Hot Rods REMEMBER THOSE SATURDAY MORNING TRIPS TO THE JUNK/SALVAGE YARDS?

Even though I have been frequenting the local old junkyard for over 30 years I seen my first snake,it was a small one that was curled up on the engine but I was able to take the parts off and did not disturb it. Do not have any venumous snakes in my area but 50 miles south east its a different story.

 

I would estimate that 90% of the parts used in building my T touring car came from the old wrecking yards in Philly.

 

An no rows 30's era School buses, jammed full of parts, with a Junk Yard Dog, chained to the bumper, or Y-Block engines turned upside down in a pool of oil !

 

I got to know the owner of the JY , I went to pretty well. I would trade labor to rebuild carbs for him to sell , for needed parts. We became so close , if he got something in he thought I may need it was set a side until , I got what I wanted . I probably rebuilt 500 Qjets for him . He recently passed away , all of his stash was sold for pennies . Really sad that a mans so called Buddies , would pay the widow nothing knowing the value of the part .

 

Milwaukee Wisconsin area had many "Junkyards" back in the 60's, my time frame. all of us hot rod kids used them, that and JC Whitney were our parts suppliers. I started buying from Speedway Motors in 1966, a fiberglass T body. Built my avatar in 1964 using a "speed shop" / junkyard engine, spray can rebuild, chrome air cleaners for the tri-carb 348, manual tranny, 4:11 rear, can't remember the yard name but owner's name was Jim Gish, always good to us kids, pricing, knowledge, etc. I have many good memories from my youth and all my life as a gearhead. The best part of the HAMB is the memories that pop in my old brain when reading here.

 

In the 1950s,when I first started , looking for car parts,junk yards had lots of stuff that often distracted me from what I was hunting for . Back then we were let just wonder around with a pocket full of tools. Was great fun I thought,but also would take much longer then planed, every time. A lot of junk cars could also still be found dumped in the woods n on remote dirt out back roads.>Free to get off of, if needed! The new inter net a lot later kind of filled in some,finding stuff,no longer free.
Around the 70s,Miami/south Florida started doing what they called clean up ,even in places very remote=lot less free stuff to be had by rod builders. And with too many new laws. The junk yards stopped letting anyone just go out an look.< Too many lawyers n ass jacks who crybaby from there own stupid mistakes suing. Big citys are crap some times.

 

Roose Auto in Medina.

On left of center main trail was 70 an older (full of early hemis in cars) not worth much back then, other side newer. School busses were full of trans, or rears, or engines...

I remember him, tell me the truth what you have, and its cheap. I bought a 62 327 with pop up pistons, $75. Other guy claiming a 400 sbc was a 305 $200. After he left, old man roose said, if he told me it was a 400...$75. I bought a 409 Alum single 4bbl intake mint...$65. Was hanging in office wall for years.

The benefits and knowledge from junk yard crawling is immeasurable.

 

Always enjoyed hunting for deals at the local boneyards. There were a couple further out west of the city that always had a nice selection of old cars and trucks. The owners were older guys and you never told them that you had been to the other guys yard down the road. My brother and I were into 37 and 38 Chevy's and I remember we stashed a nice radiator from one of them in the trunk of the car so it would not get damaged in case we ever needed it for one of our cars. The old guy in the other yard liked his liquor and always had his jug handy under the parts counter which was in his house.
Flash forward 30 plus years when two partners and I bought one of those yards. We built 2 building on the property, rented the house and ran a nice auto recycling business there for 13 years until we sold it to a bigger company and retired. We still had some of the older cars but it was not like when we were teenagers.

