When Restorers hit the wall.
Greetings fellow restorers,
I wish to ask the world wide MLU community for some helpful suggestions.
I am about to hit the wall and wish to soften the blow with some helpful advice.
Don’t be coy, I’ve known some of you guys for over 10 years now.
This is a situation that I know occurs across the world, I’m sure even in other Galaxies, how to talk some old bastard into parting with something you need but he wants to be buried with.
I’m sure that most restorers have had this problem at one time, that impossible to find part staring you in the face when all that stands in front of you is some Grey Haired Hoarder.
Grey Haired Hoarders are easy to identify, they say the same things, only the dialect is different;
“I’m going to do that up one day”
( Ik ga dat omhooggaande op een dag doen)
“It use to be my father’s/ uncle /brother/
(Es verwendet, Onkel /brother/ zu sein meiner Väter)
“My son is going to restore it”
(meu hovercraft está cheio das enguias)
“When I retire I’ll have more time, I’m only 87”
(var är schoolgirlsna?)
And my personal favorite… “I’ve only got nine so you can’t have it”
나는 저것을 빨기 위하여 려고 하고 있지 않다
Some people may say clever politically correct things like “well he owns it so he can do whatever he wants with it” but restorers see red when they see rust. (that’s why rust is red.)
People say money talks, not in Military Vehicle collecting my friends.
Even the Wheatcroft and Littlefields of the collecting world meet the Grey Haired Hoarder, only on a different level. Remember watching Tank Overhaul? According to these collectors the most sort after tank in the world is a Panther.
Seems all the Grey Haired Hoarders are going to do up Tiger Tanks one day.
It appears that some restorers have better negotiation methods than others.
Please share your years of experience with other collectors.
I’d like to hear how you prized that sort after part from that cold dead hand and can give me some advice when I next tackle the GHH.
PS. I need parts for a 1917 FWD Model B (US Wisconson T Head)
This has nothing to do with the above monologue what so ever.
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