Projects Anyone else have to go back to junkyard parts

I have way too many vehicles but do like having the variety but lately had to start getting parts from the junkyards instead of the parts stores,I went from getting all my parts from the junkyard when I first started driving to getting new or rebuilt but now back to the junkyards. Alternator took a dump on the 37 and most likely out of warranty and since I really do want to go back to a generator some day there was no sense in spending almost 70 dollars for a rebuilt one,when I put the 351-W in the F100 I had two of those 90s version starters in stock but both were not all that great and one quit working so off to the pull and pay for another newer version. Just can not spend over 100 for a rebuilt starter so I am going to take my chance with a 25 dollar junkyard starter and alternator,is there anyone else in this situation as the parts prices have went up quicker then my paycheck and now there is a house to take care of too where 25 years ago there was none.

 

never stopped

 

My sunliner is the only one that will get new parts,the rest will have to get used parts and I really never stopped but started getting rebuilt starters and alternators over the last 20 years but not now.

 

I haven't stepped foot in a wrecking yard in 25 years, I kinda miss it.
No I don't.

 

local yards do not have anything old enough to reuse - now 2000 is ancient

 

All of my stuff is way too old to find replacement parts in a junk yard. Its been a long time since Ive been to one.

 

Have a friend that has a 20 or so acre yard of pre 70 cars and i've always been able to find what i need in it

 

Even parts stores have less to pick from. I was just at Manny Moes and Jacks place and was set back a bit. The store portion had shrunk but the whole building is still there but behind the counter now?

 

I have two old yards that I frequent and the two pull and pays do get old stuff frequently,I never thought I would have a hard time finding a internal regulated GM alternator in the pull and pays but they might be a little on the ancient side now. I could have gotten one from one of the old yards but the hoods have been up too long and open to the elements and the pull and pays do have a little warranty,for the daily drivers I have been finding new parts in the junkyards and much cheaper then the parts stores.

 

The scrap yards have the older stuff. I pick up stuff even if I dont need it.
Sometimes they just give it away

 

I go to the wreckers looking for parts and find myself living in the past. Even the stuff I think isn't that old, is old. The Mustang 2 front end that is too new for the hamb is 40 years old. Ford 9" rear ends are over 30 years old. The newest carburetor is about 1986. Try to find any car that is rwd. It seems all the pickups are 4wd. The only yards that let me in are the pick and pull variety. Junkyard Jeff, what are you talking about?

 

I hit my local junkyards, but like most, the majority of the cars are too new. I’ve been picking up parts at swap meets when I find a bargain. Have acquired several Ford starters as one of
my 65 s is having trouble . Have about $25 in three starters, hope to make one good one out of them.


Bones

 

What I was trying to say is the cost of parts have gone up I now have to get most at the junkyards now,if I need rotors for a daily driver they come from the junkyard now instead of the parts stores. To keep the fleet going I have to save any dollar I can,I always have been getting parts from the old yards to keep them going but I just can not afford to get new starters and alternators and alot of other parts for most of my vehicles now.

 

No...always looking for more....saved a vintage tach in an old farm truck this weekend....it's gone this week - already diced up with motor trans pulled. Most likely the early F-4 with the flathead will go directly too....

 

I usually leave the pick-a part type wreckers with a large serve of disappointment, with a side order of melancholy. The last few times I have gone, The only stuff worth using on an old car or rod was tyre air. All the rest is little plasticy bits or spot-welded junk.

 

True dat. I can think of 2 old 'yards around. One is way east of me and the other closer, but you need a machete to get to the old section, cross a stream that has planks over it, dive into trailers with rotted out floors. Some truck places have the older stuff around.

 

Junkyards are getting scarce(r), so for some things it's scouring the intertubes for NOS or NORS and cross referencing part #s for interchange. Modern replacement/rebuilt starters &c - junk. Starter solenoids - junk. Points & condensers, junk. Generator regulators, junk. Fuel pumps? Way off the pressure chart. Junk. Etc.

 

I hit an out of the way JY looking for an old GM steering wheel with horn ring. Man told me "No, and if I did, I wouldn't sell it." I got one on Ebay. So big swap meet and Ebay now. JY deals died out when they got computers and started calling themselves auto recyclers.

 

Not too long ago I posted about the harmonic balancer coming apart and shedding its outer ring on my 66 GMC 250 six. And stated I was replacing it with a used one from my hoard. And several people thought I should spend money on a new balancer LOL. Ive got my own personal junkyard and a 1600 sq ft building with shelves full of parts. I buy new brake parts like master cyls shoes calipers and springs. But will certainly use a serviceable used part rather than spend money on new crap made overseas. Starters, alternators ,water pumps & fuel pumps I often rebuild the myself. ive got a stock of older fuel pump and water pump rebuild kits. I take starters apart and Test field coils and armatures and use new brushes and bushings. And do the same with alternators. I just bought a OT john deere tractor. and the starter was cooked. over $400 from JD for a New starter. It was a delco so I just used the armature and field coils from a big block chevy starter to fix it. Didnt cost me anything but the time.

 

Nothing buy plastic cars in junkyards around here except for one I know of who has let stuff rot into the ground because he thinks its all gold and won't sell parts at market prices.

 

We have a great small rebuild shop close to me, can fix the old stuff, or re build the newer stuff to your liking. I love that place.

 

No decent yards around here anymore. One about 10 miles from me deals in insurance wrecks, late model stuff. There is a small pick and pull yard in Tuscaloosa, but like everybody says, nothing older than 1990. The one in Birmingham gets in some older stuff sometimes, but it's about 80 or more miles from me, so I don't go there unless I have a shopping list, not worth the trip just to see what they have, and their website seldom shows the old stuff anymore. It used to be put in a area to itself, but now they just mix it all together.

 

Building from mostly junkyard parts....

 

That's my problem too. I have two old yards around here that still have some 40's-60's stuff but they are picked over pretty bad and what is left the owners think the rusty parts are diamonds in 24K gold wrappers. I found two pretty decent ash trays and a clock for my 55 Buick Special and when I asked about them the old coot told me he would "let them go" for $250.00. They are probably still there

 

"you need a machete to get to the old section, cross a stream that has planks over it, dive into trailers with rotted out floors."

Sounds great!

 

Here's something to consider about junkyard parts. Depending on the part you are looking for the OE parts off a junk yard vehicle is probably a higher grade/quality part than most of the parts store new Chinese parts. I am headed to a local pick a part yard looking for an electric fan assembly which will probably be better than the parts store stuff.
It's a 50/50 deal to buy parts from the parts store now. The part may not even function.

 

I think that junkyard alternator I put on the 37 might be working better then the reman one that just crapped out done when freshly installed,it had a problem with the battery going low when sitting over a month so I will find out soon if the previous alternator was the problem.

 

Most wreckers around here won't even let you look at the cars they have in the yard, you walk up to the counter, ask for a starter for a 2011 Turdmaster, and the bloke turns around and gets one off the shelf and plonks it in front of you. Forget the "what's it for?" quiz, you won't get past first base at these places. The last time I went in I was looking for a torque converter, from a 2005 car, and they said that "we don't have parts for cars THAT old!!".

 

Must be different round here. Local scrap yard just sold a flathead that came in. Had a tri 5 Chevy go through last month. They have a complete 318 poly now. Bought a dour for the wife’s 56 a couple months ago. Guy had about 10 tri 5s in the yard. These are not the normal salvage yards but those back woods junk yards. Picked up a 57 step van last month for 600. Hope to be cruising it by spring

 

Why not just rebuild it urself? (assuming the armature and commutator are good)