Hot Rods Salvage Yard Visit

Today I went to French Lake Auto Parts in Annandale Minnesota to pickup the Chevy 230 and Saginaw SM326 for our 3100 project. These guys are very helpful and have neat stuff. I just wish they were closer to home. I bought the engine and transmission off of the bay of E and picked it up in person. Their yard is 100 acres and mostly vintage stuff that we need. I will be back.

 

Oooooohhhhhh, aaaaaaaaahhhhhh, I'm jealous.

 

Oooh I want the Bonneville!

 

That blue 56 International S-110 pickup truck is salvageable!
Those are getting harder to find, I wish it was in eastern Washington state and not potentially rusted out, that's a worthy project!

 

Cool

 

Cool, they post a lot of neat stuff on Instagram

 

Dang , question .

are they an active yard and specialize in older stuff and are actively buying , or an old yard with a ton of stock ?

either way cool beams I love the pics that come out of this yard !!!!

 

They’re the guys that got the 32 truck I hemmed and hawed about after seeing it on Craigslist.

I thought $500 was too steep for what it was. I looked at it and the guy even offered to let me sleep on it. Called him back the next day to pass on it & he said they were next in line.

Guess they didn’t feel the same way.

 

The cool thing about French lake is everything is in structured rows of makes , No climbing over cars you are not interested in .

 

Vandenplas, they are an active yard. They do have some late model stuff, but they have a ton of older stuff and I’ve gotten the impression they are still getting in old stuff too. I found them when I was looking for a 235, but an overhaul kit for a 235 is twice what a kit for the new 6 costs, and the new 6 has 7 main bearings and hydraulic lifters. I’m perfectly capable adjusting valves, heck, I do it at work all the time, but it’s just one less thing to do.

 

They bought out my brothers BIL's estate about 2-3 years ago. Probably 25 cars and everything related.
Even snagged up all the old tires with rims for the resto guys.
They got a really nice 67 Camaro and some 55 stuff.
They had the Camaro sold already and I bet for more then they had in the whole works.

 

Good yard with good people and it’s only a little over a hour from my place.

 

Just rub it in why don’t you!! This is my first trip to Minnesota as an adult(?) and the country up here is beautiful.

 

It’s beautiful because it’s got low miles on it. They keep it in cold storage 9 months out of the year.

 

This is a place I really need to go to at least once in my life. I've heard great things. I feel like even after most of the little small-time yards have gone away, this place will still be there, doing business.

 

The 289 , left hand exhaust manifold in the photos , is close to hens teeth .

 

They have a ton of stuff on eBay. Cool thing to me is they’ll ship big stuff like motors.

 

I just gave 2 of those away a few weeks ago…..

 

How's their prices?

 

You went all the way there AND about the same time that @Moriarity did, and you didn’t have enough time for a tour?
Shame on you!

 

I paid $200 for a 1964 Chevy 230 from a C-10 and $150 for the SM326 from a 1970 C-10. That seem super reasonable to me.

 

Quite a positive difference from Illinois ,aye ?

 

I never thought of asking Mark for a tour. Cue Homer Simpson saying D’OH!!!!

 

Oh yes! The roads up here are in great condition. In England they drive on the left side of the road, in Illinois we drive on what’s left of the road.

 

Heck Mark, if I was even near the state of Mn your inbox would be full of my message’s.
And how cool is it you are in the vicinity of two yards that might have what you are looking for?

 

Now that is FUNNY right there!

Ben

 

Skip and Cody are great!
When I was looking for 41 Super Deluxe bumpers, Skip answered my want ad on here and gave me a great price on one, off a sedan they had just gotten in. Cody got it packed up and shipped, and pleasantly surprised me by including the mounting brackets plus the art deco tag bracket!
Above and beyond! Wish I lived close, and was more tolerant of Ol’ Man Winter.