I have the next couple of days off and wouldn't mind taking a short trip somewhere near the Minneapolis/St. Paul area to look around some junkyards. You don't have to give away your little secret or anything, but if there's something within an hour or so that you know of, let me know. I could even keep my eyes open if you're looking for something...
for older cars/parts....French Lake Auto Parts in Annandale , 60 miles west of the cities. the owner is on here , 396skip
I have no idea if its still there but back in the early 80's or so there was a place called Nates antique auto parts. It was almost downtown Minneapolis. May be gone now because of its location.
394/12 west out of cities to the town of cokato, there is one stop light in cokato, take a right and go approx. 8 miles french lake auto parts is on the left.
Come on out....depending on what you are looking for,we can let you look in acouple buildings and semi trailers,and for now you are welcome to walk and yard look around....still some neat old stuff out there.......Skip
Hey Skip in your post it says " for now you are welcome to walk the yard and look around" the way you say "for now" makes it sound like we won't be able to walk the yard in the future, I hope thats not true? Its therapy for us car guys to walk your yard, and the food in the summer is great. Keep up the good work F.L.A.P. is great.
One of the guys in the club is probably there right now (FLAP). When he mentioned he was going he got got a short list from about five different guys that had special requests. I'd never been up there until about 2 years ago- I couldn't believe my eyes! I've never been up there and spent less than 3 hours. Even if I pull the part I need in the first 20 minutes I still love to stroll and do a little browsing. Most of the time I bring a camera with me. I'd bet I have close to 1000 photos from up there. They're nice to consult after I get home and can't remember anymore if there was a certain car out there and what condition it's in. A lot of times I use the photos to later make paintings. Here's an example. Like one of the guys above said, it is like therapy to just even get up there and poke around (but I'm not just a 'window shopper' I've never been up there and NOT spent money- infact I usually end up spending far more money than I'd planned). Once I walk out the back doors there I just feel instantly relaxed- I love it! 396Skip- I'm not sure if this is correct, but are you Floyd's son? I guess just based on his age I assumed he was the owner. Anyway- the place ought to be on the register of National Historic sites. Well, well worth the trip from the cities! Jay
The insurance is killing us...up until a couple years when we had people start signing in,it cost us just shy of $100,000 a year libility to let people roam around.Then after the sign in sheet it went to $50,000.It has been slowly going up since,seems like they dont just want a peice of the pie,they want the whole thing.It is fun seeing the same people come back year after year,then they bring their son/sons out and it ends up being a routine for them also..thats cool. Alienbaby17,yes Im one of 5 sons and 2 daughters.As of Jan1st 2007,the 5 of us boys took over,Im Pres/Ceo and Shawn is VP,are plans are to keep bringing in all the old stuff we can.Another thing we do is bring lots of semi loads of old cars/parts home from AZ and NV.Its a very unique business since we cover the years of 1920-2005..Most of the newer inventory in buildings is on computer,but its really hard for the stuff in the yard,anyone thats been here on a Sat in the summer can see why it would be hard to inventory everything in the yard,#1..we crush around 5,000 cars/trucks a year and when customers pull their own parts,they would have to write down stock#s for us to remove off inventory...that dont work....So for now we love the old stuff and love having all the guys that enjoy the hobby come out and roam around for what most of us call "Theropy"...To anyone that has never been here,we will give it our best to help you with your parts needs.
I'm sold, I plan on going Friday late morning/early afternoon. Anyone want me to keep my eyes open for anything? I'll probably bring a camera. See you tomorrow Skip!
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