Hot Rods Building hot rods when you used the local junkyard for parts.

Sorry about that,I wasn't informed that I need to clear it with you before I posted a thread.

BTW,this isn't the classifieds! what are you doing here? HRP

 

most of this car came from junkyards.

 

In my area the yards have really dried up,I usually buy a donor car and rob everything salvageable,then haul the body to the crusher. HRP

 

If it wasn't for P-n-P, Swapmeets, & other people's junk piles, I wouldn't be able to keep my old "Beaters" on the road, let alone build much of anything else! Although Rock-Auto(& I'm not an owner or investor!) has kept the cost of new parts somewhere within reason!

 

good luck on the junk yard thing, finding one is as rare as the parts you are looking for.

 

Junkyard days are all but gone Danny.
I’m only 63 but it’s not like it was when I was a kid.
Our few self serve yards don’t have any what we would consider old cars they seem to have been crushed long ago.
Cheap or free parts are all gone. The local dump used to be a good place to shop because they had a bunch of old cars in the back and the rest of the trash yielded some helpful garage treasures.

Now you can’t get near the place

 

I've always been monetarily challenged and had to be creative to afford/find/scavenge parts. Unfortunately most of the good yards are all gone. The ones that still exist seem to be operated by alchemists (they are trying to make gold frame base metals...i.e. rust).

Now days, my cash flow is a little freer than in years past but I seem to have some weird aversion to opening up a catalog and writing a check. And, with projects like my 49 Ford truck I basically got the truck for next to nothing so its hard for me to make any kind of major purchase.

What can I say? I'm just a low-budget kind of guy

Bobby

 

Did the same thing back when I first started ,1964, now ,just open the catalog and get out the Master card, Bam, the part is there!

 

Instant gratification - BAM! HRP

 

The price of scrap finished up all the smaller yards a few years ago. I saw a lot of 60's and 70's cars that were in pretty good shape hauled for scrap. Nothing left but the pick a part style yards around here, but they sometimes get some older stuff. Mostly fwd and SUV's though.

 

I was looking for a side mirror to replace on my daughters off topic ride and the man that runs the yard is a old high school friend and he treated me fair.

While I was waiting for his yard man who was looking for the mirror we started talking about how the business had changed in the last 40 years and how he hasn't had anything older that the late 80's in a long time and then he reached beside his desk and pulled out a rear window glass and said If I could guess what it fit he would give it to me,he told me he don't remember the owning the car it was from.

Henry J

He handed it to me and said he didn't have to worry about breaking it anymore, it's now your problem. HRP

 

Unless you happen to get into an old long closed junk yard around here, anything HAMB friendly has been gone for 30 years, or more.

Anything still HAMB friendly is in someones privet collection, and they may, or may not drag it to a swap meet.

Our city just passed an ordinance that says even businesses can't have a car or truck that hasn't moved in 7 days in public view. All those old garages that have had old stuff sitting beside or behind their buildings will have to get rid of it now if someone complains. If they tag me, I'll loose a couple of great parts cars. Gene

 

I made the mistake of asking if I could go into the yard and measure something up-they looked at me as if I had 3 heads! I told them I was building a hot rod, and I needed to measure a steering column, but they still didn't understand what I wanted to do. The bloke behind the counter said he will remove the column, then I can measure it. How many did he think he was going to remove before I found one which was the right length?
Anyway, I spent a couple of my days off at the local U-pull-it yard, got bits from Mazdas, BMW's, Holdens & Falcons, and cobbled together a steering system, handbrake system, charging system, and plenty of other bits. At least you can get in there and visualise if something will work out.

 

Back when I started 1964, the local junkyards were plentiful and treated us kids well IMO, prices were low and they helped with questions on what parts enter changed. Not many speed parts houses or parts stores like today. All my friends and I were working class, neighborhood people, nobody had any money. The positive for me and many, we grew up learning how to be resourceful, hard working, and never give up, make it happen attitude. I remember the man's name, Jim Gish, cannot remember junkyard name, this man befriended me and many young carnuts back in the day, he helped with info, always very fair prices and would call other yards if he did not have part needed that day, in later years got to know his 2 sons (both driver/owners)through my racing hobby, sometimes it's amazing what a small world it is.

 

Start your own. I did. When town wanted it gone, I suggested replacing with low income housing. They countered how about a fence. Every one's happy now .

 

When Danny & I were dating we spent many Saturday mornings at Ed Powells junkyard looking for parts for his Falcon or my Mustang,

One day a friend of Danny's had driven his 1956 Chevrolet truck out in the yard to remove some parts,he had his jack stands,jack and tools in the bed of the truck and had parked on the end of the row of trucks.

