Anyone have stories?
I have a few, but the most recent is here. (Sorry if this sounds like gloating, but i'm ecstatic over this one. 
)
Was idly looking for an exhaust for the Deathscort, since i wasn't psyched about trying to track down a real performance exhaust shop around here.
Ran across a lightly used Corksport Power Series exhaust.
http://www.corksport.com/corksport-power-series-exhaust-system.html
Seller wanted $200 shipped, which i was ok with, since i was looking at the Corksport unit new anyways, and just having someone connect my headers to the cat-back.
This is what showed up:
I am happy. 
How'd YOU make out like a bandit unexpectedly?
PS: Let me know if the pictures work...
Pics are up, and SCORE.....
classic guy thing to lay it out inside the house. "honey, at least I put a towel down on the carpet"
GREAT Deal for you!
pete240z wrote:
classic guy thing to lay it out inside the house. "honey, at least I put a towel down on the carpet"
GREAT Deal for you!
Hah! SHE actually got sick of me trying to fit it all in the kitchen, so she put the towel down.
I got a new grease stain the other day on the berber carpet in my home office and I blamed my wife that those crappy Bissell Carpet Cleaning wipes her Aunt gave us are crap and it's all her fault.
I got some free magnets from rock auto to put on the fridge.
the MGB GT I bought for $100 came with a spare running engine and an overdrive transmission
VW Scirocco Steering column joint for a manual rack. $45 shipped to my door.
These things are made from pure unobtanium it seems. I was pleased.
I still miss the free candy from Parts4VWs.com
Edit: I just found out that the above parts house has returned and brought the M&M's with them! Oh Joy! (they had closed down sometime last year)
The only time I got a pleasant surprise was when Amazon sent me an extra spark plug for my Speed3. To be fair, plugs for the Speed3 are expensive!
my Ti is running a Bilstien PSS9 coilover kit that I picked up on ebay for about $500... it was complete and never installed. Guy had it listed as a PSS system (non-adjustable, as if that means anything with bilstiens)
Alright.... are you all ready to hate me again?
Mazda KLZE (a REAL one). When i agreed to buy it, my only stipulation was that it had to run well, bottom end intact. Seller says it did, i trust him.
$500.
Here's where it gets interesting...
Turns out the motor has less than 20k miles on a FULL rebuild, and that it also has KLDE valve springs and retainers to prevent the "ZE" dropped retainer issue that will sometimes happen at extended high rpms useage. Also has the japanese market KLZE distributor on it, which is the best one to use with an external coil for a 110% bulletproof setup.
I am happy again.
I bought a late chrome bumper MG Midget with no engine to get a "ribcase" transmission and disc brakes for my '62 Sprite restoration. It seems that 2 brothers were restoring it jointly. The one tasked with powertrain had spent a gazillion bucks building a monster motor, while the guy on chassis drank beer and occasionally went on a guilt-fueled shopping spree for parts. The car, which had a hard top, was full of boxes of new parts. FULL.
I brought it all home, stripped what I wanted, kept all the new stuff, sold the remains at a profit, sold the hard top to triple my profit, and continued work on the Sprite.
Months later the guy I'd bought it from - "chassis guy" - called asking for me to come collect the engine, which his brother had left in his driveway. He wanted to get his Morgan out of the garage and it was in the way.
I explained I'd already finished my 948 motor, had 2 1100 motors and needed no more. He offered that his brother had "spent a lot of time and money on this one" and that I'd really best come get it. I countered that I was broke. "Please just come get it".
I did.
Turned out it was a fully machined block and a desirable head casting number. New Vandervell tri-metallic bearings, blueprinted rods, balanced reciprocating assembly, new valves, forged pistons, megadyne 266 cam, a Weber downdraft kit, a race recurved mechanical advance 45D distributer, and on and on and on. Boxes and bins and boxes of stuff.
Needless to say I packed up the 948, went through the big motor, installed it and never looked back.
Bought a bunch of Porsche 924 performance parts from an enthusiast who was getting out of the cars.
Picked up the following:
Integral Stage 2 cam (New in the box)
MSDS header (lightly used)
Complete exhaust system
Sidedraft Weber intake manifold
Mildly ported cylinder head
All for $300 The cam alone is worth nearly $350.
A friend agreed to load it on his trailer on his way back from California. I bought him dinner.
Before that I bought a complete set of TWM Induction sidedraft throttle bodies that someone had listed on eBay in the wrong category. I think I paid maybe $400 for them. They MSRP'd for nearly $2000 back then. I did just see a set on eBay go for less than that recently, but at the time I was pretty stoked :)
The Franco Automatically adjusting cam gear (think poor man's VTEC) was another $300, but is very rare and was a birthday present to me from the Fiance.
So for a little more than $2000, I have this:
i've been on both sides... when moving out of cars I would sell a car or something and toss a grab bag of parts along with it... did the same thing when I sold my motorcycle and my paintball stuff (randomly toss bits into the packaging)... heck I think I gave away 1/2 a bike when I sold a bike... also tossed in a car rack and some other stuff... on a $100 something bike (granted it was an '88 GT avalanche... 1st year of the triple triangle i'd modified for commuter duties but had a ton of classic high zoot parts and biopace rings ;-)...
Not me, but the PO of my turbo FC got a pleasant surprise when the engine arrived from JDM-land: It had a very strong, very stiff, and very expensive OS Giken racing clutch already installed.
neckromacr wrote:
VW Scirocco Steering column joint for a manual rack. $45 shipped to my door.
These things are made from pure unobtanium it seems. I was pleased.
I still miss the free candy from Parts4VWs.com
Edit: I just found out that the above parts house has returned and brought the M&M's with them! Oh Joy! (they had closed down sometime last year)
I don't have a Dub anymore, but still glad to hear.
Mike Potter is a great guy, super friendly, and more than willing to spend 20 minutes talking to you after buying a $10 part. He also gave me a thrilling ride around CA Speedway in his STi years ago.
