a trip (on my birthday) to a local junkyard known to have similar cars. Low an behold I found a Pontiac Grand Safari with the same clamshell tailgate design, and an intact window seal ripe for the picking. It’s the only piece of rubber on that car not reproduced and naturally, the one that goes bad on 80% of the cars.
3D printing might be our salvation in the future…especially for small parts (like sunroof glides). I know a guy in Michigan who has something like 8 3D printers in his basement making console trays for Subarus (SubieTrays.com). I’m sure many others exist for these small parts.
I need a console lid for a 1999 ford lariat in tan could your person print one?
I scored an offenhauser 6 pack manifold for my 62 Pontiac Tempest with the 194ci slant 4 at the Moultre GA swap meet back in the day for $60
It was unused and unfortunately still unused when I sold the car.
My best ‘find’ was a 1965 Lincoln hood ornament with her name plate on a marble base. My late aunt gave it to me, knowing how I loved cars. Now if only I could find it!
I recently restored a M38A1 military Jeep (the predecessor to the CJ-5 which came out in ’55) in Air Force markings and decided that it really needed seatbelts.
In the ’50s, few cars had seatbelts, let alone trucks so there was no OEM to go by. I knew with an open cabin, modern seatbelts would look out of place.
Then I thought about the WWII aircraft at the museum I volunteered at. They were pure G.I.: large metal clasp attachments with wide webbing.
A antique aircraft restorer friend gave me one set out of his mountain of parts, the owner of the army surplus store gave me another.
My airplane friend told me about an Wisconsin aircraft supply house which rebuilt belts,they refinished the metal and installed new webbing.
They were great to deal with. Since it wasn’t going in an airplane, I didn’t need the FAA paperwork, so it was a bargain. Just $200 for both sets, about what you’d pay for some plastic thing that looks like it came out of a ’80s Malibu.
Finding the older gas containers always is a bonus. The new ones are both expensive and difficult to manage.
I keep an eye peeled for the old style containers for use with my lawn equipment.
My best find was the tan trim cover for the inside review mirror on my ’81 Corolla. The original was damaged during a police chase when the car got stolen from the original owner’s garage and the thieves put a Honda 3 wheeler in it. I traded a spare blue one for it. Thank you Kevin.
I like the 3D printed cup holders.
Back when “I might need it someday” was a thing, I was trolling the flea market at the annual Stowe Vermont car meet.. looking for Pontiac OHC 6 engine parts. One good ol’ boy asked me if I was interested in a complete engine. ?? how much? $35 BUT, it’s out in the woods and you will have to take it out of a firebird…
Oh yeah… It turned out to be a ’68 high performance Sprint engine, complete from fan to transmission.. The story was that the guy had a garage where he built hot rods and related activity, but it burned. He had no insurance, and just left it there, with the woods growing around and inside the cars. There was no hood on the firebird, and it had burned from the firewall back. One could see the rusting remains of a couple hot rods
in what was left of the garage. My buddy and I built an impromptu 3-pole rig with chain falls and had no
trouble raising the engine complete with bell housing. The problem was pulling the firebird out from under it.
it was sunk in down to the frame, and there was a 1″ sapling that had grown up between frame and engine
block on the carb. side… we broke a couple “come-alongs” before success. We built up a pallet to match
the motor mounts, and skidded same out of the woods on salvaged sheet metal roofing…. Although the
engine was badly corroded from sitting with no hood, it had been well maintained and was in excellent internal condition, with almost new cam/followers/lash adjusters…. The cyl. head is now in a firebird somewhere in France. The accessory drive assembly resides in my 69 Lemans… The power steering
setup [acquired for $25] is in a firebird someplace in Texas… Still have the short block on the custom pallet.
Priceless memories!!
I dont remember exactly when, I think it was around 1998, but I ordered through GM parts the last 82-84 Trans Am hood scoop grill/screen available in the US. I used it to replace the black solid block off piece in the scoop on my 1990 Firebird Formula. I felt like Indiana Jones at the time.
Not a part find – even better at the time. Living on the beach N of San Francisco in ’65 I had my first import – a Triumph Herald. After fighting a frozen brake drum for hours I gave up and took a walk on the beach. At the tide line I found a half-full gallon can of penetrating oil – likely fallen off a passing ship. Saved the day.