How to make your T's worth more money

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2013: How to make your T's worth more money
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By charley shaver on Sunday, November 24, 2013 - 04:57 pm:

This is how I do it.
$325.00 a ton
Charliefreds014


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Will Copeland - Trenton, New Jersey on Sunday, November 24, 2013 - 05:22 pm:

Charley, You gather a ton of Model T parts and I will give you junk price for them


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Fred Schrope - Upland, IN on Sunday, November 24, 2013 - 09:31 pm:

I'd like to know where you get that price. Around here it's about half that for #1 iron.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By charley shaver on Monday, November 25, 2013 - 12:10 am:

that was sometime back, but hang on I will get you fresh load!!!!!charley


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Wayne Sheldon, Grass Valley, CA on Monday, November 25, 2013 - 03:41 am:

I guess it just depends upon what you think history and heritage are worth? Some remnants of model T parts are indeed scrap iron. Somewhere between $3000 for a 40 pound 1909 pan and $200 ton for scrap is the dollar value today. The "value" for getting a feel for history is priceless.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tim Wrenn on Monday, November 25, 2013 - 09:17 am:

around here you can't hardly GIVE it away!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By charley shaver on Monday, November 25, 2013 - 10:14 am:

p.s. t guys walled over that pile for 30 yrs and didn't buy a thing.do you see anything you would have??charley


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jerry VanOoteghem on Monday, November 25, 2013 - 04:50 pm:

"... do you see anything you would have??"

What were you asking?

I'm not saying this is you Charley, but I've seen guys try to sell stuff for years with stupid high prices that wouldn't budge an inch. Then, rather than sell stuff for what it's worth and have it be used, they'll take it all to the scrapper and brag about how if they can't get what they're asking they'll sooner see it scrapped. Kind of a sick outlook on things I think.

But then yes, some things are no longer of any useful value and should go to scrap.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By JAMES STARKEY Naperville, IL on Monday, November 25, 2013 - 05:12 pm:

In September I purchased approx. 1.7 ton of all Model t parts ranging in years from 1913-1923 all stored in a leaking garage.

All I wanted and needed in the entire lot was a very nice set of 5 fully restored de-mount wheels. They were the only item wrapped up and protected. The remainder was mostly rusted, crusted, dirty parts of all categories & conditions from carriage lights that had become cozy mouse condos to a bushel basket chock full of coil boxes and coils, rusty T frames, front axles, rear ends, windshield frames and the list goes on.

I asked if he would please just let me have the wheels and he refused. He said, "Take it all (cash) or you take nothing". I paid $1,100.00 for the lot which was really fair market value I suppose for the five Amish re-built wheels alone.

To date, I have sold only 30% of the better spare parts and made about $1,250.00 profit. That means the wheels were free, I made some money and I still have 3/4 ton of T parts to clean up & sell or use myself later.

PS. Also in the same pile of rusted junk was this early (1920's era?)bead roller with huge fender radius & bead dies. It was covered in rust & grime and wouldn't turn. I probably spent 30 hours restoring it. He wanted it out of his garage too. In the end, I'm glad I took it all!
Cheers! Jimmy


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mack Cole ---- Earth on Monday, November 25, 2013 - 06:01 pm:

Well,charley, gee,just leave truck and trailer to,might make a few more dollars.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By kep on Monday, November 25, 2013 - 06:59 pm:

You asked the wrong people. Overseas swapmeets would buy that.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mack Cole ---- Earth on Monday, November 25, 2013 - 10:17 pm:

Yea,Kep,it is odd,all this stuff is out there,somewhere.
I have hammered out and drove 2 T's out of piles like that and working on a 3rd.
Not all T'r's sit around drinking hot tea bragging about their 2 lever 08's. Or what they got scrap value either.
Some of us have to work with what we can afford.
Have more time than money.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mack Cole ---- Earth on Wednesday, November 27, 2013 - 08:33 pm:

I had a thought today in regards to this thread.
Let's say for a moment a young man inherits his fathers 1909 Model T Ford that had been in the family for many years.It is dusty and neglected. He is debating what to do,sell,fix,or ? He decides he cant fix it but would like to sell it for top dollar to pay his college loan off.

