Grab your cheeks boys - Steel taking a climb

It seems that the American steel industry has been on the shakes for a few years now. About 8-10 years ago, my dad knew a truck driver who did a lot of side jobs. One of them was to grind off "Made in Japan" from the side of big I-beams, so they could stamp "Made in the USA" on them. He worked over night, and it was very hush-hush.

I have my own theories.. I think china is wanting steel so they can put a rifle in every man's hands, and start taking resources from their neighbors...

 

Guys...I work for a major automotive aftermarket manufacture, and we are being forced into our 3rd price increase in 12 months due to steel prices. The price of steel and oil control the economy....have you bought any 2"x3" tubing for your ch***is lately? ....I have, and it is 3-4 times higher than a year ago.....and your gonna see it in everthing from brakes to head gaskets.

Bottom line, it's gonna cost us more to build our toys....but it worth it, ya can't put a value on Fun !

 

If you know where that desirable car is sitting in a junkyard, buy it now, beg, borrow, steal the money if you have to. If you wait, next month, next year it's going to be gone. While you're there strip the cars on both sides of it, too. Even if it's rusty and ****py - when it's gone, there ain't no more.

 

were gunna need a list of junkyards here on the hamb somewhere so we can all check up on em n buy stuff

 

All I can add to this is a friend of mine has been working in Shang Hi China for the last year for a Furniture maker that used to be US based.
He was in our store last week with pictures while on a visit back home.
I noticed something he had not in all the pictures he was showing,Giant,huge building CRANES,CRANES,CRANES everywhere!
In all the pictures,as far as you could see......CRANES with hot Asian chicks, CRANES with funny looking little cars etc.
He said they can't get enough steel,making or buying.

 

And if you're looking for a specific car, let me know. I know of a good 30,000 cars from decent to **** in New York State junkyards, 20s to 70s. At this point, if it's easier for you to go get it yourself, let's do it and get the car in someone's hands -

 

the NEW steel bodied cars made will climb up also.
last time steel took a climb i had to run to the 'crusher' yard daily as these s**** iron clowns were bringing everything they could get their hands on in to crush.

MAN was there ever good stuff in the yard awaiting a good ol crushing!
55-7 chevs, any remains of any old body they could get their hands on.

a hidden rock quarry near town here was untouched for 30 + years. i snagged a nice 36 ford pickup grill off an old school bus & whatever else i could carry one day in the spring awaiting a thaw so i could drive back in there & LOAD!
i waited a month or so & as i was heading there i could see MUD TRACKS ALL OVER THE ROAD & i knew where they lead to. sure enough they cleaned it out just as i discovered the place & i lost out on many jewels!
lots of mid 30s trucks, a killer gas pump that was frozen down when i was there. i could see right where the loader went & swept it out of the ground!
they filled the school bus with the smalls & right to the crusher everything went!!!!!!!!

 

Good idea, I don't know any but anyone else who does should post em ASAP!! I'm graduating soon and still don't know what i want to do for a living. Maybe I can buy a s**** yard

 

I've been looking for a wrecking yard to buy for a while now.. California does not want any new ones, and existing yards average 200,000 an acre with inventory in SO Cal. Undeveloped M2 commercial is about 75,000 an acre.
Thats before all the permits and fees.
Like I said in another post I got $275 for 2 1/2 tons the other day, and thats 5000 pounds in the US, not 3000 like someone posted earlier.
Also they pay it in Metric Tons, which are actually more than our ton, so you get rooked out of a few hundred pounds..

Buy the cars while you can, because they will get squished if you dont. Old cars are an investment. I have seen few decrease in value over the years.
OH, and a good place to buy your square tube and sheet steel is at the recycle place... they put the good stuff aside and sell it for cheap.. I get 2x3 steel for less than a buck a foot in 20 foot lengths. 6" C channel for 1 buck a foot or less if I take a 20 footer. Sheets of 1/8 for 10 bucks or less.
I usually trade them for my s**** aluminum rims or radiators.
Seek and you will find....

 

funny how many here only see how it affects their own little hot rodding world...the effects of changes like this will be much deeper than the price of hot rodding raw material, if a "few" bucks more in steel for your rod is gonna blow the budget, hang on, it's gonna get ugly!

news flash: it ain't just china, india is right behind them, and actually expected to surp*** china in the next decade. india has something like 1.1 billion people to china's 1.3 billion. but it's really more about america than those countries, yes our steelmaking capabilites have all but disappeared, but what do you suppose caused that? ever stop and consider the consequences of that dirt cheap cherry picker you just picked up at harbor freight? didn't think so. we americans have gotten REAL good at insisting on union shop wages, but pay slave-labor prices. who do you think buys american made steel goods etc.?

i'm gonna stop right here, to save ******* Ryan off and locking this thread. cause if Hunter Thompson pisses him off, this **** would make his head explode.

 

I think China's voracious appe***e for s**** has a lot to do with it. I saw a memo last year and in just a couple years time they went from buying like 40 million metric tons to something like 270 in 2 years from the U.S. Then they make it into barbeques and we buy it back at Mal-Wart.
This is going to have an effect like the s**** metal drive of ww2 and the junkyards will be down to nothing. Many of them around here still hang on to the older stuff but at some point they will cave in. Then when the prices on s**** stabilizes they won't have any inventory to sell parts from and will go ***s up.