What will be left in a couple years......

I was just thinking about all the old cars crushed during WWII....and how massive amounts of scrap metal are now heading to China. Will our hobby survive this latest attack on our raw material???....or will we be hotrodding Honda Accords sooner than we think? Kinda scary, especially when I see young males walk by my hotrod and show no sign of emotion....good or bad....just nothing. I bet if I had a sign on it that said "Free ipods" I'd see some reaction! Hmmmm....chopped and channelled ipods...NAH

 

Have you walked in your favorite junkyard lately????.....any deuces left...or model A's....or 37 Dodge fourdoors.....55chevys....70 Nova's....80 Malibu's....or ANYTHING even remotely close to cool???....It's gettin very sparse around here.....michigan....the former home of the "Big Three"....and generations of American iron lovin hotrodders. Crushers are workin overtime, and ya can't blame the yard owners.....too much epa, and high scrap prices make the choice to crush an easy one.

 

Last week I had the distinct displeasure of walking into a yard in time to see a 1964 Bel Air wagon complete with a full grille, trim and tail lights get crushed.

It was a sad day!

 

As I was driving through Rose City about a week ago I seen what looked like a 1934 Chevy 4dr. ( probably to rough to do anything with) on a trailer with a bunch of scrap steel heading for the scrap steel place in town,........ ( Steve, do you need to borrow a Hood to start building your Deuce ?,... Let me know )

 

How can you claim young males show no emotion when walking past a hotrod. For some this is true but not for most. I drive a 63 Ford failane 4-door, rear handles shaved, all side trim shaved, half grey primer/half scuffed down black paint,rear is slammed do to weight in back, while the front is still stock height. It's nothing real pretty now, it's loud as hell and it's my current rod(more of a custom in the works). I get attention from everyone in town. Young/old, male/female(it don't help in this department).Everyone at my high school knows what I drive, and I over hear people talk about it all the time.

 

The scrap dealers don't "kick no tires"....and the prices paid on scrap steel these days is high enough that a lot of saveable cars (or at least cars with many saveable parts) will meet their end in the crushers.

It's too bad because once they're gone, nothing is going to bring them back. The junkyards don't want to devote space to storing a car that "might" sell in a few months...or longer, when the scrap dealers are offereing cash now.

All I can say is, if you've seen something you like in a junkyard, better go ahead and make an offer that will buy it. If you wait too long, the scrap yards will beat you to it.

 

I think theres more 32 Fords on the road now than in 1932. As the "old timers" pass on , the collections go to another person or get broken up, plus, they make new 26-32 roadsters, 32coupes, 34 roadsters, 48-54 chev cabs, 57 chevs,67-69 cameros, and 67 mustang fastbacks in steel so it who knows whats next.

 

Not even close ...
Henry Ford made over 200 thousand 32 Fords. That would mean 4 thousand 32's in each and every state ( 50 states ) ...
NO WAY ...

California may double or triple the 4 thousand mark ... but Arizona, Delaware and Rhode Island could not have 4 thousand all total between the three of them.



Most of the stuff that goes into this crusher ... is late 70's and up. He saves the older stuff ...

GO here to this thread I posted for info about a junk yard with lots of older stuff ( and photos to prove it )

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=116005

 

Twas think about this subject today, Hatch. I drove by a yard I'd never checked out that had been COMPLETELY crushed out except for a '65 Goat. I live near a crusher and occasionally watch loads go in with '50s car and truck bodies that could've been saved before the winch sucked 'em into shit. Don't get me wrong, I occasionally crush a car too, but almost all are from the '80s or '90s.

Right now, I'm looking for a '55 Ford, a moredoor is my first choice no less to loosly replicate my first car. Bought Auto Trader and few were under $8-10K and were restos. A freakin' '55 Ford..not a Chevy which everybody but I want. Am I gonna find a solid one within 500-800 miles of here or are they all gonna be crushed out? I used to crush cars (had a wrecker) for a living in rhe '80s, but saved ANYTHING older or interesting. But this new breed doesn't think beyond $$$$ now.

Ranting to rant...

Jan

 

Believe it or not, some cars aren't popular enough to make it worthwhile to repop parts. Those cars, if not already in top shape, are getting hard to keep nice. Soft parts and engine stuff is getting scarce, sheetmetal may be near impossible to find. So for all the guys messing with Hudsons, Studebakers, and DeSotos we are having a tough time and it will continue to get worse. Until someone starts making new '50s Mopar shells.

 

I think there will always be old metal out there to fix up. Hell in the little town I live in there is lots of old projects to be had. If I did not have two that I am needing to do right now I could easily pick up a half dozen or more cheap projects.

I agree though that a lot of wrecking yards are going bye bye too. sucks but it is happening.