He does a google search to find out how to make it worth more money.What comes up,but this thread showing a load of T parts sold for scrap.And from the way this is written the uneducated would think, "well shucks it aint worth nothing, I will let the scrap man take it" Another T lost.
Is that good for the hobby?
Really?
We know what is in good or fixable condition,but to the uneducated,rust is rust is rust. They have no idea what can be saved or not.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By kep on Thursday, November 28, 2013 - 03:06 am:

What is fixable to me barely casts a shadow in your world and i am not even good at fixing things.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Danial - Veneta OR US Earth Solar System on Thursday, November 28, 2013 - 12:15 pm:

I have bought and sold car parts for 30 years. And every now and then you simply get tired of looking at stuff that just won't sell for whatever reason and you scrap it.

It's a shame really, but the best example I can give is the perfect 50 Buick Fender and trunk (boot) lid I had for years. They were given to me with a pile of other parts. First I tried the classifieds. Then when eBay came along I tried that, repeatedly. Then I tried Craigslist for a couple of years. I started at $100 for the pair and eventually dropped my price to FREE.

I got tired of looking at them and sent them to the scrappers. A shame really.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Chuck Hoffman - Gold Country of Calif. on Thursday, November 28, 2013 - 10:28 pm:

I'm in the same boat with a couple Model A transmissions I've had for over 30 years. After trying all the usual avenues, including buttonholing A owners in parking lots I tried the C-List free department. Not a single call. I figure I've done my best to preserve this stuff, but I see the writing on the wall. Off to the scrap yard they go.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Erik Barrett on Thursday, November 28, 2013 - 10:56 pm:

I have scrapped untold tons of old car parts, mostly T and vintage stuff. Most of it it was unsafe or unusable for some reason. A few months back I scrapped about 70 T crankshafts that failed magnaflux or were undersized. In the same load were a bunch of late cylinder heads no one would give you a dollar for at a swap meet. A bunch of three dip pans that had given their spare parts to rebuild more valuable pans were there too. Rear axle shafts with wasted keyways or other problems, too. Front axles that were welded up and made into trailer axles, T blocks that were cracked, over bored, welded, the list goes on. I will say that a bunch of it was hauled off in my TT dump truck, which didn't seem to mind. There comes a point when it is time to recycle used up T parts because they have less value to T restorers than the scrap yard. If anyone wants to save junk T parts, I'll give them away first, but there are no takers.
Fordially, Erik


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By mike peterson on Friday, November 29, 2013 - 09:54 am:

I'll agree with u, I scrapped 30 tons of T and A parts the past couple months, scrap is low , but the time it takes to move that crap around, bent cracked fenders, rusty axles, junk engines, bad wheels, frames, nobody wants to come and haul it to store them selfs, but want other ppl to. junk is junk


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By kep on Friday, November 29, 2013 - 12:55 pm:

You guys are 'tards.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Danial - Veneta OR US Earth Solar System on Friday, November 29, 2013 - 01:07 pm:

Kep, you should get with your fellow T'ers down there and do like one of the GM clubs do in Europe. They buy US parts from all over the country and have it all shipped to containers on the west and east coasts. When the containers are full they have them shipped.

Once the parts arrive over there, they disperse them to the buyers in the club.

I sold them a pair of 49 Buick bumpers that ended up in their container outbound from San Francisco a few years back.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By charley shaver on Friday, November 29, 2013 - 05:53 pm:

OK !! pigs is pigs so says the railroad!!.so lets let it go! what I would like to know now is who is going to take care of the ts we have now when we old guys are gone??? I don't know anyone under 60 yrs old. oh here is that new load.charleyform pixs


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mack Cole ---- Earth on Friday, November 29, 2013 - 10:34 pm:

