Maybe it’s the heat this week in Boston—this ain’t the South, but, in the language of my people, I’m schvitzing—or my advancing decrepitude. Whatever the reason, I seemed to need some downtime after a very active few months, needed to take a break this week from hard wrenching.
Otto the ’74 2002tii (he of de-capitation and re-capitation) sold this week on eBay. One of the advantages of eBay is that you enter into a process largely guaranteed—as long as your reserve price isn’t set too high, and you don’t have a deadbeat winning bidder—to result in the sale of the car. I’d been watching prices of big-bumpered square-taillight ’74 tiis, and they appeared to be all over the map; near-mint-looking examples edge into the high twenties, but a fairly presentable, purportedly rust-free California car on Bring A Trailer went for only about $12,000. Of course, without seeing the car in person or seeing the kind of undercarriage photography that I put in my auctions, there’s no knowing the true condition, but there was also no pretending that it was likely Otto would reach that value.
I set Otto’s auction with an $8,000 reserve and a $11,500 Buy It Now. Setting these values is a balance; if an auction has a Buy It Now but no reserve price, the BIN will vanish as soon as the first bid comes in. If there is a reserve, the BIN will stay up until the auction reaches the reserve price, but vanishes as soon as the reserve is hit. So one function of the reserve price is to keep the BIN up there long enough to allow buyers to make a decision to use it; if the reserve is set too low, the BIN goes away too quickly, eliminating the possibility of a quick sale.
On the other hand, if someone hits Buy It Now as soon as the auction is up, the BIN price itself is probably set too low.
In Otto’s case, the reserve was reached about halfway through the seven-day auction, and about a day after that, the bidding reached $9,600—and stayed there for the duration. Unlike many auctions, there was absolutely no action at all as the auction closed.
In retrospect, I might have been better served by putting the reserve a little higher and the BIN a little lower, perhaps $10,500, in order to entice someone to hit the BIN. However, with the auction’s lengthy description, 150 photos, 4,000 page views, and 125 people watching, the car probably did reach its market value. Part of me said, “Just hold on to it for another year,” but here are real costs associated with keeping cars—I don’t have a warehouse—and with thirteen cars, I’m already keeping way too many of them.
Of course, if the $8,0000 reserve had not been reached, I would have just sat on it for another year.
If a plus of eBay is that it’s a process largely guaranteed to result in a sale, a minus is that you have no control over who the buyer is. I really wanted Otto to go to someone who wanted an affordable tii that they’d drive as-is, but instead, the winning bidder was a classic-car dealer who’ll probably address some of the rust, paint the car, and flip it. No knock against them or anyone else doing that; it just wasn’t the future I’d hoped for the car. C’est la vie.
Meanwhile, on the King Of The Weld front, big thanks to all who sent me advice on what welding equipment to buy. To no one’s great surprise, not a sinle person wrote me saying, “You should totally go for the $149 Harbor Freight MIG welder—I’ve used mine three times a week for ten years, and it’s always worked perfectly.” I did, however, get four recommendations for the Miller Millermatic 211 with its dual 110V/220V capability. (I had independently stumbled into the 211 as well.)
I am likely to do this—but not right now. The Internet shipped price of the 211 is as low as $1,080, but that’s without the gas bottle, and that’s very much real money to me. The check for Otto is arriving any day in the mail, but that money is already spoken for in several different ways. So for the moment, the welder purchase is on hold.
Which leaves the question of what to do about the broken engine-mount subframe piece on Kugel (the ’72 tii).
The reinforcement plate I bought from Ireland Engineering finally arrived. I may try to use my oxyacetylene torch and a welding stick, or I may load the subframe into the trunk of the E39 and take it to my friend Lindsey and have him weld it up. But in either case, I’ve decided not to subordinate Kugel’s subframe repair to the purchase of a welder. It sounds great on paper, but it’s just more than I want to bite off right now.
Perhaps I’ll be the King Of The Weld in another few months.—Rob Siegel
Rob’s first book, Memoirs of a Hack Mechanic, and his new book, The Hack Mechanic Guide to European Automotive Electrical Systems, are available through Bentley Publishers, Amazon, ECS Tuning, and Bavarian Autosport—or you can get personally inscribed copies through Rob’s website: www.robsiegel.com.
