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Coolest thing you have ever found at a wrecking yard???

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by jokerjason, Jul 23, 2009.

  1. Bought a 50 Merc convertible that was hit by a train Christmas eve 1959 . had no miles on it, but man was it wrecked! I understood from the yard guy that everyone was killed. Everything there to make a coupe into a convertible was useable. Mind you, this was 20 years ago when you could still find a coupe too. Ha,ha!
     
  2. 296 V8
    Joined: Sep 17, 2003
    Posts: 4,666

    296 V8
    BANNED
    from Nor~Cal

    (nice) 64 GTO hood w (nice) scoop trim - $10.00
     
  3. Ricky Bobby
    Joined: Mar 25, 2009
    Posts: 35

    Ricky Bobby
    Member

    The coolest thing i ever found in a wrecking yard was a 32 3 window coupe!!!!:d
     
  4. axe grinder
    Joined: Feb 15, 2009
    Posts: 919

    axe grinder
    Member

  5. Deuce Roadster
    Joined: Sep 8, 2002
    Posts: 9,519

    Deuce Roadster
    Member Emeritus

    $500.00 ( five ... one hundred dollar bills )

    [​IMG]

    Taped under the dash pad of a mid 70's Ford pickup.
    I removed the pad and the $500 was taped to the bottom of the dash pad.
    This was about 20 years ago.

    :)
     
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  6. T.W.Dustin
    Joined: Nov 18, 2008
    Posts: 883

    T.W.Dustin
    Member

    I was pretty happy with this '52 Chrysler Imperial Hemi I liberated from an AZ junkyard this past spring - it turns over, it's super clean inside and it's safely tucked away in my garage waiting it's turn to breathe again in some form of an open engine Model A configuration :D

    [​IMG]
     
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  7. tjet
    Joined: Mar 16, 2009
    Posts: 1,335

    tjet
    Member
    1. Early Hemi Tech

    I stopped by an old junkyard in San Bernardino just to do some looking around. I found a shell of a mid 60's Olds 2 door that was completly stripped. There was nothing else you could remove from it, unless you had a cutting torch.

    I noticed there was a "lump" in the dirt under the front of the car. I dug out 2 cylinder heads & cleaned them off. I found the letter "A" on the left side of each head, so I knew that they were big block olds. So, I carried these 2 (heavy) heads, along with my tool box to the cashier & bought them. I think I paid $65 for the pair.

    I got home & googled the casting #'s. The heads came off a '65 442. I later sold them to a guy who was restoring a 442. He was happy to get them & I made a nice profit.
     
  8. Some other random things I found:

    94, 97 and 48 carbs by the basketful

    A complete Model A roadster floor and subrails

    a bunch of model trains and slot car track from the '60s

    '53 Buick wire wheel style hubcap - yep, a factory phony wire wheel cover -

    Buick aluminum drums

    One Hollywood mag wheel, like the Green Hornet TV car used

    An old marbled shift knob with a red eye on the end of it

    All sorts of headlights, carbs, generators and other parts - one $200 car I sold a single carb out of it for $140.

    Tripped over a '41-'48 Chevy factory spinner wheel in one yard

    Another yard opened the hood of a '59 Pontiac to reveal a still-intact tri-power

    Bought an old Coke machine from the '50s for $20 at one yard... later went back and got a 6' round Texaco sign for $30.

    Really there's been too many things to remember to try to list them all. Have tried to bring home as many as humanly possible.
     
  9. CanUFelix
    Joined: Jan 29, 2009
    Posts: 503

    CanUFelix
    Member
    from venice CA

    A Betamax copy of "A Clockwork Orange" well before it was legaly available in the UK.

    I was 12 and we smashed it with rocks.........
     
  10. 31modelo
    Joined: Apr 9, 2006
    Posts: 1,141

    31modelo
    Member

    A rebuilt and very clean 62 Caddy 390 just this week for $150.
     
  11. poorboy
    Joined: Feb 8, 2003
    Posts: 1,467

    poorboy
    Member

    I need to go to wrecking yards more often!
     
