How long have you been collecting parts?

[Shoooter]

Over the years I have seen some good parts collections. One that I seen was probably 7000sq ft and he had other buildings. How old were you when you started stashing parts away. I'm fairly young and newer into the game than alot of you guys and I am in envey of what you have. Most people couldn't afford to purchase a collection like that in today's market. Feel free to post pictures of what you have seen. Leave names out if you wish.

[JS29]

Scents I was a teenager, probably 45 years. 

[RUNCHARGER]

45 years. Selling parts now is more trouble than it's worth though and I rarely waste my time. About 5 years ago I had 2 semi trailer loads that I mostly scrapped. If I lived in the U.S. I could sell them every day but not up here in Canada with shipping and customs hassles.

[JS29]

45 years. Selling parts now is more trouble than it's worth though and I rarely waste my time. About 5 years ago I had 2 semi trailer loads that I mostly scrapped. If I lived in the U.S. I could sell them every day but not up here in Canada with shipping and customs hassles.

 

[js27]

About 30 years and sold 2/3's of it last year.
JS27

[Chryco Psycho]

I have been collecting all of my life , mostly for work though so I could build engines & do 4 spd swaps etc .
so to add a timeline I like started collecting parts in 77 when I bought my Challenger R/T 440 4spd 

[RUNCHARGER]

I didn't scrap any primo parts, a lot of it was for sweptline trucks and things like 383 torsion bars, WP housings, 906 heads, 383 and 440 intakes, leaf springs etc. Still good stuff when you have to look for it building a car. Also I sold a nice 70 Challenger quarter including wheelhouse that I wouldn't have let go if it wasn't for AMD.
Parts are fun to collect but not fun if storage is a problem or if you move.

[Flatdad]

I'm not old, but I've been doing the 'Mopar' thing for about 12 years now. In that relatively short time I've learned that having more parts than you can use & having your workspace full is NOT something to envy. I sell or scrap what I don't have plans to use to keep my parts piles as lean as possible. I promise you get a LOT more done when you don't have to work around junk stored on the floor/walls/shelves & can focus on what you're doing now, instead of worrying about stuff you might use someday.

A great example, I've had an entire rust free car roof in my garage for the last 2 years that's been in the way taking up time & space to work around it. I hope to finally be ready to use it this year. It was $250 cheaper than an AMD skin, but in retrospect, I would have rather not bought it & spent the extra money for the skin to save the time & space it cost me to keep it over the last 2 years.

[jt4406]

I've been collecting and using parts for about 40 years. Initially it was only for my own use, and for friends who were building cars to "hotrod".  I'm so old I can remember when extra parts flowed freely (no money or obligation required or expected) between friends. But about 20 years those same "friends" began to take advantage of others, scarfing parts for free to build a car just to sell and put the money in their pocket.  That was when I shut the pipeline off.  I have no other hobby and was seeing the good parts start to dry up, so I put up a building and started stocking it with whatever good stuff I could find, so I would have it for later use myself. I may never live to use it all, (though I have it all earmarked for one project or another, I have 6!) AND it will be a great score for someone if something unexpected happens to me, the wife and kids can't readily identify most of it, so it would get sold for cheap. But I have working material for enough future projects to outlast me.  Just my .02

jt

[RUNCHARGER]

Yup: Nothing beats that feeling of giving or selling for a very good price a rare part and then seeing your "friend" sell it or the "car he always wanted" within a month.

[JH27N0B]

I've collected parts for over 30 years, however the time I was actively chasing parts is behind me.  That started 20+ years ago when I started gathering parts for my T/A restoration.  I bought and sold and traded a lot over a 15 year period.  Now days I'm conflicted between keeping things I "might need someday" and clearing clutter out of my house.
It's amazing how much one can collect over a lifetime.  I've got an around a 1400 sq ft house and 700 square foot garage on a 45'x135 ' lot.   I've got among other things, 5 cars, car parts, several hundred plastic and die cast model cars and trucks, dozens of beer and automobilia signs and related trinkets, guns, fishing gear, a small library's worth of car, gun and aviation magazines and books, tools and more.  Other than 1 car, nothing is stored away from my house.
When my dad passed away 7 years ago at age 83, he had 5 storage units, and 2 bedrooms and close to half the basement full of stuff mostly related to his ham radio and gun collecting passions at my parents 4 bedroom house.
Fortunately the guns and related were worth a fortune, and selling the collection funded my moms comfortable retirement in an expensive assisted living place, but nevertheless it was a big burden getting rid of everything.  Up to including having a big dumpster in the drive for a while.
It's fun collecting but at some point one needs to pare down!

[cuda hunter]

I started collecting mopar parts around 15 years ago.  So they have always been expensive for me.  I've never seen mopar parts at "good" prices.  Once I realized that the prices were going up, 2006, I just tried to get my hands on the hard to find stuff.  Can't say I've got much by any means.  I've been trying to put together an original red interior for just about that full time and still don't have a complete cuda set up. 
  I'm always looking for stuff.  I think the cheapest 71 grill I have ever purchased was 2400 bucks.  I'm quite envious of you guys that have awesome collections. 
  Ole Mopar Al gave me some pretty good hook ups on some pieces.  Was really cool how he just gave me the friendly discount and it really helped me on several projects now. 

  I know of a collection of 3 semi trailers full of mopar parts in Florida that I would love to go take a look at and try to give a price on everything but of course I found out about this just before our country was shut down.  Makes it difficult to buy "stuff".

[Topcat]

I used to go to this place in Milpitas called E & H auto wreckers.

I was out there almost every week-end I could go.

[1 Wild R/T]

Yup: Nothing beats that feeling of giving or selling for a very good price a rare part and then seeing your "friend" sell it or the "car he always wanted" within a month.

BTDT list of real "Friends" gets shorter...

[70 Challenger Lover]

I collect things I think are gonna climb in value then look to sell them as soon as I can to turn a profit. I've been able to finance most of the last two restoration projects that way.

Truthfully, I can't see collecting a barn full of parts because when I get hit by a bus someday, my family is going to get a roll off and dump every dirty old car part in there. I've heard of a lot of valuable car part collections getting hauled off by the metal scrappers. I shudder to think of the 340 hp manifolds and six pack intakes that have been hauled off to the recyclers. That's probably why it's all become so scarce. Either sitting in storage never to be used or hauled off for scrap when the owners die.