"Great to hear that his mind was still there and that nobody could diddle him with the prices of his stuff. There's a few guys in our area that's around that vintage and talk about sharp"
Thanks for the kind words. We were contacted by a man looking for information about an engine - we had the original engine he was looking for and sold it to him.
When he came and picked it up and got a tour of the place he about fainted. He was respectful and made the connections that led to the sale of everything. He never hid the fact that he was going to make money on the deal.
The buyer spent 5 days at our place and always told my Dad what he was going to sell each part for. Nothing hidden, nothing underhanded. My Dad appreciated that.
Once the final price was agreed to I about fainted. He paid, the check cleared, and he sent a crew to load everything up. They took EVERYTHING! 4 full shipping containers full.
After it was over I thought my Dad might be upset. He sat in his wheelchair in the middle of the empty shop and belly laughed. He pointed out that he had sold one carburetor for more than the car it fit on sold for new.
I asked him if he was going to go out and collect more parts. He said "F*ck No. Glad all of the sh*t got gone". That is about as nostalgic as I ever saw him get
He left us 2 Mustang convertibles and a enough parts to put them together. My kids and I are having fun.
Paul
That's awesome when a car and its original engine can be reunited, just something about reconnecting what it came from the factory with, something I'm still hoping can be done with my project car.
I know exactly how that guy felt about walking into your dad's "Aladdins" cave and seeing such treasures. I had a customer about 25 years ago that would go on about his collection of rare Ford performance parts. I thought he'd have basically nothing as he liked to spin a yarn. To say I was surprised to see what this guy had in his sheds is an understatement, blown away comes close. My lord stuff I'd only read about in books from the US and stuff I never thought would've been brought into Australia by Ford, nothing like your dad had, but impressive none the less. A lot of rare NOS stuff like 427 & 302 T/P heads, Boss blocks, experimental intakes and exhaust headers, carbs, ignition systems, you name it he basically had it. Then the used factory stuff was just as, if not more impressive, including aluminium blocks and heads, including Cleveland, even had stuff that was never to leave the factory unless going to the tip. I was in my own "Wonderland" lol.
I would've been just like this guy except knowing my luck, I wouldn't have fainted but would've had a heart attack and not been able to appreciate and taken in what I'd just seen. Gee 5 days, I could only imagine what was hiding in that "Alladins" cave. The big stuff is easy, but when get into all the smells is what takes the time. That plus wiping up the drool all the time, I would've been like Homer Simpson thinking of donuts. As I said nothing wrong with making a buck, but when people are sneakily trying to take advantage of and rip people off is what I hate. The fact that the guy who bought all of your dads stuff being upfront about it is to be applauded, as most people just BS to make themselves out to be a great guy and once they've got the stuff and leave, only then do their true colours show.
Gees 4 shipping containers, I can only imagine what great stuff was hiding in amongst it all. As I said the big stuff is easy to see, but the small stuff would've been amazing also. It sounds like your dad was glad it was finally gone, but I suspect there would've been some regrets deep down, especially being a life times of work and memories both good and bad leaving him, from an era that will never ever happen again as we all need to be saved from ourselves. There would've been a story he could've told behind every part in there. I know myself when I thought I'd had enough of racing and cars (how stupid) and sold off most of my stuff (mainly Cleveland) I was telling everybody that I was glad it was gone and now I had some space back, but deep down it killed me when some of the parts walked out the door as there were certain memories or story that went along with them. The best thing I'd tell myself is, it's now helping somebody else out now and the parts are back where they belong, in somebody's vehicle. It wasn't anything like your dads stuff, in fact probably would've been flat out filling half a container, lol.
It was a great thing he did for you selling his collection of some very rare Ford performance stuff and knowing what it was really worth and not leaving the burden with the family on trying to work out its real value, or selling too cheaply. As I said I've been called in to help people out with values and some are like are really sure it's worth that, or I don't think we'll get that for it and so on. I like to tell them what a top dollar value is, but will take a while to sell, a decent price that won't take as long to move, or a fair price that will sell fairly quickly. More times than not they just want it gone quickly, so they can get the estate cleaned up and put on the market. Sometimes it's the total opposite where they want every last cent they can get, then wonder why it takes so long to steel stuff. I've managed to pick up some stuff for myself I've needed, but always pay them a good price for it even if they tell me I can have it for helping them out. I'm more into seeing what's hidden on some of these old properties more than anything.
Well the verts he left you and your boys will be a great way of honouring him as well as being cool to cruise around in. As you already know there's so much knowledge and people to help you on this site to get your verts back into service. All the best with it all.
for years I have kept in contact with the owner of this engine. he said he is willing to sell his 427fe engine. his father built the engine over 30yrs ago. he turns the engine twice a month. he asked me to make a fair offer on it. he has no idea what its worth. I am not sure what I could offer on it. any ideas?
