The newest thing in wrecking yard salvage?

So I got to thinking about some of the desired parts of newer (not sure I woud call them newer anymore) cars such as Mustang 2 suspension, Vega steering boxes, and T5 transmissions. What is the next up and coming desired junkyard part that is gonna be hard to find someday? I'm not talking about pieces that are already hard to find. I mean the stuff like I mentioned that at one time there were LOTS of the laying around, almost to the point of me (us) thinking they would never be short of those in the junkyards.

 

I would say LS1 engines...They are everywhere right now, but man are people going through them like water!!! Jim

 

Ford 9" rearends.

 

5.8 Vortecs......

 

I think having a neat stack of WC t5's would be good.

 

So true!

 

Cars, seems alot more yards are crushing for quick cash!

 

For me it's 10 bolt rear ends, Rochester 2gc carbs, and pretty much ALL steelies. I just can't wrap my head around paying $100 a piece for steelies. They should all cost $5 from the junk yard, but these days when you say "steel Wheels" they think you are talking about gay front wheel drive wheels with 10 million round holes in them.

 

sun visor padding.

 

Small block chevys! Big blocks are already hard to find!

 

Ford 8" & 9" rears , Ford C4 trans , Powerglide trans , BBF , SBF , BBC , SBC engines , BB Olds engines if you can find them , Mopar SB & BB engines , 727 trans , steel wheels , pulleys from engines .
These are pretty much parts we can use for all our rides and are getting harder to find everyday . Since there are more import cars on the roads today , that's what the salvage yards will be making the most money on . So you all know what will go to china !

Retro Jim

 

Ya, same thing here. Regular rear drive steel wheels are getting to be a bitch to find!

 

283's....

 

12" aluminum finned brake drums (Buick 57-64 and 64-70). Not long ago I could go into a salvage yard and come out with three pair, at least. Now... zilch.

 

I know of a 283 sitting in a 58 Bel Air not far from where I live. I think it's a 283 anyway...

 

I've had the same thoughts, why didn't we realize years ago that stuff like hemis, Olds engines, Cad Lasalle boxes, 32 Fords, etc would be so rare and valuable one day ? I've tried to think what the next generation of unobtanium will be some day but I can't begin to imagine what those parts will be. Will we one day be looking back and saying "Why didn't I buy up all the Fox Mustangs (or 85-86 Camaros) that I could have bought for $ 600 back in 2012 ????????" It would be like all the model a's and other old cars we passed up for $25 in the 50's.


Don

 

Never thought as a kid there would be shortage of 283s and 327s but that day is here now.

 

drive shafts.... my local pick-a-part.... moves the cars with a forklift... bending almost every drive shaft....

Roy

 

AMEN to THAT! And doesn't it piss you off when they rip a huge gash through a hard-to-find gas tank so that they can drain the fuel from it?!?

 

Get THIS..! I happened to notice an old Chrysler FirePower hemi (58-ish I assume?), complete, with manual transmission still attached, stuffed in a corner up on a rack at a local salvage yard, so I asked the owner how much he wanted for it. He said he really hadn't thought about selling it because he wanted to make a "cool coffee table out of it..." A DAMNED COFFEE TABLE!?!

It took a bit of negotiating to get him to come off his "coffee table", but...

 

I got two sitting in my garage.
One is definitely for sale, one definitely is not.

 

I have a stash of some parts, not nearly enough by most standards here though. Give it another 10 years and the 'yards will have nothing that we want, unless the face of 'rodding takes a drastic turn, scary.

Bob

 

Yeah, I know what you mean.... I ran into these 2 guys from Austria cutting the back half off of a complete all original 58 Edsel in the Atlanta South Pull-A-Part saying that he was gonna convert it into a couch in his basement "Man Cave" ????? I was thinking why knot grab every thing off of it and post it so that some who might need an original part can restore their rides.

 

I needed a right side exhaust manifold for a sbc in a 69 pickup.
The one that turns back at an angle. Several yards and friends later ,3 weeks later I got one. On my hunt I found all manifolds are hard to find.

 

I didn't know 283's were getting hard to find. I have one I'd sell as well. It's just sitting in an engine cradle in the corner of my garage. I also have a 350 turbo tranny (will they EVER be 'rare'?) and a C4 Ford trans. I didn't think C4's were hard to find either... I guess I should pay attention!!

 

the rarest piece for me to find RIGHT NOW is a f*cken 225 slant6 oil pan out of a truck with rear stump!the only one i found has 2 holes where they punched holes to drain oil or a header for same motor..

 

Minivan middle and rear seats-now being used for some early cars and pickups.

 

Older style steering columns, without all the cruise, wiper, etc.

 

Cigarette lighters! These are so dangerous, and very period.

 

My best salvage yard find to date... A 1972 Ford FE 390 punched 0.040 with forged aluminum pistons, fresh built heads, a monster cam, and all new accessories. The heads and valley were so clean you could eat off of them. The engine looked as though it had been installed in the 72 F100, test fired, and then shut down, never to be started again. I found a build tag on the side (Aaron's Auotmotive Products, Springfield MO) so I researched it a little, and ended up talking with a tech at Proformance, which acquired Aaron's and all their records. According to the build number it had been built in the mid to late seventies. I took it home, disassembled it and reassembled to make sure everything was as it seemed, cleaned it up, and it now resides under the hood of a 66 Galaxie 500 I'm building for my son.

Paid $164.50 for it.