GMB (MICH) any good junk yards left.

I Have been jonesing hard the last few weeks. I need To do some junk yarding. Are there any good junk yards left we did the yard crawl last year in Matawan that one was cool are there any more.

 

Ever been up to Hilliard's in Vestaburg? It's pretty amazing, bout 100 acres. Wheres Matawan? got any more info on that one.

 

I was told that Old Man Hillard " ***umed room tempeture ",..... Sorry to say but the old man was a real,..... A Real,........... Geeezzzz,.... I don't have a insulting name that would do the old guy justice !
When you look up the name "Jerk" in your Funk & Waggnel you will find his picture !,... but he had a lot of tin.

 

Thanks for posting the junkyard pics! Always appreciated!

 

Check out these links to last years yard crawl
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=63820
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=64088
Matawan is west of Kazoo.

 

Is the yard still open now that the old man is gone.

 

got a good one up here!

 

I have no idea,... I haven't been back sence the old codger tryed to jack me up from $800.00 to $1,200.00 on a car that wasen't worth $300.00 ( at the time, but I really needed the parts ) 3 hours after he told me the first price. drove 3 hours to get there and he smiles and says,..... " I been think'in about it boys and I gott'a have 12 hundered for her ",..... it wasen't the first time this happned, and I asked him like 5 times on the phone $800.
right ?,..... I ***ume he croked from natural causes,..... but you never know.

 

That must have just happend, cause I was up there not to long ago and he was still kickin then. If he's gone every thing will be crushed.

 

I was there last summer and picked up a set of wheels. Funny- I tried to buy the rusted out headlights from that exact 36 in the picture up top, and he wanted $300 ! He was nicer years ago, but he is blind now, and doesn't trust anyone. He claimed to me last summer that all the cars were sold to a metal s****per and that they were coming soon to s**** everything becuase of the high steel prices, so he didn't really want to sell me stuff because it really belonged to the junk man (he claimed). I didn't really buy it, but who knows? There was hundreds and hundreds of pre 50 stuff there. The guy is a million years old and owns a junkyard, but won't sell anything !!?

 

I've never been to Hilliard's...(but Reds 29 has)....Red told me that he was a hard core alcoholic and depending on whether or not he was drinking depended on the sale or no sale of parts...sales of parts depended on how much money he had....

My buddy Easy Russ in Grand Rapids has some old stuff, last time I visited he had a lot of stuff crushed because he needed the room...ouch!...

Can't save 'em all I guess...

Alcoholism you can get treatment for....old car collecting is a scourge with no known cure....

 

]I live about 8 miles from Hilliards and go by there every once in a while, it was hard to tell last time I went by if he was open or not. Rumors of the old man being sick have been going around for a while and I also heard recently he had died. He had a kid that helped and maybe he will keep it open. I can go over and check if someone is really interested. I got to know him a little better over the years and he recognized me and sometimes didn't give me the h***le he gave others but it depended on the day. The number of cars and trucks in the yard was/is mind boggling. Rows and rows of advance design Chevy trucks (1947-54), f-100 Fords, late 50's early 60's cars of all kinds. Stored back by the junkyard dogs in a small falling down shed was a model T C-cab truck cab and a t-bucket body (real steel). He kind of pissed me off though with the way he would get cars or trucks and then let them rot. He had a 1922 REO truck he got out of some old guys barn near by and pulled it into the yard, kind of in pieces and then just let the thing sit. Parts became spread all over and cab didn't have a roof in it so the wood and metal became exposed and are probably rotten now. I thnk I'll go by and check to see what's up just out of curiosity.
I just visited Swain's junkyard on M-88 east of Bellaire in northwest lower penninsula. Lots of 60's cars and trucks but everything is pretty messed up as they are stacked on top of each other, and looked like they took a bulldozer to make some roads through the stuff. Still lots of parts probably, and some old truck cabs, late 40's early 50's. They will let you drive around the yard and look, but I'm not sure what their prices are like.

 

Last time I was up there, about two months ago the old man was there but not till ten o clock and he is not 100% blind, and stil hard to deal with. He did let me go look around and take a lot of pics.

 

He must have liked you, if he let you walk around. I usually could walk around, he made sure you didn't have any tools, people stealing stuff, by taking it off and hiding it by the road. A lot of guys that didn't live nearby would show up on Saturday mornings, he would ask where they were from and then said he or the helpers would have to ******, he knew he had them by the nuts, they were at his mercy and he took advantage. I saw that a couple times. I bought the top out of a Vega stationwagon and had to pick it up on a Saturday morning, saw this line of guys from far away getting the word/screwed. If you can go during the week he is/was a little better. I even got to take off a part or two myself. Usually they had to take it off.

 

Is Easy Russ dealing with the public on any of his stuff. My Dad had bought old Harley parts from him years back. We never really knew how to find him anymore.

 

easy russ sell H D parts on ebay I had his phone number but I dont know what I did with it.

 

The last time I was at Hilliard's was 3 years ago...it really is an amazing place. I remember looking at a nearly complete 60 T-Bird with the motor and 4 barrel carb and everything...but the owner certainly was a little different...he let us wander around and even take our part off...it was a windshield washer pump for my '65 Skylark...charged 20 bucks (!) for it and it worked for exactly 3 seconds. Oh well.

 

Why doesn't someone who lives near Hillards stop and talk to either the old guy (who I heard died) or whoever is there and see if you can set up a "junkyard crawl" for a Sat or Sun in Sept.

 

If Hillards alive I rather doubt that he'd go for that many people in the yard at once

 

I haven't been to Hilliard's for a while, but here is some of the stuff I saw the last time I was there.

http://community.webshots.com/slideshow?ID=50673865&key=urkpJO

 

I got his # if someone wants to call up there.

 

Your phone doesn't work??

 

I live near Hilliards and will take a drive by tomorrow. I'm not sure what he will think about a bunch of us taking a tour, if he's still alive. I'll check it out and get back to everyone.
Red

 

Actually this is pretty funny,...... in the picture link that "oldtin" posted there was a picture of the exact car (37 Chevy) I went to get all those years ago that got more expensive before I got there. it has been a lot of years and a lot people that went through that yard during that time and it's still there ?,........... that ought to tell you something right there.

 

Damn man, I have been looking for a 37 chevy for a long time,one thats fairly close to home anyways........

 

No my phone works fine... I just thought someone might want his number. I'll try to call up there myself tomorrow. I'd love to do the crawl, just about every Friday I do them by myself. It's like goin to church.

 

Anyone been to Joes in Spring Lake lately? Last time I was there (in 1994, in college) there was still some old stuff, but he was crushing it by and large. 62wagon, Mercman1951, me and a bunch of our friends used to go out there for road trips from the "D" back in the day. I'll never forget that bulletnose Stude in the middle of the "pond".... only cuz I still have the bulletnose! Cost me five whole dollars!

Jay

 

I havent been up there in years either. I dont live far from there I should go and check it out and see if there is anything left.

 

I was there last year, and I don't know what he liked about me, but he let me and a buddy walk that yard for almost 4 hours without any question. Maybe it was because we treated him decent, or it was just a good day for him. I gave him some 10 cent excuse about needing a trinket part for a vehicle I didn't even own, and I don't know if it was my convincing at***ude or what, but he let us right in. No tools of course, but the steering box he sold me was priced right. said we were welcome back anytime......
after the 4 hours we only saw about half of it.

 

theres always bobs in lapeer if you have deep pockets