As the more common projects are snatched up we will probably see some of the other not so common projects happen. Which sounds pretty exciting to me. I have seen enough tri five chevy cars and old mercs to last me a life time and it is getting that way with 49-54 chevy cars and trucks now too.

and there is a lot of 60s/early 70s metal out there too still.

I think we are safe from seeing us have to worry about fixing up honda accords anytime soon. Hell I almost picked up a smog exempt 240z a few weeks ago in really nice condition for 500 bucks just to toss a sbc in it but the wife would have killed me. I would not mind fixing one of them up eventually though.

And in the town I am in every friday sat night there are quite a few hot rods out at the local diner and the kids that come out to eat love them.

also, a lot of cars/trucks you can make an old looking vehicle out of completely new parts. as parts get more scarce there will be huge markets for these cars. If I had the money I would love to start a company making these old cars and selling them. It would be hard in the US if they did not meet new car standards but you could make them in Mexico and sell them in the US as used...then they do not have to meet new car standards.

 

I got a car mag from the 50's I bought on ebay for the banger info and it said "almost extinct" model a bodies. hahahaha. Imagine them saying in the 50's that model a bodies are almost extinct. I hear ya on the hobby though. I wonder about buying a legit 69 camaro (we already got a 30 ford) for my boy who is 18 months old just in case there are none left but I wonder if he will even appreciate ancient muscle. Should I stockpile 750 holleys as they are the 97's of the future?

 

Not to be argumentive, but unless you're buying restored A Bones, you're digging up pieces that no one wanted 40 years ago. As for your son's Camaro, that is a smart, smart move! Whether he appreciates it or not, that's money in the bank. That car will pay for his education if he so chooses. Probably buying numbers matching 750 Holleys wouldn't be a bad investmet, as silly as it sounds. As for many, I see the Fakestang and Kamaro re-pro as the toys of the future. Hot rodding will be a rich guy and gal's hobby. Between artifically high scrap prices and the Barrett-Jackson Syndrome, the only affordable old cars left to build by 2025 will be Toyotas, Hondas and such shit. Luckily, I'll be 75 years old, on a self run morphine pump and won't give a damn.....

Jan

 

man, when i look back on the hot rodding past from the 40s till the late 60s, it blows me away how HUGE it was at one time... mainstream tv shows, music (on pop radio stations), the dragstrips all over the place....

its hard to believe how the fire just totally burned out. but ive said it before, and ill say it again. its all because of the drug doin hippy generation, smokin pot and being lazy. havin kids, and not teaching them SHIT. cuz they didnt get into cars cuz they were to busy smoking pot and waving anti war and save the tree signs. some of them even made it to the desk jobs..... and back to the original point.

my generation is a fucking embarrassment! LAZY FUCKS, im so ashamed to live in this time.... fucking people sit around and play video games. take my brother for example. when we were kids we used to go outside every chance we got, riding BMX bikes and skateboarding. now all he does is sit in his room and play world of warcraft, he doesnt eat hardly ever and he barely leaves his room, he only leaves the house to go to his PART TIME job at quiznos(hes out of HS...) then its back to his room, unless he sneaks down to the kitchen to grab chips.... THERES ALOT OF GUYS LIKE HIM! it sucks that my brother got sucked into that, i worry about him.

ive been trying to get him to come out some times, i told him he can drive my model A when i get it running. he actually seemed excited. hope he really does.

lack of pride in work, always talk about the world comming to an end, lazyness, no one caring about the past or giving respect to those who came before. its sad really.... i hope you guys are building mini bikes and go karts with your kids, because thank god i did when i was a boy.

 

The Woods and obscure scrap yards still have plenty to offer, atleast, around here.

I can't imagine the stuff out west.

I too live in a shitty generation. Nobody has any real motivation to do anything.

 

car guys are notoriously cheap... start saving the iron by buying tin at the junkyards price, obviously within reason.... some yard owners are sniffing glue.

as an example, desertratrodder in palmdale gives great deals to people and yet "car guys" for example, will try and haggle $1.00 down to .25, deffinately irritating if you have to deal with it daily... not everyone does this, but the majority do.

something to think about.

 

Here iN Mobile Alabama, the oldest car you will find on the road and in junk yards is a 1990. everything else goes to the steel mill. But, I been working in 100 miles away In MS. and they are everywhere, daily drivers. Saw a 32 at the stop light today. I can find at least six, 50's pickup running for sale within 45 minutes.

 

Anything 72 and back on our yard we hang on to it, all 73 and newer cars get crushed every change they get. Most of the big bodied 73-77 get bought up by the round d round guys(DEMO CARS), and the metric bodied cars are the choice for dirt/asphalt racers. They have passed laws here wanting all the cars not running, sitting in everyones back yards, to be hauled off.... I myself love it. I'm getting more old stuff all the time..

 

Young women just don't know what to think of anything older than 1980.

Sometimes...its a good thing.

 

Truer words have never been posted here ...

