junkyards are CRUSHING everything-get it while you can !

I'm kinda stoked about the price of s**** because I've been hoarding copper for 10 years. This is how I'm gonna pay for my Syncrowave!

 

Insurance, EPA and the changing body shop market prompted my Dad to close his doors and sell his yard late last year. You hit the nail on the head on the labor part too. Thankfully, they had very little older stuff of interest (a 50 Buick project and a 60's Lemans convertible that was rusted out bad) because the new owner of the property crushed it all (almost everything else was 90ish or newer). The salvage yard business is not what it used to be and if the owner's cannot make a living at it they're gonna crush it all and find a new occupation.

 

It's happening up here too, but thankfully most of the stuff that's been sitting out for 30 years in Ontario is s**** anyway. What gets me is dry, southern yards crushing desirable stuff that's virtually rust free.

Fact is, ours is a small hobby in the grand scheme of things. Besides, if someone has not wanted to restore a '54 Dodge or '54 Ford 4dr for example for 50 years what makes you think these are going to be done anytime soon. They were not desirable then, they aren't now. Can we expect these yard owners to hang on just in case.

Like everything else price is everything. Nobody wants to pay for labor and most guys I run across still think it's the 1970s when it comes to parts prices. I've just about given up selling anything up here these days. I couldn't give away a cherry '51 Ford splash pan for $25 and a really nice '49-50 Meteor grille for $75 at the last swap meet. My friend couldn't net $5 a hour restoring steering wheels and I've gotten burned on making a few parts to help others out, so why bother. Look after your friends and yourself and move on. I can't blame guys for selling out these days. Sure, they could make more if they put parts on Ebay, but they're probably pretty fed up by now and just want to do something else.

It's not just cars. I work in a vault solid 8 storey building built in the 1920s. The building has beautiful stonework, ornate br*** lamps and fixtures and everything in the front lobby is two tone marble. The ornate solid br*** Canada Post box in the lobby has to weigh a 100lbs. In 2011 they're tearing the building down to put up a 40 storey residential/commercial use building. It will look just like 10 others on the street.

 

Yes it ****s, unfortunately its part of life. There used to be several small yards around these parts that I would walk thru years ago that are long gone now. Deaths, retirement, natural disasters are all factors that played into their disappearance. I saved a few cars from them and in a way Im glad I did, but even though those yards and cars are all gone MY life still goes on. Yeah it ****s I cant walk through them anymore but there are others still here if I decide to go for a walk. I know a man that has a privately owned salvage yard and he is the only employee. He crushes three to four times a year. Makes a nice living in doing so, 30-40 grand a pop three to four times a year! Hes taking care of his family and doing a good job at it. The money he makes from parts sales is lunch money, his prices are below reasonable especially on the old stuff. My dad used to tell me to quit "collecting" junk and spend my cash on my project....wish I had listened back then because when life takes over it gets harder to do just that. I have enough toys to keep me busy for two lifetimes, which I will never live to see! I'm hanging onto what I have with high hopes that my son and/or daughter will want them, and Im trying to only collect parts to complete THOSE projects. Of course when Im gone it isnt going to matter anyway because I wont be taking any of it with me!

 

Money talks. You wanna know why we're not running out in droves to buy cars and sve them from the crusher?!?! It's too ****ing expensive. I don't know about a lot of you guys, but I'm just squeaking by every week. I'd love to turn my 17 acres into a safe haven for old tin ... can't afford to.




p.s. What's going to happen when the Chinese own ALL of our s**** steel? We think prices are high now, just imagine when they're selling a lower quality product back to us, made of all of our old cars and appliances in a few years. We aint seen expensive yet.

 

Yup, I went to a big farm auction Sat with about 100 vehicles and that many tractors and implements. The s****pers and junkyard guys were in a frickin frenzy. Even the sorriest pos old pickup would bring $300 plus. I went after several different cars and had a junkyard owner not even blink right up to the price that would have been a break even deal for me to try and resell. A 56 olds that was setting in the dirt without wheels, broken back window, trashed interior, engine apart, hood and bumper trash and grille missing-$700. I was able to buy a few things off a s****per after the auction. I got some oliver grilles and an Offy intake and headers for a Ford 300.
Oh, and I got a very restorable 1953 Rollohome for $50. Mi casa.

 

Don't blame the Chinese, we're doing it to ourselves.

I had to buy some #80 roller chain today, US made is $322/10', Chinese is $31/10'.

we're pricing ourselves out of the world market.

 

this pretty well sums it up:


http://patrick.welfringer.lu/sos/waves/drwho/u_will_pay.wav

 

I went to an auction in Vandalia, MO last weekend and the s****pers bought everything in sight. 41 chevy, 40's pre war buick, some old plymouth, and a bunch of cool old stuff. Its hard to compete with the s****pers!!!
Ratty55

 

No, it's easy, just pay more than s**** value. It's pretty sad when we won't pay someone more than s**** value for our toys....

 

Spot on. The price of playing the game has gone up. If you want to play,you have to pay. We can all bemoan the good old days, but you always did have to pay above the s**** price. The ONLY reason this stuff is being crushed is that the s**** men will pay more for it than you will. If hotrodders would pay $400/ton, nothing would be crushed at $300 a ton. Still, it's sad to see the old stuff go. On the other hand, imagine what was crushed during WWII for the war effort?

 

i need to find a new s**** yard... mine only gives a penny a pound for steel/iron... but they make up for it with $2.90 a pound for copper

 

What's a wrecking yard?????

