Scrap is thru the roof now....

Awhile back , I started a post "scrap price must be going up again" , it was at $10.00 cwt , man , it's going out of sight here now , $$13.25 cwt , gonna go to the scrapyard and hang out in front of the driveway , the way it is around here with the holidays coming and no jobs , gonna be some good shit there...

 

Kinda figured scrap would be going up with all the bad weather. Most the scrap around here is buried in the snow. It's too bad I can get at anything since I got some scrap (mostly old tin). I do fear there will be more stupid scrappers doing what stupid scrappers do and crushing perfectly good old cars.

 

I've seen the effects of scrap prices. I had my eyes on a 54 Caddy and a 49 Merc in a local yard. Both had non-stuck motors and decent bodies. Came back a week later and they were flat. Motors had already been hauled to the incinerator.

 

That's $265 a ton, it was higher a couple years ago, but that's still a pretty good price. I've got a couple I could pick clean and haul in but they're buried in the snow right now.

That's why when you see these cars you have to buy them. Don't "have your eyes on them" and no "thinking about it". You have to buy the shit and drag it home if you're so concerned.

Now is a great time to buy, because people are desperate for cash and tax return time is just a few months away, buy now and sell in April. If you wait until April they'll all be squashed.

 

Well, I went over to the Scrapyard today , drove thru the one that was closest to all the stores that I had to do some last minute shopping at , and I saw some late model Chevy Z-71 pickups , and stuff like that , but , no old tin , just one 66-67 Dodge coronet 4 door , pretty rough , no motor / trans , so , on one thought , nobody else is hauling off old tin , but another thought is , well , there's nothing old left to haul off.....

 

went to an auction last sat. met a salvage yard owner that i know. he has a stash of old stuff that he hasnt crushed yet. he told me "when the dollar is down, scrap goes up" cause it's going overseas. people will be bringing in all the old stuff. if you know of something lying around, buy it, cause it wont be there much longer.

 

There was a report on the Tulsa local news this morning about two guys getting caught stealing scrap from the city. One was a contract part time employee and knew where all the good stuff was.

 

It was only $100.00 a ton the end of October in Oklahoma City when I hauled some stuff away for my dad.

 

I feel for you guys in snow land. You just get screwed. Down here in the south we benefit from your pain. The rivers freeze and everything gets buried so it drives the price up down here.

Thanks

Ps: It was 82 deg. here today

 

oh the horror. When are people going to wake up. These cars arent being built anymore.... everytime one gets crushed, chopped up, hacked up, butchered up its one LESS in this world. Until whats left is whats left. Ugh....

there should be a save-a-car program! its a thought.....

 

"Normal" people dont care about classics. No one wants those "old, oil burning, atmosphere killing" cars around, hence the laws taking effect as of late.

 

I get scrappers driving thru my neighborhood all the time. Last week I had my garage open and my T body is right in plain sight as is other heavy parts like transmissions and such. They had the balls to stop and ask if I wanted to give them any stuff. I told them to f**k off and get out of here. They are nothing but thieves. I had a two foot diameter aluminum drum that I used for bonfires on the side of my house and the scrap bastards stole it.

 

Scrap always goes up ... in colder weather.
Here in the SouthLand ... most of the smarter junk yard guys wait until the end of December or the first of the year to scrap ( in my area anyway ). The place I worked at ( part-time ) for years has about 300 or more vehicles ready for the crusher. The average daytime temperature here is about 60/65 ... so bad weather is not a factor here most of the time.

Most of the stuff that gets scraped around here is later model stuff no one wants. My old junk yard just got a complete 87 Jaguar XJ6 recently for less than scrap $$$ ... It is mine NOW ... donor vehicle ( IFS ) for my 49 Mercury M-47 pickup. Might even use the IRS also

 

Man it was sad here last spring! I took 2 tons of scrap to a local yard here and left with $40 I was seriously pissed! LOL!

