Dave's post in another thread below got me thinking about something important we should do, not with reproducing parts but with the hoards of parts that many of us are sitting on.
But there's no telling how many of us are out here sitting on hoards of parts. I just recently finished a 72 Corvette (stoked it got an NCRS Top Flight its first time out in October), but throughout that process I met a whole bunch of people who were sitting on hoards of Corvette parts and would occasionally let some go if they found themselves with extras or found a "better" part while rummaging through swap meets. Sometimes you buy an NOS part, but its not perfect because its been stored in a damp basement or something. NOS often doesn't mean "mint".
I recently got to thinking how many parts might ultimately go to waste too. Sadly, a very good friend of mine who helped immensely with the Corvette project passed away in September unexpectedly of a heart attack. He left a HUGE stash of rare parts as well as four collector cars. He was recently retired and had made a hobby of going to swap meets and looking for rare Corvette parts. Nobody knew when he had passed because his only daughter didn't know his circle of gearhead friends and his phone and computer were locked so she didn't have a way to contact anybody. My brother tried to contact him and eventually after getting worried, found his obituary on a funeral home website two days after the funeral. The funeral home gave him the daughters phone number and we made arrangements to meet with her. We made sure his parts are now safe with a Corvette parts vendor, but it got me to thinking about how many people die leaving a hoard of car parts that the family won't be inclined to do the right thing with. How many would see a bunch of old car parts on a shelf and just throw them in the garbage, the most expedient way to clean things out so they can sell the house and move on? I bet it happens a lot.
So moral to the story, if you are sitting on a hoard of Supra parts, make sure your family knows what you want done with them if something happens to you and leave somebody your passwords and contact lists and very importantly, leave instructions to post something on our forum so WE know what happened to you.
Not lately, but about 15 years ago I stumbled onto a huge hoard. Some newby posted a for sale thread with a mere two lines that said something about miscellaneous parts and gave no details. I contacted the guy and his wife sent me an Excel spreadsheet listing several dozen parts, and most of them quantity of two. Turns out an older guy owned two Supras and planned to restore them one day, but his health had gone downhill and he wasn't going to be able to. Apparently Malloy knew the guy and told him to post here, but I think that was during the time Malloy was between Supras so he didn't buy them (anyone remember Malloy's parts closet?). Anyway, Bill C was in the middle of his stellar restoration and needed a bunch of the parts right away. We pooled our money and sent them, I forget exactly now, but seems like it was between $2,000 and $3,000 for easily at least $5,000 worth of oem parts plus a few good used parts he had collected. We divided the parts between us, Bill finished his restoration and I'm still sitting on my stash. I had also started back in the 90s buying extra bits. Anytime I needed a part for a repair, I'd add a couple of trim pieces or a switch or something to my order. By about 2002, it was hopeless as everything I tried to tack on was no longer available. (Sadly, I kept thinking about getting a spare dash pad, but at over $900 I never pulled the trigger; I finally got a good used one after another 13 years of searching and buying three not so good ones). Hopefully I'll get these parts installed on my Supra before MY health goes. If not, you vultures will have a treat.
But there's no telling how many of us are out here sitting on hoards of parts. I just recently finished a 72 Corvette (stoked it got an NCRS Top Flight its first time out in October), but throughout that process I met a whole bunch of people who were sitting on hoards of Corvette parts and would occasionally let some go if they found themselves with extras or found a "better" part while rummaging through swap meets. Sometimes you buy an NOS part, but its not perfect because its been stored in a damp basement or something. NOS often doesn't mean "mint".
I recently got to thinking how many parts might ultimately go to waste too. Sadly, a very good friend of mine who helped immensely with the Corvette project passed away in September unexpectedly of a heart attack. He left a HUGE stash of rare parts as well as four collector cars. He was recently retired and had made a hobby of going to swap meets and looking for rare Corvette parts. Nobody knew when he had passed because his only daughter didn't know his circle of gearhead friends and his phone and computer were locked so she didn't have a way to contact anybody. My brother tried to contact him and eventually after getting worried, found his obituary on a funeral home website two days after the funeral. The funeral home gave him the daughters phone number and we made arrangements to meet with her. We made sure his parts are now safe with a Corvette parts vendor, but it got me to thinking about how many people die leaving a hoard of car parts that the family won't be inclined to do the right thing with. How many would see a bunch of old car parts on a shelf and just throw them in the garbage, the most expedient way to clean things out so they can sell the house and move on? I bet it happens a lot.
So moral to the story, if you are sitting on a hoard of Supra parts, make sure your family knows what you want done with them if something happens to you and leave somebody your passwords and contact lists and very importantly, leave instructions to post something on our forum so WE know what happened to you.