Charley, I aint but 46.What I would like to know is why you "old guys" want to make harder on us? You say you want us younger guys to carry on for you,but is this a benifit to that cause?Just makes stuff cost more and harder to find.Is that to the restorers benifit?
Perhaps not this minute,or next year.But a few years from now there will be less to work with.
I have some old parts behind the shed that look rough.But they aint going anywhere unless I use them or someone wants them.
What I cant understand is folks live on farms and large plots of land but a pile of T parts,or other stuff,is just takeing up space and must go. For what,just to have a empty space? Is the stuff eating corn? is it costing you to keep it? Alot of times I think people brag about the fact they have the option to waste and destroy.
.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By kep on Friday, November 29, 2013 - 11:14 pm:

Not sure when you last tried buying metal but it is really hard to get. Particularly brass. When was the last time you saw a brass fire hydrant?
Model T crankshafts have a reputation for being vanadium steel. Think about that. One broken crankshaft with cracks should be easy to make into tools with enough steel left over to whittle a pocket knife out of.
Broken axle shafts would be a similar source of fine workable steel. Who has a forge these days? There was a website i saw once with hobbyist blacksmiths of all ages beating all sorts of useful things from chunks of old steel, Only seems logical that that they would want a snapped in half crankshaft of what was (and probably still is) one of the worlds finest steels to work.
Even the end throw of a broken T crankshaft looks about the right size to machine down to make rear spring perches from.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bob Gruber- Spanaway, Wash. on Saturday, November 30, 2013 - 12:42 am:

I have a nice long pry bar I made out of a Ford driveshaft about 50 years ago.
I think it was a good driveshaft...I just didn't need it but it has been very useful.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By mike peterson on Saturday, November 30, 2013 - 03:50 pm:

You guys that want to save all that old rusty junk, broken cranks, cracked dented fenders, should just haul it home, I will save mine, for u, u pay me scrap price, and haul it away, take it all, bent broken rusty, anybody want that deal?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Clayton Swanson on Saturday, November 30, 2013 - 07:06 pm:

one of my biggest thrills in life has been looking thru old junk pile at farms and such. now, its very hard to find any. junk parts are cash in hand, BUT! thats junk parts not good ones. i know mike, he is a t owner and would know what is any good i dont know mike, maybe he does too, i hope, but the problem is most scrape guys know nothing about antiques in general. just yesterday as a matter of fact i was looking at a junk yard where the owner was cutting stuff up for prepared iron. i noticed an old axle and went to see what it was. a mid 20's overland with that goofy angled spring suspension nothing exciting. it was a home made trailer. as i was about to leave the area i thought the frame pieces (now cut up) looked small like t, not overland, next i see the t rear cross member... but whoa.. its square ! a pre 13 frame freshly cut. whats that worth? i saved the rear member, but all else was now scrape. as i said, thats the problem, most people only see pounds, not parts


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By charley shaver on Saturday, November 30, 2013 - 07:40 pm:

kep! where do you live that you cant get metal. I buy new metal all the time to make gas pump sheet metal. about .40 cents a lb I could bring you a load. mack you are a rare bird. I hate to tell you this but there's not any t parts on the farms. its been 20 yrs .all the old guys have got them all.charley


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mack Cole ---- Earth on Saturday, November 30, 2013 - 08:40 pm:

Well, for me,I know a broken crank is no good.
I know a broken or damaged axle is no good and difficult to repair safely.A block broke in 2 is not much good and so on. I aint quite gone yet mentally :>)


But at the same time,some stuff is repairable that others throw out.
I guess another way to put it,some us have more time than money.Others more money than time.

Sometimes it takes 3 fenders and some welding wire to make a good 1.And even the worst 1's have useable brackets you cant buy.Have you priced a new fender? So in some folks thinking,we are to equip our shops with welders and plasma cutters and air sanders,but then spend a grand on 2 front fenders when a couple afternoons would yeild 2 useable fenders?
That is kinda where I am going.
I have to admit,I cant see making a perch out a broke crankshaft.BUT if I didn't have no other way,I guess I would try it.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Clayton Swanson on Saturday, November 30, 2013 - 09:17 pm:

charley, my personel saying is... there is a model t part on every farm in america. it may on the junk pile in the grove, it may be hanging in the barn, it may be used for a gate latch or a fence post or buried in the dirt but every farm still in 2013 has model t parts untill you scrape guys get there. near me is a farm that has about a half a mile of fence made out of T frame rails. been there 50 years and will be there when i'm dead


