junkyards are CRUSHING everything-get it while you can !

S**** prices are through the roof and rising by the month. A month ago it was $10/100 lb. for cast/steel- and now I hear it's $14/100 lb.

This means that the old-timer s**** yard owners, can crush a vintage 1940-50-60's car that weighs 3500-4000 lbs., and get $350-$550 per car, with almost no work involved- regardless of car's condition.

I recently went to a yard, who for the past 30 years, had kept every old car they ever bought since the 1950's- the place was a walk through history- my heart dropped and sunk, when I saw a huge field of about 30 acres, empty- at least 500 cars crushed- all pre-1970, most were pre-1960. A good number were 1940's and older. At least half or more had engines/drivetrains. I still have a sick feeling in my stomach from seeing that field empty.

Yesterday, my brother and I cleaned up and threw out any broken/cracked manifolds, blocks, parts, etc. for cars we had laying around, also cashed in his crushed aluminum soda/beer cans-

holy ****, we walked out of the s**** yard with $92- the cans pay $60/100 lb., the cast/steel paid $10/100 lb. We only took in about 1/3 of a truck bed full, on my F-150

there was an area next to a local highway, a steep bank, that was littered with ovens, refrigerators, washers, dryers that people threw away- guess what, they are all GONE- scavenged for s****. The place was totally cleaned up and picked clean ! Even light tin/appliances pay $60/100 lb. now. Someone dragged them all up the hill, and cashed them in.

if you see an iron pipe laying on the side of the road, it is literally worth $10 or more now.

one yard owner told me straight out, anything I see in his yard, better buy it NOW, because "these cars are not going to be here forever"- he said he probably should have crushed the entire yard out. This was a guy who never crushed a single car older than 1972, in the past.

there is going to be a serious shortage of old car parts and bodies soon, because there is a country-wide crushing spree going on right now- China is buying every last pound of s**** steel they can find, and s**** prices are going to be higher yet, not lower. S**** is one sector of the economy that is booming, and the USA exports a lot of it. Most of it is crushed cars. The energy costs required to make new steel from iron ore, have gotten so expensive, it makes more sense/cost effective to use s**** steel as raw material, and melt it down.

I recently talked to someone from Detroit, he drove 11 hours one way, to get 2 front fenders from a T-bird. I thought that was odd- he said, there's no good junkyards out there anymore. Another guy drove in 12 hours one way from Kentucky, also to get T-bird parts. Same story. The Detroit guy said, a mile long Buick ***embly plant, that was the longest in the world, he toured as a kid- it's now a parking lot with weeds growing out of it. The Japanese bought it, to S**** the entire complex, to get the iron and steel- they s****ped all the buildings, machines, and tooling.

Another guy is flying in from Arizona, to get a Buick Riviera interior. When people start flying cross country to get car parts, and paying airfares, this tells me that, this stuff is getting hard to find, and is going to soon disappear altogether.

get those project cars/parts/engines now, while you can- and stash them away- in 5 years, there won't be many left to buy

 

cars/appliances/practically any steel is at 240 a ton right now around here. aluminum is .80 a pound.

 

The world is coming to an end.......just like folks said at Valley Forge, no wait just like folks said during the civil war......no wait, just like when the Great Depression hit...........no wait, i am sure it was during the Oil Crisis of the 70.......nope didn't end there either!

 

I can understand why they are crushing out. I bought a bunch of cadillacs with 500 and 472s, and nobody wants to pay $600 for them to use the drivetrains. Now I get close to $600 for the 5000# car with none of the whiney "it too expensive" BS.

I hear a lot of people whining about yards crushing out, but I don't see a lot of people buying. I don't understand why someone needing a drivetrain won't buy a parts car, remove what they need and then sell the hulk to the s****per for $300.

Guess I'm the whiner now....

 

Robins garage is crushing in may. I am getting at least 1 or two cars out of there to strip. He is asking $250 a car. People need to go there and start pulling what they need out of there. Its cheaper to pull the entire car out now than to just buy parts.

 

Because, that requires work.... and most of our "up and coming" society would rather sit on their ***, watch TV, order it from a catalog (pre***embled with a warranty) and have it delivered.

The choice is "work at it" or "whine about it"?

s.

 

lets hear it for chicken little!!!

 

hang on to your shorts, rumor has it the price is jumping to somewhere between $270 and $300 a ton, sometime in the next two weeks.

 

Its wierd. When I go to some of my favorite spots to grab parts I wonder how long it will be before all the old yards are s****ped. There is so much less kicking around in my area since I was a teenager and Im 30. If my son wants to build a car I wonder if he'll get to scrounge in the woods like I did. There is a thrill in digging out parts that have been sitting for 40 years that buying them on the internet just can't compare to.

 

Damn GM finally did something right. Now the **** are responsible for cleaning up all the mess on the property. I hope the EPA burns their ***.


So how many cars are you saving from the crusher?

