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Folks Of Interest What's the coolest thing you have found dumpster diving?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Robert J. Palmer, Jun 20, 2015.

  1. I was reading a thread about dumpster diving a an old Ford dealer.
    It got me thinking about the best thing I found a set of 33-34 Ford wishbones, and what the best thing others have found.

    Photographs welcomed.
     
  2. fuzzface
    Joined: Dec 7, 2006
    Posts: 1,646

    fuzzface
    Member

    Not exactly dumpster dive but a garbage pick back when i had my paper route. I saw a couple of old car air cleaners out by the garbage on my route and stopped picked them up, guy said he was cleaning out the garage and had no use for them.

    Sold the one for $235 on ebay a double snorkel Mopar air cleaner. checked the buyer out what else he brought an just the week before he brought a Mopar with a cheap chrome aftermarket air cleaner on it. Perfect timing.

    Some days I made more picking stuff out of peoples garbage then I did actually delivering newspapers. best part about that job, garbage picking in different areas.
     
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  3. fuzzface
    Joined: Dec 7, 2006
    Posts: 1,646

    fuzzface
    Member

    friend used to live in a condo in town and was selling new items like radio controlled cars, boats and like items, quite often they were damaged but new items. he would take them apart and just sell them in parts At first I had no clue where he was getting them from but an ex girlfriend of his clued me in. he was getting them out of the dumpster at night behind the strip mall that a radio shack was located in. Anything that was damaged, just went into their dumpster. the strip mall was located in front of their condo only separated by a small backyard and a row trees.
     
  4. Rigid Harley Frame,both tank and a oil tank. HRP
     

  5. mike bowling
    Joined: Jan 1, 2013
    Posts: 3,560

    mike bowling
    Member

    4-25-2012 062.jpg Front bumper for a '65 Chevelle with the parking lights and brackets, and a chrome 10 bolt GM cover, both in nice shape , in the scrap metal dumpster at the town re-cycle. Both promptly turned into cashola at the next Amherst NH (RIP) flea market. BINGO! Also got a tin gas station "toy" that someone tossed out. What the heck is wrong with people?? ( sold that for $100. bucks at Fitchburg).
     
  6. Gman0046
    Joined: Jul 24, 2005
    Posts: 6,256

    Gman0046
    Member

    At one time I had a 58 Impala Hardtop with a 280 HP 348 that had three factory two barrels. As I was young and dumb the first thing I did to that car was to remove the factory air cleaner and replace it with chrome pots that wouldn't filter out a small bird. I probably threw the original air cleaner in the trash. That air cleaner would be worth a pretty penny about now if you could even find one.

    Gary
     
  7. milwaukee sawsall with the metal box. cleaned motor and brushes, and sprayed contact cleaner in the switch and now as good as new.
     
    Early Ironman likes this.
  8. This Year?
     
  9. I went to a Local Salvage Yard, as I went past the gate. I found a Midget
    Frame with full Roll Bar Cage. I went to the Office to ask about the Midget
    Chassis Frame, they couldn't tell me,
    Anything but that it wasn't for Sale. I
    Went to their 40 Foot Metal Gondola Savage Dumpster, which was Full of
    Aluminum Wheels. It was full to the 8
    Ft high Walls, & it took 2 Hours to find a Pair of Halibrand NOS 12X5
    Magnesium Ford 5-1/2 X 5 Bolt Pattern. These were the Long Narrow
    Slot Holes with Lips. I paid $10.00 for the Pair. I could never find the other set of Halibrand Wheels. I later
    Found out that these were Rare as to
    The long Slot holes with Lips. Some
    Days you win, Some days you Lose!



    Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
     
  10. Jon SSS
    Joined: Jan 29, 2009
    Posts: 427

    Jon SSS
    Member

    True story:
    I'm walking my dog here in Seattle in the early 90's. I hear tires squealing and see a small car like a Toyota Tercel getting sideways barreling down the street. Four guys in the car with the windows down. It's raining really hard and I think that's odd that one dude is hanging out the window ready to chuck something out of the car. Then I hear sirens and a patrol car haulin' ass behind. Quickly the car cuts into an alley and stops by a dumpster. The cops do not see this, I do. Perps car takes off again and gets cut off by the cops about a block and a half down the street. What to do? It did not take me long to get over to the dumpster and check it out. A bank deposit bag of money!! It's raining really hard now and the bag has filled up with water. I open it up and $20's are floating up to the top. Take all the money out and wring it like a towel to get the excess water out. A huge wad of money. Now a big stack of wet money is in my pants making it look like i just pee'd myself and walk down the street. Low and behold I come up on the police action. They caught up with the perps and are now face down with guns drawn on them. I walked right by those knobs. Money in my pants, them doing the time. I remember telling my wife what happened as I was laying the $20's and $50's on the baseboard heaters to dry. I scored about $500 that day. Never made that much ever again walking my dog Bosley. Guilty; no freakin' way!!
     