  12. mrolds88
    Joined: Jul 12, 2009
    Posts: 83

    mrolds88
    Member
    from WV

    How about a 70 Olds Ram Air hood for $80. Of course that was about 17 or 18 years ago. Still have it.
     
  13. When I was a kid I watched a couple "gettin it on" in the back of an old van.
     
  14. ezdusit
    Joined: May 10, 2008
    Posts: 246

    ezdusit
    Member

    A set of five Kelsey Hayes chrome plated wire wheels from a '63 Thunderbird. I paid $135 for the whole set. I put them on my '59 Retractable for three years, then sold them for $1,200.
     
  15. Airborne34
    Joined: Dec 4, 2007
    Posts: 633

    Airborne34
    Member
    from Texas

    When I was a Kid I worked at a junk yard and the owner used to let me purge the cars of all the crap. Well, he used to let me keep the change and sell all the oil, tools & misc stuff I would find. You would not believe the crap people leave in cars. Made $200 a month

    More recently, got 10 Vintage Schwinn 26' Beach Cruiser frames for free. They did very well on Fleabay and Craigslist.
     
  16. wolfgang_90
    Joined: Feb 11, 2007
    Posts: 19

    wolfgang_90
    Member
    from Albany, NY

    Why don't we have cool things like this in Albany, NY? They look oddly at me when I say I don't know what I want, just something to fit my truck, and they also don't let us wonder around the yard anymore.
     
  17. metalman
    Joined: Dec 30, 2006
    Posts: 3,297

    metalman
    Member

    Use to be a towing company where the owner would pull the motors before crushing the wrecks and sell them cheap. I was there buying a 460 Ford for a clients project, guy that owned the yard wanted to know if I wanted a FE he just pulled out of a 69 PU for another $50, said he didn't know if it was a 360 or 390. Getting dark so I just glanced at it and saw a dingy aluminum manifold with a Holley and said sure, forked over the 50 bucks. The next morning I looked closer, a Cobra manifold. After that I noticed it had cross bolt mains, big as life I had a 427 for $50!
    Found a close ratio top loader 4 speed at our local Pull-a-part in a late 60's ford PU too once, just gave them the standard $100 the charge for transmissions, think they added $25 for the Hurst shifter bolted to it.
     
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  18. Every wrecking yard I've been to has been owned by a crabby old guy who has one side of the place fenced off with his "projects", full of every kind of bad ass car you'd love to have the opportunity to fix up.
     
  19. Crankhole
    Joined: Apr 7, 2005
    Posts: 2,634

    Crankhole
    Member

    Econoline tailgate for $20....turned it on ebay for nearly $400.
     
  20. mart3406
    Joined: May 31, 2009
    Posts: 3,055

    mart3406
    Member
    from Canada

    Over the years and in numerous different, mostly rural
    boneyards, here's some of the more memorable stuff
    I've found.

    * Neat junkyard stuff that I bought over
    the years


    A complete, running 401 Buick nailhead with factory
    dual-quads and factory cast alluminum valve covers -
    - bought for $450

    2 - 354 Chrysler Hemi engines -as rebuildable cores
    - from a pair of 1959 Dodge D700 trucks - bought for
    $125 each.

    '56 Cadillac factory dual-quad intake, carbs, linkage
    and batwing air breather - bought for $40

    A 'one-year-only' '66 Olds 442 factory tri-power
    intake and carbs - found in the trunk of a '64 Chevy
    II(!) - bought for $40

    2 - 9 inch Ford rearends - with factory 4.56
    gears(!) - pulled from a pair early-60's Canadian
    Mercury Econoline pickups - bought both rear
    ends for $100 for the pair.

    Ford 9 inch rearend with 3.25 gears, 4-pinion traction
    lock and disk brakes from a late - '70's-early '80's
    Mercury Colony Park station wagon - bought
    the complete rearend for a $100.