He couldn't see his truck from where he was working but when he returned there was a guy removing one of his front fenders,he explained one of the junkyards employees had told him there was a blue truck that had a good fender and the amusing part about it is Sam was getting parts off the blue truck the employee was referring too.

Just got to be careful where you park when you are away from you car.

 

I built my 32 on a barter system with the scrap yard . I probably rebuilt 1000 carbs , 200 4 speeds and 500 9 inch Fords , for parts trading . Only new or non fabricated part is the Radiator . Everything else from scrap cars , rebuilt or modified . I have a lathe and Mill , built my own 4 bars , brackets etc. For me this was Hot Rodding , not what your plastic card and buy you to be top dog ! Have fun and enjoy this great hobby , I think when we go there will be no more


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We're really lucky to have a cool old wrecking yard less than a few miles from the shop. We're there almost weekly it seems. The owner is a car guy and had enough forethought to save stuff.

 

It's tougher, unless one is building a non traditional car that the hood can be left closed on. I've got salvage yard drivetrains in everything except the roadster. A complete leather interior for the Riviera from a two year old Audi, for $200, seat in the Diamond T from an Impala rear seat, lots of trinket parts. I built my '36 with a BUNCH of stuff from that online auction site, likewise the '34. It's still possible to build a car by scrounging, one just has to work harder and look in different places.

 

There is nothing left in junkyards except 2003 Hyndai Sonatas around here.

I have to call my buddy Bob Owens in Wellington, TX if I need anything older than 1998.

 

I have done a lot of business with Bob and 99 % of the time he has had what I needed and at a reasonable price. HRP

 

When I drove my 48 from McGregor Tx to Tulsa for the NSRA street rod nationals in 1973 (first event for the truck) not one part had come from a speed shop or even the aftermarket except for over the counter replacement parts. Front brakes came off a 54 wagon in a Crawford Tx junk yard, rear axle was bought for 10 bucks from a coworker and pulled from his 61 Chev sedan and then taken to work to use the torch to trim the brackets and then weld the spring pads on. Grill came from several grills in a couple of wrecking yards. A bar here, a bar there and then a decent looking shiny grill. Rear fenders, chrome seat frame, running boards and some other pieces came from a guy who had an add in the local paper in Waco. He sent me home with a bed full of parts for under 50 bucks and gave me a beer from his keg he had in an old fridge with the tap coming out the side. Those parts would run better than 500 bucks today. 67 Camaro rally wheels with three caps and 4 rings came from a coworker for 25.00 that had put mags on a Camaro he then traded off. Open drive three speed came from a wrecking yard for pocket change. That is the one Bob Davis and I swapped tail shafts on in Marietta OK on the way to Tulsa. Paint, upholstery and all I had under 600.00 1973 dollars in that truck when I drove it to Tulsa including what I paid for it.
In the past year I have spent more on bolt items for the 292 six that is going in it than I had in the whole truck then.

 

Back in the 50s and 60s the junk yard guys and us were on first name basis! Haven't been able to scrounge the yards for a long long time, maybe back 2 or 3 different owners ago, not to mention the fact that there are no cars old enough in the yards to scrounge parts from!

 

I just built an 8.8 rear end from about five parts cars at a junkyard to get the width (60"), brakes (10x2"), axles(5-lug), and parking brake (leaf spring) that I needed for my Chrysler. It's always fun. I did have to break out the catalog for a new pair of leaf spring perches though.

 

Back in the sixties, junkyards were the primary sources for parts. Nowadays, I don’t even know where the nearest yard is, and I am sure it would not likely have any parts for my older cars. EBay and H.A.M.B. classifieds end up being a pretty good source, but internet shopping does not provide a lot of fun like spending a hour or two looking at older cars for possible part sources.

 

We still have a few of the old Salvage yards around. The parts are picked over, weathered beyond use unless it’s late model stuff. Fenders, doors etc for our project are wasted away. Today’s world via the internet have provided us with resources for our much needed parts, but it all comes with a price tag and there goes our low buck project dreams. Our low buck builds now would be best done through our rodding friends by bartering. H.A.M.B. is my favorite guide for Parts & knowledge from other hambers is as good as it gets.


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I've seen your ad's on craigs list. Your in the Voorheesville area. You know the Dunston's? My pops is good friends with Sid and I went to school with his oldest daughter. His Middle daughter and her husband run the yard now. Small world!!!

 

Picked open drive banjo rears-- F-1 steering box -- fuse panels etc. It was fun.

 

Me too. I have many ol cars

 

havent stopped using the junkyards yet with all the new stuff there i dont think i ever will.