It really upsets you.
One day a fellow walked in to the yard I was working at and had a Ford F-100 hubcap in his hand. The late 60's dog bowl type. He asked how much ??

I said 3 dollars ... He offered one dollar
I asked to see the hub cap. He handed it to me and I threw it in the trash can ... ( behind the counter )

He got all fuzzed up ...
I said if it is not worth 3 dollars ... it must be trash.

Then He pulled out 3 dollars and I told him it was not for sale ... we did not sell trash. He left unhappy ... without the hub cap ... the cheap dummy.

 

i dunno. i think they're will be stuff for a while. think of all the cars that were forgotten a while back and rediscovered. he'll when kids my age get shit passed onto them, most will want nothing to do with it unless it means some cash in their pocket. i live in what's considered the new york suburbs and riding my bike around town i've found a 53 chev, 40 ford coupe, 53 ford sedan, mid 50's cad, and more just sitting around in peoples yards. and if i can find that stuff out here, i imagine where people still have some land, there must be even more cars. also given the level of immediacy younger people need, assuming they like old cars, they'll probably just buy a completed one. growing up with the internet and fast food and drive through everythings, they're just used to stuff being there when they want it. no patience. i'm 23 and i dunno how i slipped through that trap.

 

hatch,i tought myself about this issue...for how long we could have good jukyards and raw material to save....

well,we got the same question here too...with my local car nuts gettin the point on cars around,what we stil could find...

does'nt bother me much,cause accordin on what i hear worldwide i'm livin in a happy rusted island,Mexico....

in other words,TONS of good stuff still to be picked up...really!!

and about those Mavericks raer ennds,how many do you need???there are millions around taht you can buy for the weight....are just the most popular cars ever here...lot's of em.

see, lookin back i'm sure it pays a lot more in the future to live down here in Mexico,just because of the great amount of stuff that still can be found....

but of course it's not like 10 years ago,when old cars were justy sittin all over the roads...now you must look for them,but they are still around...only hidden!!!!

well,feel kinda relaxed and happy of my personal choice....sled

 

Just a hunch,.... but I would guess not.

 

I havew enought to keep me and my kid busy for the next 100 years. Speaking of yards. Down in Lata Northcarolina theres a tri 5 chevy yard.... Has any one ever stopped there. I didn't I don't know if the guy sales or just collects

 

These regulations requiring people to rid their own property of vehicles that they own, and in many cases intend to fix up, are rediculous. In the meantime...the same lawmakers require us to recycle all our soup and coffee cans to "save" raw materials and protect the environment.

How many soup cans does it take to make up for an entire car that gets scrapped because of some stupid wasteful property maintenance law?

 

Here where I live, there's multiple ads in the papers, and signs on every busy corner by guys looking for scrap cars to buy. I saw a 59 Ford 4 door on a rolloff Sunday afternoon that looked to be something picked up by one of the local junker buyers. Most ads/signs say they'll pay $75-100 percar running or not. I bet the guys in the rural areas get stuff like that 59 all the time from the old farmers, and love it, because they'll get $250 for it going across the scales due to it being all old, heavy steel. Maybe try an ad like that and say that you want pre-1970 cars only.

 

you guys just aren't looking in the right spot, there's about 5-10 spots in so-cal just like this one. not really junk yards but the stuff's there if you have the $ and know where they're at (sorry i'm not going to post it on a public board these guys get hounded enough as it is.)

there were probably about 100 or so cars just a few months ago (the owners moving to az. and has sold off quite a few and moved alot to his new place too.) still there are 6 32 cabrio's, a couple of 32 roadsters, a few 3 windows, 4 or 5 sedans, 6 or so 5 windows, plus all the model a, 33-4-5-6-7-8-9's etc and alot of other stuff too (dodges, chevy's, etc.) and all the random engines, trans, axles, and bits and pieces. a combination of guys like this who bought the stuff back in the 70's when no one else wanted plus alot of the older guys means there will always be stuff to pass on to the next generation.

 

Hey Hatch I think you might need to leave the neighborhood to find your next project. It's getting that bad. I know what you're saying though. I'm 30 and my brother is 28 so we just caught the end of the 70's. Lucky for us there were still cool cars from the 60's and 70's driving around even though they were 10-20 something years old when I started noticing them. Unfortunately I think guys born in the 70's were the last batch of males who were automatically interested in cars. My friends that are younger than me really couldn't care less about old cars. There's always exceptions but I think the car guy gene was recessed out of the gene pool somewhere around 1980. I think a lot more hot rods are going to be pieced together like I'm doing with my roadster. Or they'll be bought through Brookville. Getting hard to find complete bodies these days.

 

I dunno.....I really hate to travel more that a few thousand feet to find vintage tin.....I suppose I could stretch that boundry a few more hundred feet if it becomes necessary.....OH the sacrifices I have to make!!!