did you ever get a smokin deal on....

[mean81GT]

did you ever get a smokin deal on a apart, and then feel bad afterward?

reason i say this. I have a t-5 in my garage that has a bent shiftfork. the fork for 2-4-R is bent, making it very difficult to shift into those gears, and you can never do it quickly.

This guy had a 351 W in his truck. Took it out, and wanted to trade me for the bad t-5. he knew it was bad. The 351 is tired, with like 200,000 miles on it. the block has been checked by my machine shop, and the block itself is perfect. only needs a hone, doesn't need to be bored.

the guy traded me the 351W for the T-5! I think that is a killer deal. I felt bad after i did it, but i didn't say anything, and now i have a 351W to build for my car, and it is going to be turbocharged, carb.

anything like this ever hapopen to you guys and gals?

[95mustanggt]

Nope, but as long as you didn't hide anything from this guy you should not feel bad. He made the choice to trade you, so it's not your fault.

Now if you didn't tell him something....

[Mr 5 0]

Fair is a relative term in these instances. If the guy really wanted the T-5 and knew exactly what was wrong with it but chose to make the trade, it's not your problem, assuming the guy has an I.Q. above 70.

When you get into trading and buying & selling car parts, you'll get some sweet deals because you have what the other guy wants or in many cases, guys start 'projects'; get bored, frustrated or just run out of money and are desperate to unload specific parts for cash or space.

On the other hand, you may find yourself making a trade or deal that isn't so great for you because the other person has what you need right now or you just get sick of looking and overpay or make a lopsided trade to get on with the job.

Been there, done that - both ways. My suggestion is to be honest; don't sell crap and try to pass it off as good stuff and once you've done that and the other guy still wants the deal your conscience should be clear, as in the case you mentioned where you got a high-mileage 351 for a not-so-great T-5. No foul.

[PKRWUD]

As Mr 5.0 said, if it was done honestly, than it's all good. Things aren't always as they appear, though.

I had a customer once for whom I built a fast 350 Chevy. He had a junk Muncie 4 speed, and wanted a Rock Crusher. I found one that was complete and rebuilt for $250 down in L.A., and went and bought it. It sounded too good to be true, and it was. He wanted my old Muncie, and $250. I checked his over, and it looked good. There was no shifter attached, so I couldn't run it through the gears, but with the side cover removed, it all looked good. I got it home and went through it, and it was in killer shape. I installed the shifter, and couldn't run through the gears. I couldn't figure it out, and it drove me crazy. I finally discovered that it had a Saginaw shift levers and springs on the inside of the side cover, and they weren't quite long enough. The fix was to get another side cover my customer happened to have in his box of parts, and swap in the correct parts. End result was a great tranny, but getting there took some work. I don't think the guy I bought it from knew what was wrong, but I know he was unable to use it. His rebuilder probably installed the wrong cover, and this guy, not knowing that, just decided to unload it.

You've already done the first logical step, which is having it inspected by a good machine shop. I am suspicious of any engine with 200k miles on it that doesn't need to be bored out, though. The engine would have to be completely dismantled to come to that conclusion, and if they just removed the heads, don't buy what they're telling you. The block needs to be hot tanked and magnafluxed before you drop a single penny into it, and you would be wise to bore it over to fully true up the cylinders (especially if you plan to build a powerhouse).

Take care,
-Chris

[Mr 5 0]

This happens all the time.

Some years back (when I drove a second-generation Camaro) I paid a friend $300. for an M-22 in perfect condition. Why the good price? He was into Turbo Buicks and never owned a Chevy again so he didn't need the trans and wanted it to go to someone who would 'appreciate it'.

I did.

[mean81GT]

i was completely on the level with the guy. he knows everything about the tranny that i do. based on what he told me, he just built another 351W for his truck, and the 351 he pulled out was going to be stored in his garage until it is needed in the future. a friend told him i had a t-5, but that it needed to be rebuilt. he didn't care, and we made the deal for the swap.

i had no plans for the t-5, except to rebuild it in the future to have a spare, and trading him for the 351W was kinda a win-win situation. even if it ended up being no good, i could still take the heads. if it was good, i could build it for the stang.

the guy who hooked us up and i ripped the motor apart, and sent the block, heads, crank, and rods over to our machine shop, and he went through it. he charged me $200, and told me everything was fine, cylinders just needed a good hone. i will probably have him bore it .030 over anyway, the fresher the cylinder the better when you apply the boost.