OK, guys, think back to when you first started your C&V bike obsessions.

I'm overhauling my first bike. It has very old shimano 600 EX parts. Tonight I put new bearings in the hub and found the cone was damaged and one of the notched washers was bad. The washer seemed pretty standard, but I was only lucky the LBS I was taking the class at had a replacement cone for me.

I'm sure you guys have tons of little parts you've collected from bikes, but I forsee this project as being very* slow, because if I'm not in a class, every time I see I have a bad part, I have to wait til I can find a replacement from somewhere.

Is this part of the reason why some people specialize in certain types or eras of bikes, because it's easiest to keep a stockpile of working pieces? Or do you collect all the parts before you start, because you just know, with your experience what will be likely to need replacing on a 30 year old bike?

Do you buy some bikes just for the parts, or are the parts easier to find than I think they might be?