    Ford 9 inch rearend with 3.00 gears, 4-pinion traction
    lock and disk brakes from a '79 Lincoln Versailles -
    bought the complete rearend for a $100.

    An Edelbrock aluminum intake with a 600 cfm
    Holley carb and a Mallory 'Unilite' distributor from
    a '70 AMC Javelen 343 - bought for $75.

    An Isky 505 roller cam and lifters, a pair of pre-1959
    'off-set hole' cast Corvette valve covers and an early
    Olds center section with a spool and 5.38 gears - in
    the trunk of an unfinished and junked '56 Chev"gasser"
    project - in a metal salvage yard - bought 'by the
    pound' for scrap metal price, just before the car was
    crushed. I think I paid $30 for everything.
    --------------------
    * Neat junkyard stuff found over the years that
    I didn't buy and am kicking myself now for not
    buying! :)


    A pair of 2000 hp Pratt & Whitney R2800 radial
    aircraft engines and one 3000 hp Pratt & Whitney
    R3450 turbo-compound radial aircraft engine
    - ex-Canadian military- all still packed in cosmoline
    - in a metal salvage yard

    A 'two-model-year-only' "high deck" 383 engine
    from a '59 DeSoto and a 'one-model-year-only'
    "low-deck" 350 engine from a '58 DeSoto

    A mostly complete and intact '56-'57(??) Hudson
    Metropolitan - the same as a Nash Metropolitan but
    with Hudson badges and trim!!

    The severely picked-over remains of a '48 Crossly
    panel delivery truck

    A 300 hp Ford 427 marine engine - complete, but
    with a severely cracked block, a Ford 534 marine
    engine, a a pair of MEL 430 marine engines and
    several Chrysler "Crown" flathead straight-8 marine
    engines - in a boat junkyard

    A couple of Chevy 409 truck engines in pair of '65 GMC
    cabover trucks and a late 1940's 'unknown-make' bus
    chassis with a 501 cubic inch GMC 6-cylinder inline gas
    engine - in a heavy truck boneyard.

    A mid-'50's vintage Nash 6-cylinder engine with stock
    dual Carter 1-bbl. sidedraft carbs and a dual-range
    hydramatic tranny.

    A pair of Cadillac flathead V8's from a WWII Sherman
    tank

    A rough, but complete '35 Pontiac 4-door sedan with
    dual sidemounts

    A rough, but complete and *running* '52 Buick
    Roadmaster 2-door sedan.

    A mid-20's Reo 1-ton C-cab truck

    Several late-40's-early 50's vintage White
    'Mustang' and 'Super Mustang' trucks

    Several early '50's to mid-'60's vintage Mack
    B-model trucks - including a massive Mack B-833

    The body shell of a 59 Chev sedan delivery. It was ex-NHRA
    Jr. Stock race car and according the lettering still on the
    fenders had been raced with a Rochester fuel-injected 283!

    A 1960 Frontenac sedan delivery body shell. The Frontenac
    was a 'one-year-only' Canadian Mercury version of the Ford
    Falcon.

    A '58-59(??) BMW Issetta micro-car

    A '30-'31 Ford AA 1 1/2 ton truck, cut down and
    converted into a homebuilt farm tractor

    The remains of an early-'20's Ford Model T fire truck

    The remains of a late-teens to-mid-'20's Ford Model T
    touring car cut down and converted into a horse or
    tractor drawn, self-powerd portable saw-mill!


    ------------------
     
    Last edited: Jul 28, 2009
    volvobrynk and Kevs56 like this.
  21. motorhead711
    Joined: May 7, 2008
    Posts: 734

    motorhead711
    Member


    Jeezus Palomino man!! That's creepy!
     
  22. motorhead711
    Joined: May 7, 2008
    Posts: 734

    motorhead711
    Member

    ...once found a milk crate full of mint records from the 70's and early 80's (Ted Nugent, U.F.O., Y&T, Scorpions, C.S.N&Y, Tokyo Blade, Rail, Thin Lizzy and a shit load of others) and yes they came out of an old Dodge van. Also found an Akai 8 track player that worked like it was brand new, a killer set of chrome 348 valve covers from an old chevy truck, and pistol grip shifter from an old mopar!! VIVA LOS WRECKING YARDS!! And these were found on seperate trips over a span of about a year. Damn good year!