 

I had about 15 feet of aluminum gutter blow down in a storm. Scared the daylights out of my daughter who was sitting in the front room when all the rivets popped in sequence and sounded like a machine gun!

Anyway, I had a gutter man come out and put up some new gutter. I took the old stuff, folded it up for the trash man and left it by the curb for pickup in two days.

Next morning early, I grab the pooch for a walk and half-way up the block I realize something was different. Yup, somebody stole my old gutters. At least they had the decency not to tear them off my house!

 

If you do see old cars, and have your eye on them or just know about them, post it here! Maybe somebody will do something with them....

Even if they just buy them and stash them away... maybe someday you will still get a chance to own them, but not if they no longer exist.

 

a guy that works at one of yhe larger scrap yards here in upstate sc told me to watch the gas prices, when gas goes up scrap goes up Im a hvac contractor and end up with alot of copper and coils along with the tin at one point #1 copper was $3.12 a pound

 

Yeah I know of a yard that had acres of old tin that crushed about two thirds of their old stuff the last time scrap got high. Business has probably not been good this year, so hopefully they won't finish it off.
I had a shot at on old Futura over the weekend that was headed to the scrap yard, but had to pass due to lack of funds..

 

Its all about demand for commodity inputs from China and other emerging markets. Copper, oil, gold, silver (up 73% this year), even sugar and corn. Feeding the Asian giant. Its all about a global recovery. Hedge yourself and buy stocks now. Good time to sell my 53 desoto.

 

i never scrap any old car, there is always something to use. look at the wanted posts guys are always asking for little brackets, a sheet metal curve to make a custom piece.

if the cars are bad i will cut it up for parts but it has to be real bad.

and now never leave anything outside the thieves will get it

 

China must be building a fleet of ships

 

Some will always lament the loss of old cars. Here's the truth though, the ones that usually end up scrapped are the ones that would take 5 times their value to bring back. History and heritage need to taken with a grain of salt sometimes. I seriousl doubt I'm going to see any big block Mustangs, Barracudas, Cadillac Eldorados, or Oldsmobile Holiday H.T.s being dragged in. Sure there's some suff from the bread n butter lines that cross over, but why cry over the rusted to ground slant 6 4dr 62 Valiant? Does good stuff go to the "glue factory" once in a while? Maybe but those are such rare occurances somebody can see the light and shag it before it gets shagged. High scrap is a good thing. Clean out your stash and lose all that crap the keeps piling up if ya got it, turn that $$$ into hot rod parts.

History is important and something I tend to treasure. Not everything "old" is precious. Call it perspective. I doubt I'll ever see a mid 30s Packard being hauled off to scrap but I've seen plenty that should be. Some of you know how I love my Packards.

 

Furthermore, I had friends that scrapped old cars during the last "gold rush" that had been offering them for sale for less than what the scrapper gave them, with no takers. Of course, some of the "maybe I'll be back" club started bawling as soon as they were flattened. If you want it, BUY IT.

 

Does this mean that I'll now get a flurry of $100 offers for my boneyard cars that would scrap out at $500, because they want to "save" them?

 

No one wants to see a old car get smashed, but it's our own fault. If you see something out their that can be saved get some cash together and go get it; times are tough if you show up with real cash and don't try and low ball people will sell.

 

You've got to be kidding! You put it out for the trash man and now you feel someone STOLE it?

 

It's called pre-dumpster diving.

 

Summer 2008, right before the recession hit, scrap price was pretty good. I was at the yard and I saw a damn nice '59 Ford 2dr post. The paint was good. The hood was missing and the motor looked freshly rebuilt. Could've easily been a driver with minimal investment.

Bastards wouldn't sell it. Wouldn't sell parts off of it. Nothing.

 

No, I was happy to be rid of it!
Just thought it was funny at the time, wondering why someone would steal bent-up gutters. It wasn't until later in the day that I realized it was probably taken for scrap value. I'm glad to help someone else make a buck with my trash.

 

Whats the current price of scrap copper? I have about 100 lbs ready to go.