The Trade-Up Challenge

Goal: Busted part → running project car

A red-paperclip style experiment: start with one busted car part and keep trading up until it becomes a running project car. Every trade is logged here.

Current itemGM 6.0 LQ4 long block (block + heads), ran when pulled, 275k miles

Current value$640

Gain over start±$0

Trades0

Started with: GM 6.0 LQ4 long block (block + heads), ran when pulled, 275k miles (comp $640).

First trade coming soon

The starting item is being picked. Once the first swap happens, it shows up here with its comp value. Follow along on X.

The rules

Trades only. No cash added, no buying the next item.
Values are sold-price comps, not asking prices. A comp is a recent sold price for a similar item, linked where possible.
Each step's change compares the new item's comp with the comp of the item it replaced.
Everything car-related: parts, tools, project vehicles.