Originally Posted by jimc101

If you have the tools, then not an issue, if you don't then it's a unnecessary expense to buy all that's needed to drill out the rivets etc. I've been fixing bike for the past 25 years, with hand tools, but don't have, or have the space for the tools needed for drilling steel like that, much as it would be nice.

For NOS/good used parts it's very market dependent, I'm in the UK, which is obviously different to the US, but we still had shortages and increased prices over the last 18 months, however recently (and would look at eBay as not being the best place to look, as for the UK at least Facebook Market place seems to be taking alot of that market now) availability of very good condition parts has increased and people are clearing out the 'projects' they got for lockdown, some finished, some not, and with prices similar/no more than pre-lockdown, if you look there is good stuff available cheaply, you just have to be patient, and see it/be first when listed.