Cedar Rapids swap meet
 

Well, it is this Saturday and Sunday. I plan to be there Saturday, doubt I will be there Sunday, trying to unload some stuff and make a little money... Anyone else planning to go?

Where is it at? 5 season center?

Hawkeye Downs, it takes up most of the fair grounds...

I am going to go sunday for a little bit...but the girlfriend has a horse show in CR on sunday too..so I better go there when it starts. Can't go saturday though because I have to work...o well..gotta make some dollars I guess. Hopefully find some good deals up there sunday morning.

Well I just got informed that we are going to have our granddaughter this weekend so I won't be able to make it this time.

Well, I'm finally all loaded... gonna be a looong day... Anyone that makes it, look for the poor ol' beat up silver 86 250, white spokes on the rear, silver on front... (in the process of changing rims...)

Coming up at Hawkeye Downs, Cedar Rapids

HAWK-A-Region Spring Swap Meet April 14 2007 8am-5pm
HAWK-A-Region Spring Swap Meet April 15 2007 6am-3pm

I dunno if I'm going to visit this one, either. I went to the one last spring, and there wasn't much for my trucks ('79 F-series) at all and what was there I could get elsewhere for the same or better price, or wasn't such a deal that I had to have it ahead of schedule. I think I picked up a chrome tranny-pan for $20 just so I didn't feel the day was a total loss.

That, and I'm spending WAY too much money at Harbor Freight. ;-)

That new store is handy isn't it?? I know what you mean about the swap meet, they seem to think you will pay the same price there as you can get it from the magazines for, and used parts must have gold in them somewhere... I may try to unload some stuff, but it doesn't look good, bad weekend for me to have that going on...

Either full of gold or found loose in the scrap yard. There were a couple vendors with too many parts labeled simply "Ford", if at all -- it'd be like me taking a box of random parts with a sign saying "I dunno either -- gimme money."

If I'm bored, I'll go wander just to wander.

My coworkers have been talking up Harbor Freight for years, but my only must-have item was a 3-pr set of hose pliers -- man, those are handy. I've since gone way beyond that.

The tools are cheap, no question, My dad is a die hard cheap tool guy, but I'm not overly impressed with a lot of their stuff. They will make the cheap tool guys at the swap meet not do as well though... I am pretty ticked with their professional series tools, they feel good to use, and haven't done the typical flex or bend or break of the cheap junk... some things are pretty handy, other is just junk, just gotta know what you are getting and be prepared to deal with it... I have a lift boom I got from them in my truck, the hydraulic jack part of it made it about 3 times and it cashed out, so I replaced it with an 8 ton bottle jack, and is great now, pretty handy to have. I made one more modification to is, and it is slick as can be to use now.

The more I think I'll use a tool, the more I'm willing to spend on it. Or the more critical it's performance. My hand-tools, for example, are almost all Craftsman -- lifetime warranty, I don't really see the need to spend for the "Professional" series. HF's handtools... well, I needed a stubby 11/16" wrench so I bought the sturdiest looking set to cut one down. Came out ahead on the money, and being shorter, it's less likely to bend. ;-)

Pnuematic tools... they're nice to have. If one breaks out of warranty... big deal. It was cheap -- if it wasn't cheap, I'd've done without. The single biggest purchase was an air-scaler, and if it lasts through three frames, it'll probably sit in the toolbox and get in the way until my executors pawn it off.

Anything weight-bearing, I'm leery of. Winches, hydraulic items... nah. Tends to get really ugly when those things fail. They've got a 2000lb dead-pull winch for $50... um, no.

Cheap swap-meet tools... if they're new, they're the same things as HF, with a lot more difficulty in warranty-service. If they're used... not a big fan of used tools, either, unless they're name-brand.