Auto flea markets and swap meets are another great way my Dad finds the right used tire for his latest car or truck. Make sure you have cash on hand to make sure you can easily negotiate the price for your wheels from the seller. This will give you a better bargaining angle to get your new wheels at a used tire price.
The discount auto accessories industry is very competitive and there is a healthy secondary market. You can check out the local salvage yard or auto parts shop but if you need something major like a radiator, there are entire networks of salvage yards and garages that you can post what you need and they will find it for you. Then you can decide on the best deal and then the part is delivered to your door. In most cases, it is at least as cheap as having to find and remove the part yourself at some obscure salvage yard and not have the right tools. It's a lot less messy and the part is torn up before you get it.
5) Make random notes as ideas come into your mind. Different aspects of whatever project you are doing may come to you in a haphazard order which will later fit together into a neat form. Sometimes, the ideas you can't use now can be used later in other projects.
For
local car junk yards who live near a car junkyard, this can be a cornucopia of auto parts. However, this can be quite time consuming, especially in large junkyard. You may have to search through hundreds of vehicles before finding the right part. It is also dirty work so wear old clothes. The advantage is the price. You can usually get the part you need at rock bottom prices and many junkyard owners will negotiate. Be sure to check out the part carefully as you can rarely return a non-working car part.
Believe it or not, one of the places you can find good deals on rims is your local wrecking yard. Cars that get written off in accidents often get broken down and sold for parts.
It does not have to be a huge old factory in South Detroit. It could be a window blind manufacturer in a relatively small town. Some of the stuff small factories use is old enough and funky enough to make the grade. Many industrial machines and implements are so well-built they remain in use for 50 years or more, so they'll show up in the least expected places.