Pretty much all the "good" yards are gone around home. Ashame, but most of those guys were no businessmen. The nearest guy, I needed a pair of doors for a Celebrity. Rather than unbolt the rear door he, yep, torched the 'B' pillar! Sure enough, when I went to put things together I found I needed to section the 'B', so he ends up having to cut another car up just for that. (at the time, in the late 90s, a Chevy Celebrity was the nicest, newest thing he had!) In hs a friend's father had a 67(?) Coronet that he tried selling for years, kinda ugly 4dr but straight, factory AC, the 318 would run but for some reason he wouldn't spend the money for the new fuel pump it needed. Kept trying to get a hundred bucks for it and finally sells it to this junkyard. I go there a week later and they had run a truck into the back already, enough to ruin a quarter and bumper.
I remember Sheldon Auto Wrecking in the SFV that had some cool stuff. He would let you pull parts if you demonstrated that you knew what you were doing. Bought a 1967 Dodge 440 Magnum from him. Had him pull it for $10.00. He not only unbolted everything (no torch work) but didn't even cut the wiring and he gave me the bucket of bolts from the removal. Man I wish those days were here now that I'm fixing up old stuff.
Our local "pick-your-part" has plenty of the steel wheel jackstands in the yard but also has plenty of steel wheels. I was able to find a full set of late 80s-early90s Ford police/taxi wheels which take a nice oversize hubcap with a simple Ford oval in the center. The caps are still available from Ford and made a nice addition to my friends 32 3W project for $20. Wheels are $5 each, with or without tires.
i work collision, and my favorite "der-ta-der" thing is when you get a complete used door with all the wiring intact, and they cut the main plug on inch from the end. just engough so you can't use the wiring IT'S A PLUG, JUST UNPLUG IT!! they also do it with headlights, taillights, basically anything that has a wiring plug on it. i've even seen it done on a power mirror once. i'm a firm believer that some people just need slapped.
I was looking for a engine wiring harness for a daily driver and everyone except for the last one on the row has something cut off,if they took a throtle body or distributor out the cut it instead of unplugging it and in the same yard I got some disc brake spindles to use on my 65 country squire the yard guy cut the A arms with a torch. If I owned a yard I would probably go through alot of parts pullers since I would not tolerate the destruction of parts.
A Buddy of mine owns a salvage yard down in Phoenix and he no longer allows people to pull their own parts(unless he knows you).People just tear **** up.
The local U-pull it is a training ground for car thieves,they butcher the columns and practice so they can steal them faster on the street.
I went to the U pull it in Belton TX to find a distributor and wiring for a Duraspark conversion. Only found one cause all the others had been hacked to pieces to get to other stuff. I had called a regular junkyard and got a quote for a dist and wires and was told 45 bucks. When I get there, the guy tells me he meant to say 100 bucks. I told him to **** off, I could get a refurb for 40 and a warranty.
I agree,my sister's '56 Olds had a set of camaro wheels on it when she got it,and I managed to scrounge up a set of 15x7 steelies off of a '91 Roadmaster,the only ****py part was pulling them off a car that was parked halfway in a huge mud puddle
It pisses me off as well,I can remember many times seeing a vehicle at the u-pull-it that looks like it would have what I need,and then walking up and seeing that part laying on the ground with muddy foot prints all over it. If I need to remove something to get to what I need,I always just put it inside the vehicle in the backseat unless it's wasted,then I just toss it in the trunk or bed of whatever i'm working on.
I went to a self service yard with a friend and noticed alot of GM trucks with the throttle bodies taken off and intakes, and Im ***umming, the engine full of water. Steel wheels were ****tered everywhere. A few piles here and there I guess so they can just grab em for stands when they need em. Its deffinately an experience for a person whos never been to one.
Ahh, so I'm not the Lone Ranger with my feelings about U-Pick yards? LOL, I keep trying however. Last week I picked up three 3/4 ton Dodge 16" wheels, so I'll have a complete set of matching (bolt pattern) wheels for the Diamond T, and our '46 Spartan Manor. Two steel ones on the trailer, one spare (for it and the truck), and I can take the two aluminum 17"s off the trailer and put them on the truck to match the two that are now on it. The rims were 15 apiece with junk tires, and they were already off. Not bad. This was offset by the w/s wiper motor I got off the back of Jeep Cherokee to try to adapt to the '51 Pontiac. I spent about 20 minutes pulling it, it's was 7 bucks. It's a 25 minute drive each way from my house. So (if I don't count the wheels, which I just stumbled across) I drove an hour, spent almost half an hour pulling the (junk) seven dollar wiper motor, and about 10 bucks worth of gas. That's almost a hundred bucks, counting my time, and I could buy a NEW wiper motor that bolts in for not much more than that. I know some guys LOVE going, I just don't seem to have much luck at it. Brian
my grandfather had a junk yard that i grew up in amd worked in for years. he p***ed on and my uncles then aquired it. one of my first jobs was cutting up cars to go to s**** [pre crusher days] most of them were tri 5 chevys. i used to complain about. my uncle told me to quit whining. when he was my age he cut up model t's and model a's. i was restoring an old supermod with some local history. one day i was out picking up a car. when i got back, some guy, with a crusher had stopped by looking for cars to crush. well, my uncle drug the mod out of the garage and had him crush it. they thought it was reall funny. needless to say i was mad. i'm still mad to this day and that happened in 1976. i never got a chance to get the yard muself. my uncles determined it shouldn't be in the familey anymore. lots of junkyard owners are *****s. it's harsder to deal with when it's your blood familey. steve pastorino
Seems like at my pick a part most of the cars are small imports and not too many (if any) old cars and once in a while there is an old car and it is like a skeleton, not to mention all the emblems are either pulled or just broken off.
The Jalopy Journal
