The welder was $200 and I bought it for a project that made us more in labor than the welder cost (and I should have charged more), so that's not a factor. Also, I am much more of a metal melter than a pro welder. I am getting better, though. You are absolutely correct that deals like I got were rare. I also started building Direct Connection k-members before the was an internet or Schumacher's. If you were going to build something, you had to build it. I'm also cheap.
The speedo and tach were an interesting deal. It would have been nine years ago. I got a call from a guy who I had never met asking if I had any Barracuda parts. I didn't have anything he needed, but then we got to talking about what he had. He's got a 68 Formula S coupe drag car that he had pulled the factory guages out of. So I asked what he wanted for the speedo and if he had a tach. He said $25 for the speedo and that he didn't have a tach. We were on the way to buy my son's Dart convertible when we stopped by Larry's place. He handed me a rough looking cluster and it DID have a tach. I mentioned it and how much more. He said $25 for all of it......
There's a great story behind every unique part in my son's Dart. The build can be traced back to the 69 Super Bee hood with scoops I got out of Turner's Auto Wrecking here in Fresno for the whopping sum of $20 in 1981. I would have given him $100 for it. And, anybody who's ever shopped at Turner's knows that Jerry NEVER gives a smokin' deal.