 

Back in the day…..and kinda later on also…..I used to go the salvage yard with a five gallon bucket and just pick up bolt, nuts, linkages, hose clamps, clips, just any thing I found interesting. Usually if I bought something else , they would just throw in my “ junk” bucket of treasures!
One day several years ago I stopped in to Cagles salvage and sat down , playing with the cat and talking to Lynn, the manager. After we talked for a while , about this and that, he asked what I was looking for today….after a long pause on my part…..I said well, nothing really! I set the for a short time and then told Lynn” A feller may be a redneck , if coming to a salvage yard is the high point on social calendar! “ lol






Bones

 

There’s still 2 yards here that I frequent. Both keep the old stuff and let you walk through at your own pace and pay when you leave.

 

I was at a farm auction that had a lot of old Fords and farm equipment. I spotted a '39 Ford transmission and put it inside a '39 Fordor that was being auctioned off. Otherwise, it might have been scrapped. I has no need for it.

 

Hello,

We lived within 2 miles distance away from the largest junkyard/auto salvage yards. They were within the city limits and were held in close check with city rules/regulations. There were huge empty fields around the west side of Long Beach. No houses, only oil refineries and small industry companies.

Since we were close to both the L.A. Harbor and the commercial shipping areas, there were several marine parts only junkyards alongside of the auto salvage yards along the Anaheim corridor from long beach headed into the neighboring city, Wilmington. Even Diesel Truck junkyards were abundant.

If we could not get a part or something we wanted, then a little drive past Wilmington to the Main Street larger junkyards/auto salvage places in the southern portion of South Central Los Angeles. Sometimes, people called those places Wilmington, as it bordered on Wilmington proper. But, this row of scrap yards was nirvana for junk yard searches. If you could not find what you were looking for on Main Street, then it was not made or in California.

Slowly, the junkyards within the city limits of Long Beach started closing down due to strict regulations and cost to upgrade their facilities. Some closed and move on. Others changed, made their business areas smaller, while others lasted longer due to changing to meet the environmental restrictions. By the time we left Long Beach for greener pastures (PUN) there were only two small yards left. But, they were good ones.

Jnaki

When we were living in the big OC, we needed a rear station wagon door replacement. The only salvage yards near us were small potatoes. Nothing on the computer books. So, I called one of the last two yards in the Westside of Long Beach, still operating. One had the station wagon door and everything that went with the huge part. I drove a hundred miles round trip to get the last remaining complete rear station wagon door. But, I was able to stop at my mom’s house for a great lunch and a nap, before heading back to the OC area.

These days, communities and various parts of the city have grown and with that, those old junkyards were phased out. One in a local beach town area finished the environmental regulations for clean up and is now a well stocked RV storage facility, with storage for larger items like trailer campers and "trailorable" boats. There are even some older trucks being stored on the property. Gone are the total junkyards. There are a lot of car repair places in the industrial areas, they all have access to some mysterious supplier of old car parts.

Sometimes, a local car parts/repair places will have computerized listings for certain parts stored somewhere and/or can get the necessary parts for the repair or additions. YRMV

 

Before cars were banned on Fire Island folks would drive them from Long Island across a frozen Great South Bay in the winter. Many ended up in the dunes at Atlantique.. my father took us there when we got our ‘31 coupe in 1967..salt had destroyed them, but it was a sight to see.

 

Braggart

:-(

 

Finding anything in the junkyard pre 80s is a pretty rare find. There's a few yards in the area that the old timer is retired or passed on and now the kids are either trying to make a mint off of the old parts or just scraping it all out

 

This 1941 Ford Sedan Delivery Was $25.75 Including State Tax (1966)...

 

And now they are not open Saturday mornings

 

Back in 1958 I had a 41 Merc cp. and I blew the engine so I took my 50 Merc . rag top to our local junk yard . I found a 50 Merc engine with Offy heads bought it for $ 25.00 , We loaded it into the trunk of my Merc. and went home . Two days later it was in the 41 and running . Those were the days !

 

Every car I've ever built required trips to the wrecking yard to search for parts. Most have had more used parts than new parts on them by the time the builds were done!
I used to go to the wrecking yards on weekends even if I wasn't building a car. But that was 40+ years ago when there were lots of great cars and parts at our local yards. These days it's tough to find a car with parts I can use and not be too new to fit my build.