 

There's plenty of stuff out there still, but I've seen a couple early ford juice brake frontends and '52-'54 chevy coupes flat as a pancake. It's sad, sure, but if you get into the aftermarket business reproducing whatever old car you want to with steel you bought from China that originally came from the US (and could have even been the very car you're reproducing)......Now there's an idea!

 

And people wonder why I put high prices on stuff. Have to pay for more cars somehow.

 

We've had alot of people come to the yard and look,,most are afraid to get there hands dirty,,we have listed whole cars like 57 Olds 88 2 door,,and people want to know is this piece pitted? and want everything perfect..hell 300 for a whole car with motor and trans??? Do the floors have rust???,,hell the stainless and the rear are worth some $$ strip it and s**** teh rest make your money back,,as someone mentioned most folks shop online as apposed to there local junkyard...who knows could be the Gov. attempt to get all those old cars permanently out of circulation.

 

Yeah, I get awful sick of those ***holes too. Thats why cars get crushed - it's 100 times easier to just collect the $200 a ton and not have to worry about someone whining about this or that or the other thing.

I'm even going to s**** some stuff I don't really want to in the next couple months. I can buy better stuff and I figure I should go do that while I still can, before it's gone - and no one seems to want the **** I have now. I can't even get a good price for my Hudson coupe, and the last ad I put up here on the HAMB with a bunch of good cars in it got zero response.

 

i definitely believe its all part of a master plan by "the man", clean out the junk yards, they will have room to take in more cars that are sitting in yards, more old cars off the road. decent intrsest rates on new cars, they finance to almost everyone, i think its easier today to drive around in a new car than it ever was. i think its a stab at keeping the econmy going and trying to help the enviroment too.

 

Just move on to the next adventure... saving cars made into 70's and 80's street rods.

 

I have a few cars I might end up s****ping also because nobody wants to buy them, Everybody says "save the old cars" but nobody wants to buy them they just want people like us to hold on to them and let them rot just incase someday they want to buy it and even when that day happens they will lowball the hell out of you and try to get it for free.

 

So, where is your yard,exactly-how do we see "the list"? Edit: Oh, I see in your cl***ified posting it's all been sold. Forget it.

 

Ain't that the truth. Then you read guys whining and *****ing about "hoarders". Where the hell do these guys think the old ones in junkyards come from anyway?

I have a car right now that I bought from the guys who post the "wanted - junk cars" ads for $200. I haven't been able to move it for $400 for the past 6 months. I don't want to cut it up because I want to see someone save it but I bet I could get $2000 for the parts on ebay (non HAMB, car BTW)

 

All world is saving old stuff.
The old stuff every day increase his value.
The junkyard owners must to undertand that the old rusty cars are the better capital investment that can make.
The future generations will looking for parts and cars ...of the granfather and great granfather.
It's not correct to put away one slice of history.

And the s**** value of this cars is panhandler relating to the potential value of this stuff in the future.

E.

 

I call BS on this one. After you figure in the cost of storage, insurance for your storage lot, maintenance, security (even if it's a couple of junkyard dogs) etc., you'll be upside down cost-wise on any vehicle stored for years.

 

I HAVE A JUNKYARD, MY DAD WORKED HIS *** OFF SINCE THE 1940'S... I AM NOT EVEN OPEN TO THE PUBLIC ANYMORE...the last cheap customer wouldn't pay $15.00 for a mint 67 thunderbird grill emblem. i loaded that ***** right in the crusher as he watched....DAD said thats it we are closed, get a computor...i sat in front of that dam machine for 3 month's plugging away..finally figured out how to make it work well enough to list on ebay...the rest is history... i am down to 200 cars from the 1930's to the 1960's. we bought an old grocery store from the 1920's. i strip every item and tag , box and shelf...then the car is crushed. my future still looks bright. and the shelves are full. and the best part is that 67 thunderbird emblem was smashed to bits, my DAD tought me a lessen that day, you just don't have to put up with cheap people. but it sure is fun to piss them off. long live junk , cadillac dave

 

Attention to all: I am the publisher of Still Runnnin Magazine, it is a new E-zine, we would like to publish any junkyard you know the whereabouts of that have old iron so that everyone gets a chance to recover as much as they can. Let us know if there is one in your neck of the woods, give us the location and name of the yard and we'll include them in our mag' Help us save them!
Lea
www.stillrunnin.com

 

Good for you! I have broken parts at swap meets when someone has h***led me all day to steal a part from me that I saved, cleaned,painted and hauled to sell. The look on their face is PRICELESS! Let them go find the stuff and clean it if they want it.

 

I've stepped on stuff at the swap too. It ****s to break a cl***ic car part, but the look is really worth it.

At my yard, it cost roughly $100 a month to store a car in the space it took up. $1200 a year.. so in 2 or 3 years, there are not enough parts to get your expenses back. That is why yards are not sitting on cars like they used to. To s**** an old car complete is getting close to $500. I never sold $500 off of anything in my yard, ebay yes, the HAMB, yes. But nothing from walk in traffic.

**** or get off the pot. The time is now to buy and hoard for the day when nothing is left. that is a long time away, but will happen. If you can't afford to do that, then quit ******* and moaning about it. Its like the weather. There is nothing you can do about that either.

I'm not made of money or a high roller by any means, so do not get that impression. If you are that concerned about it, you would do all you could to save what you can.

People spend alot of $$ saving the whales and other critters, do your part and save an old car.