About 9 months ago I did a complete suspension makeover on my 69. I did new Rear upper and lower control arms, new rear shocks and springs, Front A arms with new shocks and springs. Also new front and added a rear sway bar. Mostly UMI stuff and some Currie Products.
Well my originals have been sitting on the floor of my shed ever since. A couple times I thought about taking them to work and throwing them on the scrap steel pile. Then I thought I should keep them as I will kick myself some day if I pitch them. Couldn't see me ever going back to originals. So pitch or keep for eternity?
keep keep keep..how much are nos 1/4ers ??..keep em till you sell or retire..you just never know...now that ham that's at the bottom of the freezer since 2008..ya that can go !!!!!!
Well they are not rusted, cracked or bent but they are 47 years old so they would most likely look old compared to new or reconditioned of the same. I would say the bushings that are in them are dried and somewhat cracked as can be imagined but would be worse on a neglected car.
I keep a spare set of front control arms and just knock in new ball joints and bushings when I have a few extra bucks or placing a order for other parts and keep them on the shelf. When you drag home a new project or decide to rebuild the front end on a car, having the arms done makes the rebuild go that much faster.
I did find a guy that needed a lower control arm the other day. Jim
I personally would not just toss them. I would either keep with the car for that someday when your done with the car. Or I have personally done very well at swap meets with a lot of my take off parts, and pieces I'm not using anymore. Get a buddy to split a spot with you at a good local swap meet. Load up one vehicle, and make a day of it. It's only going to cost you a days time, and maybe $20. Then you come home with less stuff and some cash for the next project! I've had lots of good times doing this, always some good laughs at swap meets.
Springs and shocks are normal wear parts so they get tossed. Sway bar is sometimes missing on project cars so I kept mine. I have a space between my fence and the neighbors fence I toss all my used metal parts. One day I was planning on welding up some yard art like ive seen at some art fairs. Jim
LOL I've been kicking around the same thing, but just listed them on craigslist and will put on ebay tonight. Mine are all rebuilt at least with new ball joints/PST polygraphite bushings, blasted and painted...couldn't just toss them. Worse case Ill put then in the attic above the garage and forget about them, tired of them taking up space as it is though.
List them for sale and at least get a few bucks for them. Even if you don't get much, makes a better case to the wife next time you drop the big bucks on more new parts
Well I already picked up and put away the original rear up and low control arms, the front A arms and the sway bar. Tossed everything else. Most likely will stay on the shelf for ever. At least I have them if someone else needs them or maybe for another car someday. I guess I am on a 1-10 ratio on the items I've kept as far as reusing something. Seems most items get put in permanent storage.
If you want them to go to good use and If the uppers are 10 1/4" center to center and for 12 bolt I need a pair, I also need a pair of lower boxed for my 72 I am restoring back to original! Mine are all rusted and pitted BAD!
I would sell them...anyways like you said, you "can't see yourself ever going back to the originals", so SELL 'EM!:yes: and by the same token, earn a few extra bucks.:thumbsup: I learned that a long time ago that after a year of having something stored, if you did not use it, get rid of it 'cause if you keep storing everything you're not using, after a while you'll have so much stuff piled up that you won't know where to start or where to look to find something…but please…don't do like "Jim Mack" :noway: and throw them between your fence and the neighbour's fence because it's a form of pollution and in 20 years from now, it'll still be there . If you're going to do that, then take them to a metal recycling facility.
I threw my front upper and lower control arms with drum spindles into my dad's scrap metal pile on his farm a long time ago after he complained about tripping over it in his shop. The stuff in the scrap metal pile mostly gets used for different stuff on the farm, but every now and then, if things get slow, he will haul some old junk off and fill it up with the scrap pile stuff for weight. Anyways, a couple years after I threw that stuff in the pile, he was making a run, and he called me to see if I was sure I wanted to scrap that stuff. At that point, I didn't realize how many people look and want all original. I went with all new stuff from Mark over at SC&C, and there is no way I could save all the stuff I pull off of different projects. Heck, my car didn't have the original motor/trans in it when I bought it, and even if it had, it was originally a malibu. It will never be numbers matching anything. I got my dad to leave the parts, and I ended up parting it all out on craigslist and ebay. Like others have said, there are still a lot of people who still want or desperately need it to make their factory stuff work. I will never forget the guy who bought my front drum brake backing plates. I didn't get a whole lot for the set, maybe 30 bucks, but they were blasted clean and looked really good. He was putting them on another gm car, but he was saying how hard it was to find them in good shape. His looked bad, and he was so happy to find a good set. It is situations like that that made me never want to scrap anything in these cars away. My car is a 68. I will keep parts if I feel there is a remote chance I will ever use it again, but I will sell stuff in a heartbeat. It is nice to make a little cash/declutter, and it is just as nice to help someone find the obsolete parts they need.
I never have a use for stuff until the day after I get rid of it.
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