 

Junk yard / scrapper guy in my area when I was young -
If you wanted something you had to come "work it off" he needed help more than cash.

He gave it up has a huge fruit and vegetable stand

 

Use to be a lot of old yards around here. Most were picked over 30 years ago, and the prices were getting out of sight even then. When I was a teenager in the early 70s, I would wander around the yards when I needed a part and think what a shame when I would see something cool and daydream of fixing it up. But mostly I was glad I could afford a used 5-dollar alternator to keep my 63 Catalina on the road. Now I just make sure to buy the nicest, most complete project I can fine. lol Larry.

 

Big Jim ran Twin Oaks which was across the road from the farm when I was growing up. If you got past the dogs it was a pretty good adventure. I got parts for my avatar there and kept most of my highschool wrecks on the road. It was the first time I ever saw a 55/56 victora- blue and white, no engine, sort of nose high- who knew they made cars that good looking. They had a habit of moving stuff a dozer which was pretty tough on sheet metal. There is a church and a couple of houses there now, the balance is being sold to a fab shop of some type. Those were the days.

 

First time I ever went to a junkyard, I brought a big tool box, and regretted it 10 minutes into being there. From that point on, I downsized and figured out what I needed to do the job. My normal carry on to browse is a ammo can with a decent assortment of generic things.

There are a few yards around with old iron but most of them are priced higher than giraffe pussy.

I kinda miss the days of going with my buddies to a yard to browse. May have to do it again soon.

 

I bring the big tool box with me but it stays in the truck and just bring what I think I need but can go back to the truck if I forgot a tool. I can take my truck back in the yard at a couple yards I frequent which helps.

 

First time I went to Pull a Part, I carried my then big box, too. Even using their wheelbarrow, I was give out pushing that thing all over the yard!

Now, I do like Jeff. I have one of those Fanny packs I put the basics in, wrenches from 3/8 up to 3/4, a 3/8 socket set with a couple of ratchets and extensions, flat and Phillips screwdrivers, a medium pry bar, side cutters, needle nose and a couple of pairs of vise grips. If I can’t get it with that, I have the 1/2” stuff in the truck, along with a couple of extra pry bars. Truck is locked and stuff is out of sight, there is always a few questionable looking people working on stuff in the parking lot.

 

Remember back when??
I still do Saturday junkyard run about every weekend until the snow gets too deep.
Have 4 that I rotate through plus another 4 that are not technically salvage yards just grumpy old guys like me that have 75-100 cars and trucks sitting in groves and buildings. My avatar picture was taken at one about a month ago.
After years of building relations with these places all but one let's me stop by on Sundays as well. Sunday visits are mostly story days or solving world problems with parts buying taking a back seat to the talking.
Some are 1/2 to a hour away. Several are 2-3 hours (each way) down the road but it's where I want to spend my time

 

Well, I wasn't alive to see those, unfortunately.
All the junkyards around here are mostly filled with 90's Saturns and the like. There's Corvair Ranch a couple hours away, my dad's '66 Corvair is probably still rotting there. Other than that I don't know of any junkyards with anything earlier than the late '80s.

My good friend in the south tells me there's treasure troves of old cars and parts sitting in the junkyards down there, so I'll take a look around when I visit him next month

 

Ha, that little critter was just telling you he was there. But tell me, have you ever forgotten the sound of the rattling he put out? I heard one that was about 5 1/2' long on a ranch, it warped me forever.

 

50 or so years ago a friend bought a semi-closed wrecking yard. It was full of older stuff that no one seemed to want so he found out that if he broke it down he'd get more money for it -- cranks, manifolds, blocks, etc. So I worked there on Sundays. I was an advertising executive, part-time college professor and an apprentice auto dismantler.