    Last edited: Jun 20, 2015
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  11. seb fontana
    Joined: Sep 1, 2005
    Posts: 8,444

    seb fontana
    Member
    from ct

    At the scrap yard I frequented in mid 70's...Ford 9" chuck with 4.30 gears and detroit locker and daytona pinion support and it was an N housing....$3.00...Bare quick change [v8] with crack in nose support bearing boss, left it...That yard closed so visited another up to about 05'...Judson Superchager for VW, $6.00, Small Roots blower for foreign car with electric clutch [yeah Mad Max for real] $5.00...6 Hurst shifter handles $4.00..FE factory tri power intake $18.00..Troybuilt roto tiller, no engine $20.00...Lots of other machine tools and parts but the last best was a complete [but totally apart] Craftsman [atlas] 12" lathe, since I know the machines I dug and found all the parts, thing was virtually like new $70.00..Saw a lot of neat toys there; Army Tank with the top cut off and a chevy v8, Studebaker truck wrecker, couple v12 lincoln blocks, rootes blowers all over the place and one of the sniper machines that was used to dismantle the towers ..Great place to spend a few hours saturday morning..But they closed to public pickers..
     
  12. Not a dumpster, but I pulled a 36 Ford spare tire cover out of a car my cousin was about to haul for scrap.

    I forgot about that one!
     
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  13. Found a 1940,s bakelite clock, curved glass front, in working shape. Let,s just say I sold it to a collector, and that bought me a fresh 283! I have funished my workshop from dumpsters and roadside kill. Grinders, benches, tools, ladders, and a 6X4 trailer as well! I used to drive a delivery truck and before unloading I would check out their garbage pile or dumpster,
    unload the freight, and go back and load my pickings. A few times I would get the "Hey, you cant take that!" Me- "well, your,e throwing it out, aren't you?"- Them "well, yes...."
    Me- " OK, "..and I just keep loading up and drive off. I hate when someone purposely destroys something that they are throwing away, so nobody else will use it or make a buck on it. I would rather see something re-used or repaired or even just sit as yard art than to send it as landfill.
     
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  14. My dad told me my great uncle use to come home form the dump with more then he left with.
     
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  15. mike bowling
    Joined: Jan 1, 2013
    Posts: 3,560

    mike bowling
    Member

    I got that little gas station about 3 years ago- kept it in the garage for a bit, then sold it 2 years ago at Fitchburg. I've gotten a ton of stuff out of the trash over the years; it amazes me what people will throw away!! More treasures---- Lava lamp that needed a bulb.---Car models( pretty nicely built) that I used to decorate my gas station, leftovers from a yard sale and headed for the trash! I don't know if these count for "dumpster diving", but they were all headed in the same direction! If people get pissed at me digging around in their dumpster, I explain that I'm saving them money, and they didn't want the stuff anyway ----"Trash is trash"- Fred Sanford
     

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  16. Was the Sun tach a dumpster find?
     
  17. mike bowling
    Joined: Jan 1, 2013
    Posts: 3,560

    mike bowling
    Member

    Nope- had to spend some of my not-so-hard earned cash on that ( I've got a soft spot for gauges and doo-dads like that). All part of my private museum !
     
  18. 117harv
    Joined: Nov 12, 2009
    Posts: 6,589

    117harv
    Member

  19. JimSibley
    Joined: Jan 21, 2004
    Posts: 3,848

    JimSibley
    Member

    I got a deuce frame that was cut in 4 pieces out of a dumpster .
     
