Congratulations on your find !
Reminds me of something similar which happened back in January 1993 :
The local --and now defunct :sad4: -- Chrysler Specialist repair shop (owned / operated by former Los Angeles Assembly Plant , Santa Fe Springs Prep Plant , and Emissions Lab employees) had a bulletin board with ads posted on it.
One of the ads was for a "
1969 Dart GTS 440 . Originally a 340 model , now has a 496 Big Block , Art Carr 727 , barely-streetable cam profile , 11:1 compression [ ... ]
in La Habra Heights , $1,000 OBO ."
Naturally , we thought the asking price was a typo ; but after a day or two , my friend called the number from the ad ...
... the asking price was right : one-thousand dollars !
Upon arriving to the address in La Habra Heights -- a wealthy area in L.A. County , near Whittier -- we were greeted by the resident / car owner , a super nice Armenian gentleman , the car's original owner / builder .
The $1,000 was no big deal to come-up with , so after a quick inspection and registration verification (replete with a "legitimate" smog inspection pass ... ha ha ha ...) , the papers were signed .
Then , as I was perusing the A2 Silver 1973 340 Duster parked under a tree (a real sleeper in itself : deluxe wheel covers , stripe delete , etc.) and sipping on the home brewed iced tea provided by the cars' owner , he says to my friend and myself :
"
I see that you drove here in a truck ; that's a good thing , as you needed something to haul the rest of this car's parts home . Follow me to the shed around here ... "
He slides the shed door open , and we're looking at a gang of big block , Hemi , Direct Connection / Hustle Stuff parts , plus the Dart's original 340 / 727 (and , the engine was red , as the car was built in Sept '68 in L.A.).
He says : "
See all of this big block stuff ? Take it all with you . I'm done with big blocks ; it's just taking-up room ... "
:shock::shock::shock: :shock::shock::shock: :shock::shock::shock:
So , for $1,000 , my friend drove away with not only a violently-quick and fast big block '69 Dart , but also :
- 2 virgin 440-HP blocks (1968 and 1971 casting dates ;blank vin pads)
- 1 virgin 383-HP block (1969 casting date ; blank vin pad)
- 3 NOS "Hustle Stuff" 440 cams (copyright 1970 on box)
- 1 box of Direct Connection 426 Hemi rocker shafts and arms
- 4 different AVS carbs
- 3 sets of heads ( four 906 heads , two 452 heads ; all virgin pieces)
- 2 uncut steel cranks ( one 383 , one 440 )
- bunches of other random parts and hardware
I still can't believe it !
The deals
are out there . It's just a matter of "right place , right time" .