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By charley shaver on Saturday, November 30, 2013 - 10:01 pm:

here you will haft to dig deep, china???charley


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Erik Barrett on Sunday, December 01, 2013 - 02:29 am:

A brass fire hydrant? Really? I have seen a lot of brass fire extinguishers but fire hydrants are made of cast iron. Kep is correct about non-ferrous metals being scarce. All of it is being bought up here and shipped to Asian buyers. It is cheaper to buy American scrap than to produce new metal from raw ore. On the other hand, who is going to make a T spring perch out of a busted crank? Few people have the machinery to do it and far fewer T people would buy it at what it would cost as T guys tend to be cheap. I have lots of perches I can't give away. I save the usable ones because sooner or later I will need them. If you have the time to make a pocket knife out of junk T parts you might want to think of more productive things to do with that time. I use my machines and time to make things that can't be had from other sources. It is true that T parts are made of fine steel. I save junk T axle shafts and turn them down into other parts. No one should scrap usable T parts, I don't. The fact remains, however, that not all remaining T stuff is worth saving, and more importantly, some of it is not safe to use. But don't take my word for it, I'm just a 'tard.
Fordially, Erik


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By kep on Sunday, December 01, 2013 - 03:33 am:

How do you have less time to make a pry bar from a snapped axle than it would take to buy one? With a power tool you could grind the broken end in less time than it would take to drive to a town that still has a hardware store.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By kep on Sunday, December 01, 2013 - 04:37 am:

You complain about having too many possessions (is that possible?) and gloat about throwing them away. So hot rodders buy restored cars to ruin because they cannot find frames, yet you throw away frames they would likely buy as they would weld extra bracing in them anyway. Rat rodders buy good cars and pour acid on them and cut holes in the panels to make them look old and rusty because they have trouble finding old ones, Yet you throw away candidate parts matching that description. People wonder why so few new guys are getting into building up old cars from parts yet you throw away 1 speedster project per day from the sounds of it. People post pictures of automotive themed furniture made from car parts and if you have seen what some people pay for interesting furniture on ebay you would think the smart money would be to explore this market niche. Does not seem logical to embrace this throw away society thing that has caused the fall of western civilization in the first place.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By mike peterson on Sunday, December 01, 2013 - 08:18 am:

If u need to buy 3 fenders or even just pay shipping on 3 fenders to make into one, how is that good money spent, if your rebuilding a car into a nice restored car, very few ppl are going to weld 3 pieces of crap fenders into one crap fender. scrapping junk T parts, is not embracing a "throw away society" , its helping a "green society" recycling junk, not throwing it away. and the more u reclaim scrap, the less u are taking from mother earth.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mack Cole ---- Earth on Sunday, December 01, 2013 - 09:07 am:

Mike you are correct in a couple things.But until recently I was able to drive with in about 40 miles from home and pickup fenders and parts from several folks for little or nothing.Most everyone travels a few miles to meet other hobbyist and so forth anyhow.
It is this high dollar scrap trade that has slowly killed local parts sources.
And I can do decent body work when I need to.so when I get done,it aint as crappy as you would think..The 2 fenders on my TT were built from just 2 per side.But they were 10 and 20 dollars apeice.not hundreds
It is called restoring,not buying out of a box.

The folks down under are in bad shape.It cost a mint to get anything thru the gate and the supply is dried up down there.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Michael sharkey on Monday, December 02, 2013 - 12:49 am:

Hey Charlie I'm 15 . I guess you can tell me where that is . Ha ha .