    Still have all of the stuff except the pistol grip shifter. The valve covers went on my impala (which are still on there today), the records I still play often, and I just scored two boxes of 8 tracks from my neighbor to go along with the akai deck. My garage at home has never sounded so good. Damn you gotta love that Barry Manilow Live in Rio 8 track!!
     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2009
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  23. ERICOLDS
    Joined: Jan 29, 2007
    Posts: 21

    ERICOLDS
    Member
    from ohio

    I found a NOS 66 442 only, front fender that was sprayed with gray primer to match the rest of the car and only half the bolts holding it on.
     
  24. rc.grimes
    Joined: Aug 14, 2007
    Posts: 697

    rc.grimes
    Member
    from Edmond, OK

    Found at my cousins place poking through one of the buildings.
    Just across from it was a stack of 20 49-53 GM truck corner glass and a ton of other stuff.

    [​IMG]
     
  25. The37Kid
    Joined: Apr 30, 2004
    Posts: 30,629

    The37Kid
    Member

    A Franklin steering box that had been in a Midget. I needed it for the Riley 4port dirt car I was restoring back in the early 1970's. Took it up front to find out what it was going to cost me. Owner asked me what it was for and I told him it would work great in a garden tractor I was building. Cost me $5.00.
     
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  26. skwurl
    Joined: Aug 25, 2008
    Posts: 1,620

    skwurl
    Member

    57 Caddy cap 5 bucks

    5 Holley 94s 5 bucks each

    real cool old drag wheel with a slick still mounted. 10 bucks

    Rough Cragar sign 3ft by about 7 ft FREE!

    Unity and Guide spots guide has the mirror 10 bucks

    8-71 blower GMC 25 bucks

    Another Hollley 94 10 bucks

    another 57 cap 15 bucks

    Purple flake Art fulmer helmet with blue bubble shield looks new and fits my melon 40 bucks

    II'm sure theres other junk but Thats all I can remember
     
  27. D-fens
    Joined: Aug 30, 2007
    Posts: 368

    D-fens
    Member
    from Huntsville

    Found a small pimp knot of 10's and 20's, and a cheap 9mm while I was pulling the dash out of an O/T car at the Moreland Ave Pull-A-Part in ATL.

    The niner was too crusty to do anything with but the money was fine.
     
  28. donzzilla
    Joined: Oct 15, 2006
    Posts: 142

    donzzilla
    Member

    Was it green with white stripes? I had a '67 350 that was sold new in Mass. The story was simular. Car was said to have been stolen, then re assembled. It had a PA special ID tag on it.

    My car turned out to be serial #004. I restored it, had it fro 8-9 years and sold it in '88-89.

    Zilla!



     
  29. propwash
    Joined: Jul 25, 2005
    Posts: 3,857

    propwash
    Member
    from Las Vegas

    Long ago, in a couple of Seattle wrecking yards that are no longer extant, my buddy Bill and I discovered a 65 427 Cobra roadster (alum) with a crumpled rear clip....and about forty miles south of that near Renton was a 66 Cobra with a burned up engine compartment.....I think the wrecked car was for sale for $2500 and the burnt one for $4000. We were too busy with life to realize the opportunity - besides...they were going to be making those forever, right?

    dj
     
  30. carcrazyjohn
    Joined: Apr 16, 2008
    Posts: 4,843

    carcrazyjohn
    Member
    from trevose pa

    000_0004.jpg Was at hubcap heaven trading a set of rally chevelle wheels.About 20 years ago.The guy traded me a pair of Halibrand small windows .I guess he didn't know what he had. He referred to the wheels as old aluminum slots .He looked at me like I was crazy for wanting them.
     

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