I know I'm pretty new around here, but I had something I wanted to run by you guys.

I may have gained access to a lot of dentside parts through a local salvage yard. They buy 'old junkers' and crush them. I've talked to the manager and he said if I wanted, he would call me if any old Fords came in. I own three dentsides and I know how hard some odds and ends are to come by. I'm not looking to get rich, but if I were to purchase some of these odds and ends, would any of you guys be interested in buying them? Or would I be better off just E-baying parts? Or is this a bad idea all-around? I don't want to tie up a bunch of money in parts and end up with them rotting.

An example: I've been looking for a grille shell for my '76 Crew Cab. Found one today. I'm getting the ENTIRE grille assembly, a front bumper, and a grille guard for less than $200. One small ding on the grille shell.

Anybody interested or think it's a good idea, or would I just be wasting my time and money? I would LOVE to save some of these parts and have guys put them to use. I hate to see them go to the smelters. Plus, most of these parts would have come from west and central Texas. NO ROAD SALT. What do you guys think?

 

I think thats a good idea,and if anything there could be a 'hot list' of highly sought after parts and what is not worth worrying about.I would think also intakes ang after market gauges that fit our trucks would be good to have

 

Well it's up to you in the end. From my experience, here's what I would call a hot to warm list (in no particular order)

West coast mirror brackets - three-legged and two-legged
West coast mirror heads
"Sport Mirrors"
Cherry grill shells
Super Camper Special emblems
Trailer Special emblems
All good to mint emblems
XLT glove box emblem
XLT grill shell emblem
Hood ornaments
Race track mouldings
Tail light moulding bezels and tailgate trim
OEM push bars
OEM dual battery systems
OEM door speaker wiring harnesses
OEM CB radios
Contour bumper license plate light pigtails & light caps
Contour bumper brackets, rear
Contour bumper outer brackets, front (from what I have read, VERY rare)
Tailgate decor panels
OEM door panels and trim
Chrome headliner mouldings
Uncracked 73-75(?) early steering wheels
OEM gauge clusters (no idiot lights)
Sport steering wheels
Chrome wheel well mouldings
OEM hubcaps (2WD and 4WD)
Bushwacker cut-out fender flares (No longer offered by Bushwacker)
76-79 integral steering box, drag link, & tie rod
FE PS pulley
FE PS brackets
Aftermarket valve covers
Autolite 2100, Autolite 4100, Holley 1850, and Edebrock carbs
2bbl EGR carburetor plate
90-degree FE oil filter housing from 4x4s
FE clutch bracket, engine-side
FE driver's side exhaust manifold

... that's all I got off the top of my head at the moment.

EDIT: Decent to exellent beds for the guys in the salt belt!!!

 

My first decision that I would make would be"can I do this and make it worth my while". I guess its one thing to be retired and do it for a little extra income but it's another to make a living.
I dont think your motives are to put food on the table though. I do something similar for a living so I would look at "cost + time to remove parts and box them up + boxes and packing materials...now we have to look at market prices and what we can get for our time and effort.

Honestly, I would love to do this for fun. I would gladly fill up my property with old Ford's and part them out to the folks who love them.

I would,and it's just a guess, for my neck of the woods that those parts would fetch about $280-300 if the ding was not there and it was a factory grill gaurd.

If you decide to do this I would make you my "go to guy" for sure. Oh yeah, I need racetrack molding for both front fenders and they dont even need to be perfect.

Watch the prices on those beds...seems not too many want to pay what it takes to get a rust free one up North. Got to get them pretty cheap. Like $200 your cost because it's going to take 3-400 to get one up here. Probably more.

 

HIO, the drivers side exhaust will fit pass side also, correct? Its the much better design as well?

 

Hmm... I don't know about that . There were some posts a while back that, for whatever reason, a good the driver's side FE exhaust manifold is harder to find than the passenger side.