  20. 56sedandelivery
    Joined: Nov 21, 2006
    Posts: 6,695

    56sedandelivery
    Member Emeritus

    I used to keep my Pro Bracket 56 Chevrolet, and later on, my little FED, in a self serve storage complex. I was always checking out the dumpster; a lot of small businesses are run out of them, and those folks throw all kinds of stuff away. But car wise, the starter motor/blower drive setup I gave to a friend, and a pair of 7 fin Vette valve covers I finally gave to an E.R. Dr. I used to work with, after he bought a mid 60's "Poser" Vette; I'm sure he paid to have them installed. The biggest prize was a pair of rectangular port BBC heads; I had a heck of a time getting them out of the dumpster by myself. I sold those for a little $$$$$. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
     
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  21. marfen
    Joined: Aug 14, 2009
    Posts: 406

    marfen
    Member
    from sask

    A mig welder
     
  22. Don's Hot Rods
    Joined: Oct 7, 2005
    Posts: 8,319

    Don's Hot Rods
    Member
    from florida

    One night I went behind our local Harbor Freight and they had evidently tossed out all their returned items that day. There were tons of good stuff with only a few parts missing, but there were 2 and 3 of each item, so I put those together to make one good one. I had my front seat, rear seat, and trunk filled up and had enough toys to keep me occupied for a while ! :D
     
  23. Mike Colemire
    Joined: May 18, 2013
    Posts: 1,428

    Mike Colemire
    Member

    I worked at a salvage yard, pretty good size, several years ago, used to find all kinds of stuff in some of the cars that came in. 76 Dodge, police impound car, had a whole trunk full of tools, most of them Snap On. The garbage man pulled in 1 day and asked if he could leave some stuff he had and pick it up later, I said yea, no problem. He ran a route through the rich section he called it. You ought to see some of the stuff he came up with. He couldn't take it back when he dropped his truck off, so he would leave it with me and pick it up in his own car. Almost new lawn mowers, power tools that needed a cord, etc. They would throw it out and go buy new.
     
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  24. dumprat
    Joined: Dec 27, 2006
    Posts: 3,479

    dumprat
    Member
    from b.c.

    How do ya think I got the nickname? So much of the stuff for my projects has come out of the dump or other guys junk piles.

    Hurst shifter for a dodge 833 hemi four speed, should have grabbed the input shaft too...
     
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  25. Another one I forgot about.

    Found this 32 Ford grill shell by a trash can after a swap meet, very rough.

    Sold it to a friend he made it a wall hanger.[​IMG]
     
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  26. "leftover swap meet stuff"- my favourites
    We used to go past the vacated sites at around noon, and sometimes the siteholder couldn,t be arsed putting the stuff in the garbage, so they just leave it there - picked up sme neat things (NOS jap car parts, power tools, etc). And I didn,t have to haggle the price!
    I made a living in between jobs once from a steady supply of small appliances which were thrown into a dumpster by a retailer as being 'not economical to repair", make 1 appliance from 2 or 3 dead ones, and sell them to 2nd hand shops. They retailer caught on after a while and would get their monkeys to drill holes in kettles, and smash stuff so it couldn't be re-used. Pricks.
     
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  27. big M
    Joined: Mar 22, 2010
    Posts: 709

    big M
    Member

    After a Reno Swap meet about 20 years ago, someone had gotten tired of packing sheetmetal to sell, and placed about 30 hoods, fenders, and decklids in the ten yard bin at the site. Came back with a flatbed and loaded them all up. Mostly fifties vintage, but a few thirties also.
     
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  28. I am a retired mailman and I have picked up a bunch of stuff off the curbs that people were throwing out for trash pickup. I can't remember it all, but I can remember a Dodge 4 barrel intake, a dual line Holley 4 barrel that turned out to be for a 1965 396 Chevelle that I sold on Ebay for nice change. Picked up some 68 Camaro bucket seats in good condition that I sold. I passed by some stuff that I couldn't haul that was gone later. But none of it from a dumpster.
     
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  29. wheeldog57
    Joined: Dec 6, 2013
    Posts: 3,182

    wheeldog57
    Member

    Mr Palmer, you have started yet another cool thread, well done! My best dumpster find was two chevy and one pontiac rally wheels alongside a new take-off softtail exhaust. The rally wheels were sold at Amherst and Fitchburg but the exhaust I can't give away! Oh well, I will use it somehow- too nice to throw back in the trash. Maybe I'm a hoarder
     
  30. 51 BIRD
    Joined: Jan 5, 2010
    Posts: 436

    51 BIRD
    Member

    One morning,I found a viola-shaped case for a Thompson machine gun in the dumpster behind the cellular phone store I was running. It was perfect! Like brand new! So,I boxed it up and sent it to my friend in Florida,who had a Thompson.
     

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