High Priced NOS 59-60 items

[76eldo]

Do you guys remember a few years ago someone paid $10,000 for an NOS set of 59-60 Eldorado/Fleetwood hubcaps that were new in the boxes?

Would an NOS set of 3 Tri Power Carbs as a set be worth the same?

Brand new in Rochester Boxes?

What do you think?

Brian

[gary griffin]

My guess would be YES if the manifold and linkage were included??

[Barry M Wheeler #2189]

What the heck, Brian, give it a try. Except that your wife might expect that kind of return on all your parts in the future. Keep us posted.

[Walter Youshock]

I wouldn't expect them to actually work and I'd never trust the original gaskets.  They'd have to be rebuilt for reliability.

Tough decision to even mount them on a car.  Once installed, they're no longer NOS...

[Blade]

I wouldn't expect them to actually work and I'd never trust the original gaskets.  They'd have to be rebuilt for reliability.

Tough decision to even mount them on a car.  Once installed, they're no longer NOS...

Lucky find Brian, I would put them up on eBay with a high reserve and see how far it goes ...

Walter: Besides the gaskets any other known issues with them?

[Jon S]

They are the type of items to be left in the boxes and never used.  As Walter says, they are NOS only once!  A piece of history and a great conversation piece and yes, they should fetch a good price!

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Where did you find that?

[Walter Youshock]

I'd be most concerned with the accelerator pump.  They used leather back then and it's probably dry rotted by now.

Only way to see King Tut is to open the tomb...

[76eldo]

Believe it or not I found these on ebay.  They were not cheap but at $10,000 I would be making a lot of money on these.

They are a real conversation piece, and could be the icing on someone's cake if they are doing a high quality restoration.

I agree with the assessment on the gaskets and the accelerator pump and also the part about once used they are no longer NOS.

I also have an air cleaner and getting a manifold and the linkage is not hard at all.

Might be a real ebay adventure coming up soon.

Brian

[Jay Friedman]

I bought an ordinary (not worth $10K) NOS Carter carburetor for my '49 a couple of years ago and installed it on the motor "as is" to see if I could get away without working on it first.  It was fine for a month or so but then started leaking around the fuel bowl gasket.  The Carburetor Shop (Eldon MO) doesn't sell carb gaskets alone, but only full kits, so I ended up rebuilding it.  It's probably the best thing to replace the gaskets in an NOS carb, as they can dry up and/or shrink, as well as for other parts like the accelerator pump as other posters said. 

[gouldsom]

$10460 for the hubcaps, went to Australia.
The carbs are a nice thing, and nice to keep nos. Any carb can be restored, dented Eldo covers can never be made 100% again

[76eldo]

Plus you can't even see them once installed under the air cleaner.

I put them on eBay for $10,000'or best offer.

Should be interesting.

Brian

[rwchatham CLC 21892]

Brian, a couple of quick points,

When the hubcaps sold for 10K those were different  economic days for 59 parts.

Hubcaps are like jewelry everybody notices it right off the bat, carbs are like a nice shirt under a suit coat, you need it but unless the jacket comes off it doesnt stand out.

The caps were flawless in Cadillac boxes and almost impossible to duplicate, the carbs are very nice but there is some slight corrosion on a few small areas and it looks like the one may have even been bolted to a car by looking at the scratch marks on the mounting plate. I think someone looking to build a perfect show car would probably be inclined to rebuild a pair to perfection both in function and cosmetics.

But you know the old saying, it doesnt hurt to ask, so good luck and I hope you get the the money but I would think 3K would be the top of the mark, just my opinion, but you never know.

Will be interesting to watch.

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Between cosmetic/trim parts and most mechanical parts, there is a world of difference in the marketplace.

An NOS batwing or 6 pack air cleaner is mechanical, but highly visible, therefore something like that would also be worth serious $$$.

I'm sure someone would pay handsomely for an NOS '59 tri carb setup - just how much is the question.

I sell often on eBay and in my experience, a no-reserve auction opening at $1.00 usually provided the best results for me. YMMV.

Frankly I don't see $10K happening but what do I know...    Good luck!

[76eldo]

I don't see it happening either, but it only cost $2.45 to run that ad for a week.

Maybe someone will offer me half...

Brian

[76eldo]

Ray

They have never been bolted down. The shading is the finish on the machined area where the washer would sit.

True there is some oxidation on the finish but I did not want to touch anything or clean them so that they would not look like anyone cleaned them.

I guess the hubcap comparison of isn't valid price wise but still a cool item.

Brian

[rwchatham CLC 21892]

Brian, How did the auction go ?

Did you get any nibbles ?

Ray

[76eldo]

No nibbles or offers.

I put them back on for $7500.00 or best offer, looking for offers.

I have no problem keeping them, just figured if I got a high offer I would sell them.

I have other spare centers and other vacuum parts.

Brian