For example, take my new-to-me 70 Bump with a 360FE - it has a cracked driver's side manifold. Kinda ironic ain't it? As luck would have it, I installed headers and a dual exhaust on my 73 and have a 'spare' in the parts bin.

 

great idea, if you come across two front hubs with rotors for a 77-79 f250 4x4 (Dana 44), come up with a price.

 

I can attest to this. I've seen some beds go for as much as $2000 up here... JUST THE BED...

I however, am not willing to pay much passed $800 Canadian for a bed WITHOUT rust.

That being said, I'd be willing to take a bed off of someones hands if it could get shipped to me... but that's just the problem... shipping costs an arm, a leg, another leg, a first born child, and then maybe a little off the top...

If shipping were dirt cheap, guys like me up here in the rust belt would have you fellas down there rolling in dow because we'd have consistent orders for you to fill!!

Not a lot of folks want to ship stuff to places they've never heard of before.

How many of you have honestly heard of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada? Not a lot I'm guessing. Maybe if you've seen my personal info before, but other than that... we're unheard of!

 

I'm up in oregon, and would just about kill someone for a (semi)cherry 76-79, dual gas door bed.... I'd even consider driving a couple states to pick one up.

 

If you can get me a set of good green door panels and a good black horn bar for my 79 I'd buy them from you. As for things you can look for...any good green interior parts. The aftermarket suppliers have completely neglected the green interior.

 

You've noticed this too?

I was wondering why the heck the suppliers are hating on the green, orange and a few other colours...

They say that they have the largest selection of OEM parts and stuff, but their colour selections for some of the rare-er colours really sucks...

 

Where abouts are you located VocaTX? I'm in central TX and can't find $#!t at the junkyards or anywhere else locally really. Most don't carry anything past 1985 or so. So you'd have a customer in me for sure. I think with all the people on here plus locally that need parts it would be worth your while.

 

Thanks for the input, guys. I'm going to go ahead and see what I can scrounge up. I ranch for a living, and I've got a side business too, so this can't be my main focus, but it's something I've thought about for a long time. I drove by that scrap-metal yard one day and saw a dent-side crew cab on top of the crush pile and nearly cried.

I've got some connections in the area I'll start working. I live in the country between two towns and I know the owners of the wrecker services in both. I have relatives in another town about 50 miles away, and am friends with the chief of police in another. I've already talked to one of them. With the big push to crush older vehicles the last year or so, I'm hoping that there are still enough left around to make a difference.

My main focus had been on interior and grille parts, along with badges and chrome, since a lot of them are hard to find or really expensive when you find NOS or reproductions. When it comes to the bigger stuff like body parts, I'll have to check on shipping and see how expensive it is.

This might be a dead-end, but I'm going to pursue it for now. When/if I dig something up, I'll post in here and let you guys know.

Sleepy, I'm over near Brady (Voca is 15 miles south-east of Brady). I used to drive by Axtell on my way to Tyler when I was trucking. I used to see lots of dent-sides in the Waco area. I guess the 'cash for clunkers' crap put an end to a lot of them.

 

You mean you noticed that blinking yellow light that is my hometown? lol There are a few dents left running around town, mostly old beaters driven by older fellows. I've only seen 1 other 4x4 around town.
Cash for clunkers has taken its toll. Whats worse is my best friend works crushing cars. I ask him all the time if they crushed anything good and am always saddened by the answer. I mean they could make a LOT more money if they parted some of them out or just put them up for sale, but his boss isn't interested in any of that. Last week he told of a 65-67 fairlane that had fair interior, perfect straight body with very little rust, that still ran....crushed. One of many.

 

i would be willing to buy the stuff that mounts the spare tire under the rear gas tank....mine was all rusted and missing parts, so im riding around without a spare...i would love to have a spare just in case...if you could get all the stuff that mounts the spare under there, that would be awsome...mine is a 79 f100 longbed with the 19gallon rear gastank. If you get it, please let me know