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Oh, the joys of unpacking tote after tote of parts.  It's actually fun, but sooner or later, the parts must be listed and sold, and to do that, I must first determine what they are, what they fit, and what condition they are in.  Sometimes this is easy, sometimes not so much.  It can be time consuming, but it's an important step.  Inaccurate descriptions, whether intentional or not, lead to a customer getting a part that was not what he or she believed they were buying, which in turn can result in the very least a return and a refund....

Up until now, this website and related Ebay store has been a part time endeavor.  I've been selling on Ebay for 18 years, and selling classic car parts for the last three.  I started Andrew's Automotive Archaeology in 2014 to start moving away from Ebay as my sole selling platform. My day job involved a lot of traveling, and my aim was always to build this up to the point where I can let the day job go and stay home a lot more. Two weeks ago, I left my job of 17 years, and am now pursuing this full...

After 60 years in business, Little Dearborn Parts is closing its doors and selling its inventory via online auction.  Auctions are occurring in rounds of 700-1500 lots about 2 weeks apart. So far, I have purchased four truck/trailer loads, with the parts filling close to 100 27 gallon plastic totes.  So far I've brought one load of 45 totes down from Minneapolis to Memphis (a distance of around 900 miles) and still have a number of lots left on the site that I will be getting this weekend.  I'm glad my dad is letting me store some in his garage...

The last lot, discussed in the previous post, contains at least a half dozen distribution containers full of engine parts.  Since my day job requires me to travel, I often have lots of free time, so on this last trip I brought a couple of containers full of engine valves.  They were all in boxes of 2-12 valves, and had manufacturer names and part numbers.  Piece of cake.  Just look up the part number on the internet and get the application, right?   Wrong!   One container had boxes of valves from four different companies - Thompson Products, Sealed Power,...

I came across a bunch of parts for sale in Nashville, mostly name brand replacement parts, all still new and mostly in original boxes.  It amounted to a pickup and cargo trailer load with the back seat of my trusty F150 super crew full to the top along with the bed and a 4x6 trailer.  I recognized a few parts such as a head and copper gasket set from a Pontiac straight eight, which would have been 1930s most likely.  So I knew there were going to be some old parts.  That's the fun part about this job - digging...