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Spencer Vibert on Monday, December 02, 2013 - 06:13 pm:

Being in CT everyone wants big money for old car parts including t's that's why I look for parts out west because they are a dime a dozen out there and they are in much nicer shape. The other issue I have is age discrimination I'm 16 and some of the older guys will say I won't sell you anything and they hoard barn fulls of parts then when they die their kids or grandkids do the same thing to me and then they turn around and sell it as scrap and those were perfectly good parts I could have put back into cars


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By charley shaver on Monday, December 02, 2013 - 07:53 pm:

Michael!, ha, ha, I will have to have mom & dads ok first.charley


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By charley shaver on Monday, December 02, 2013 - 08:00 pm:

spencer! I don't know where in the west you are getting your parts, but here in the mid-west the old guys have them all. ha ha .charley


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Spencer Vibert on Monday, December 02, 2013 - 08:39 pm:

let me guess one of them is Mark out of model t haven right, no matter he is a good guy with fair prices and he is fun to haggle with


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mack Cole ---- Earth on Monday, December 02, 2013 - 09:59 pm:

Well,Charley,if nothing else, you found out there is some younger folks out here that are still tending to T's and building them.
And I ran into the same mess that Spencer did."you are to young,you're just building a hotrod".
Well dang,either way,the parts are moved,the old pharts would a had a precious dollar they could hoard away and still scream their broke.And the young guys like myself could be using- enjoying the parts.

So what was lost if the old farts did sell some parts instead of hoarding and scraping?
There is a old fellow,about 82 in Monroe NC that has collected old garden tractors and small engines.He is selling some stuff now because the old lady and the kids have hollered they cant wait on him to die so they can scrap everything.
What the dumb@--'s don't realize is the stuff is worth more for what it is than scrap.The real truth is the wife thinks the junk takes his time away from her.So he is selling for dimes on the dollar of what stuff is worth.A couple things he is still dreaming on but most,letting it go cheap.Other old geezers need to do that.Put the stuff back in circulation for what it is not scrap.

And another thing,with China over there fussing about some island, we may regret them getting our scrap.As we may get it back in bombs and bullets.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Charlie B actually in Toms River N.J. on Monday, December 02, 2013 - 10:23 pm:

Lets face it. Stuff laying around out side can become unuseable. You know what I mean. Your looking for a part, come across it in a pile and realise you wouldn't use it even for free because it's so bad. I suppose stuff like that should go. On the other hand: "I'm sick of this crap. I need to clean up. It's not selling". Off it goes. Both sides have a point. You can't argue with either one. You'll find a use for it a week after it's gone but that's another story.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jeff V on Tuesday, December 03, 2013 - 10:31 am:

I'm kind of at the "I'm sick of this crap, I need to clean up" point with a lot of T parts right now, but before I take a load of anything usable to the scrap yard, I'll try and sell it super cheap. There's probably a trailer load going to scrap by spring, but I'll post on here before it goes in case anybody needs anything (front ends, axle housings, spindles, manifolds, a lot of crap that I need to sort through)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Spencer Vibert on Tuesday, December 03, 2013 - 05:58 pm:

Hey Jeff should we give you our lists now? ha ha


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Joseph A. Stearns on Tuesday, December 03, 2013 - 06:29 pm:

Jeff and others with "STUFF" to sell.
It would be nice to know what state you live in so we could see the items. Thanks, Joe


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By john kuehn on Tuesday, December 03, 2013 - 06:40 pm:

I think it all comes down to condition of a pile of parts. Save the usable and scrap the rest. I scrapped a pile of old sheet metal fenders, body metal and etc.
I did save the fender brackets. I am finally getting use to scrapping old parts and not saving it 'just because'.
I have since replaced some of it by waiting till the last day at Chickasha and being given better parts or paying a small price for it so the other guys wont have to haul it home!!
I don't guess the circle will be unbroken. And so it goes.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By charley shaver on Tuesday, December 03, 2013 - 10:46 pm:

spencer! Mark gets all his parts from the old guys, not from the farms!!! Mack three boys isn't going to get.in 30 yrs there will be hundreds of unwanted ts out there who's going to take care of them.charley


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By kep on Tuesday, December 03, 2013 - 11:42 pm:

Sick of people stealing anything metal (Have you seen my bronze boat winch? can't find it...) to swap to invisible fairies for magic crystals that supposedly give them super powers. i am the only one too smart to fall for that. Everyone else said i was stupid but i am too smart to fall for that trick.


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