 

the old junkyards are coming to an end, not the world

 

good points...why try to sell an engine for $300, and possibly have castings returned due to cracks/seizure- the smelter pays that and more, and doesn't care if it's cracked or seized

and it now pays to buy parts cars for $500, pull engine/trans, then junk remaining 3000 lbs. for $300

but just a friendly FYI, I'm one of the buyers-last yard I went to, I bought 6 engines at one time- also 2 from an out of state yard to have shipped by freight, and 2 from another local yard- and laid out over $3700

not whining- just informing- yards are crushing out- the "that will be there 5 years from now" is no longer true- it won't be- I told one yard owner, I would not blame him, if he pressed the whole yard out- he'd walk away with about a half mill $$$

 

I try to save what i can , you should to

 

what my budget and space limitations can afford...at this point, I'm maxed out

 

that's what I'm doing too- I went to one yard and marked 6 cars with spray paint, told him I'd give him $300/car- they all have drivetrains in them

it's up to us in this hobby to save this stuff, if we all just stand by and watch, it will all be crushed and gone- what's left will become very pricey

 

another thing is, much like the antiques/collectibles business, ebay killed the traditional junkyard businesses- most of these old timers are at retirement age and not computer savvy, and the younger generation combs ebay for parts- and stays out of the junkyards

an old-timer who is computer ebay savvy can really clean house with sales- but more are not

a completely parted out common 1960's car will bring $2000 or more on Ebay, but the yard owners can't get that- they sit and rely on bricks/mortar traffic- and it's just not there anymore

8 of the engines I recently bought, the yard owners took them out- mainly because of insurance regulations, if someone gets hurt in their yard, they aren't covered

 

that means an old 1950's 2 ton rotted to death Chrysler, with a 301 poly and no floors/trunk, will bring $600

say goodbye to automotive parts Americana...it's all going to China flattened

 

buy all you can now, and stash it away- you can always resell it later, if you don't use it

Ebay will get us parts, but Ebay basically ****s to shop in- walking through a junkyard is way more fun, you hit the nail- these old timers are crushing out, then selling the land to developers to boot as well- the oil/gas/anti freeze in the ground becomes a EPA/DER liability, so if they sell, the liability goes away for the most part, to next owner- they get to retire somewhat well off, after cashing in on cars/land

I don't really blame them, nobody lives forever- if they don't cash in, someone else who inherits it will

 

The best thing to do is for HAMBers to post up links and/or contact info for any junkyards that have plans to begin crushing so we can go in and save what we can.
It ****s to think there may be a little vintage Ford in the new steel bodies out there...

 

I went and looked at a bunch of old cars today...none were worth buying to part out. Its hard to compete with the crushers when I can,t begin to pay what they are worth crushed anymore. I did make a deal to buy any good trim and gl*** before the crushers get the cars. Too bad.....I specifically wanted a better look at a 39 Chevy 2 door sedan now that the snow level is down but I see there is no frame at all left under it or floor for that matter. Trim,mouldings and gl*** are all that is worth saving.A bad sign of the times.

 

Here's the one Scrounger referred to earlier;
http://www.roblins.net/index2.html
It's in Canada, but the list of cars in there will break your heart. Website says they expect to begin crushing in May '08.

 

it wouldn't surprise me, at least locally. the market really seems to be heating up here.

i rent a house and the landlord has left two late 80's tbirds in the yard, if the price gets that high, his junkers are GONE!

 

ya know, that kinda mentallity pisses me of.
i've got a 62 chevy pickup (short fleetside) that i can't even get anybody to LOOK at much less buy or they want the hood off it for pennies..
you want to buy it and store it?
i need the money for other projects...

next stop for it is the s**** yard when i get enough iron to load in the back...

 

Are you some kind of ten pound water head it say s try , try what part of that dont you understand so junk it , if you cant get more then s**** price , what manetallity are you talking about . What that i dont like when people scap hole junk yards of old cars .wtf If you cant get more then 300 buck s for a 62 chevy. ya ill buy it and im shore most people would agree with me . Ready try to rap your brain around this save it put in in an ad on the hamb for s**** price i bet someone buys it. your so backwards on this ,

 

send me some pics....if your seriously just want s**** price.

 

WHAT i'm tired of is blowhards saying we (meaning everybody else besides themselves) should be storing tons and tons of **** just so they (the blowhards) can feel good.
it ain't in there back yard so...

i DON'T like the idea china is buying all the s**** and would just as soon sell to a hamber or somebody that would do something with it but if that ain't happening...
on the other hand, i don't get **** about stuff like "well,that fender has some rust so i'll give ya **X for it.
THEN ya get the guys that want to beat ya up on parts so bad that by the time you're done parting out the vehicle, you don't make s**** price.
guess you need to get out more...

and don't EVEN go down the road about putting an ad on here (or anywhere else), you AIN'T been paying attention!

fwiw, i'm not whining about it, it's just the facts in my world


and don't give me the ******** about YOU'LL buy it, shipping would kill ya...

wrap your brain around THAT!

 

Well im not a (blowhard ) i mean to say i saved tons of cars every year and save what i can and part out whats not fixable and i dont mean i will buy your truck but i would if it was nere me for s**** price! I do it all the time . An if you can you should never junk a fixable or useable cars or trucks its a sin and id go as far to say that ive had more cars then anyone i have ever known . And junked more to, so your way off messing with me . I have sold more parts for almost no profit for years and i love to do it just to see the stuff get put to use and theres a LOT of cars around i pulled out of the srap yards so do what you want just dont mess with me. My yard looks like a junk yard and its not for everyone but i wouldnt have it any other way i have a nice fence around it.

 

Had a story in The Atlanta paper today featuring a junkyard and the flatbed in the picture had a mid 70's pickup and 53 ford flatbed going into the junkyard.

 

yeah no ****!!! ....the "story" I hear is that the fiberglas body guys are crushing all the steel in cohorts whith the Al Gore earthmuffins..........Im 52 and Ive heard these same stories since I was a kid...........

 

oooo, i just LOVE somebody "warning" me....