Hot Rods Mixing & matching different junk yard parts

When I first started building hot rods there wasn't all the aftermarket suppliers that have every conceivable part you could ever ask for and when you needed something you went to the junkyard and scrounged to find what you needed or what you could make work.

I often bought a running car to get the engine,transmission and rear axle along with numerous other bits and pieces, today you can pick up the phone and order just about anything you need as long as that piece of plastic in your pocket is current and not expired.

I will admit to abusing a credit card at times but I still like to go to the only yard around that still allows me the privilege of roaming around and hunting parts like I did years ago.

I know some of my early attempts at building would not fly here on the hamb but I was broke,raising a family and resourceful.

I remember using a Corvair front suspension, reversed and a Colt rack & pinion along with a Pinto flex shaft and a shortened Caprice steering column.

A '64 Mustang rear axle, I made a 4 bar from 4 Impala sway bars and threaded them and used Speedway female rod ends and a set of Jaguar coil overs from a wreck, a datsun pickup seat with 12 inches removed from the middle.

I used a Buick V6 & transmission from a 5000 mile roll over, a pinto automatic shiftier and gas pedal and a friend made me a gas tank.

I had a ball building the Model A and it never was painted , just primed. HRP

 

Happened a lot,wear your self out fitting all those odd ball parts together,an then too weak lazy to paint it !! LOL.
"NOT DONE TELL IT'S SHINY"
Got to love all the weird stuff you and I,many others fitted together some how,not elegant always !

Yup,its low too no $,but if;Will there is a way!. In late 50s an early 60,I hunted up any free parts that looked like they may fit the idea at the time. Found in the woods*,trash piles*,behind shops in there junk piles*. Roped buddy's into helping me drag crap home some times. My first hotrod was made from a pile 0f stuff that only about 1/2 of was usable an then some got put back in the woods. Now that the city fathers went an clean up nearly all the junked cars,kids don't have as many free parts to play with. As we did ! Too bad in away.

 

Sounds like pretty standard low buck rod building in the mid 70's.
My T bucket that I started around 1972 had A steel body that I carried out of a field in pieces and loaded in the trunk of my 62 Impala. Front axle was a drilled late 30's to 40 something Ford with a Ford F something front F1 or 100 I can't remember but it was the right length spring. Bones were 40 something that I ended heating and bending to clear the tires on turns. Rear was a 56 F100 mounted on coils with 2x2 square tube as radius rods. Engine and trans came from a 61 chev I bought from a coworker and it had a Mustang shifter and park brake handle. Steering was VW bus bought from someone who had the front section of the VW laying in their yard. 5.00 item if memory serves right. Headers were megaphone picked up at the Dallas swap meet that they used to hold in the bank parking garage. Paid 5 bucks for them and club members laughed at me buying those "out of date headers" Megaphones had no cool factor in the mid 70's in Texas. Gas tank came off a piece of abandoned and stripped farm equipment Front brakes were F100. Carpet trim was dumb 70's stuff because a buddy did van interiors for a living.
My wife would sneak it out and run around town in it when I was at work after she got off work.

 

A good friend of mine was out hunting and found a Anglia body, complete with front and rear fenders, grille shell and hood, but the frame was gone.

This was in the late 70's and the man that owned the proberty told him that he could have the body but do not cut any trees to get it out.

We went back on a Sunday and removed the fender from the rear and started carrying out the parts, the car wasn't to far in the woods, maybe the distance of a football field but the trees were thick and so was the underbrush, we hacked all the underbrush with a machete and a bush axe and the next Saturday we got a couple of guys to help and we stuck 8 foot 2" x 4"s through the window openings front and rear, picked the car up and walked it out, by the time we got it to the pickup truck we were beat but we managed to get the front of the body on the tail gate and the 4 of us lifted the back up and pushed the body in.

Ironically we had used his uncles pickup and it sat in the bed at his Uncles gas station until the next weekend, his uncle told him if it was still at his station Monday morning he would sell it to the next person that as was it for sale, he said people pestered him all week long.

The car was built fast using square tubing for a frame, a opal front suspension & a Toyota SR 4 cylinder engine with a five speed transmission and using the Toyota rear axle, I don't remember the wheels but they were some kind of junk yard steelies, that little car was fast. HRP

 

Let's see here,
Ford--26 T frame, 40 front and rear axle,39 wide fives,two 46 car fenders, two 50 deck lid skins(to make body) 35 drive shaft(for exhaust),40 steering box arm,67 mustang master cylinder
Mercury----50 steering box
Chevrolet---46 pickup head light pod(to make body), 39 car steering wheel,49 dry element air cleaner
Dodge---22 roadster cowl (to make body),59 230 flathead six,40 pickup 3 speed top loader, bell housing, driveshaft, pedals and shock mounts.
Farmall tractor---gas tank(to make track nose), gas tank(for a gas tank), headlights
Honda---radiator
Packard--- hood side curtains (when I get that far)
Aircraft-- WWII era seat belts
I think that's pretty much it!!

 

And it's just so dang cool! HRP

 

I ran one of those Pinto flex shaft on my 39 Deluxe coupe when I first built it. Damn thing broke on me a couple of blocks from home one day. After that happened I heard a lot of stories of that happening.

 

Dig the shag-delic interior,Far out, man

 

I never had any problem with the flex shaft but I would think the Model A would be considerably lighter than the 39 coupe.

Were you using a rack & pinion? HRP

 

I spent a lot of time at the junkyards in the 60's & 70"s. Can't say how many 327 Chevy motors I bought. I put one in everything with wheels. The A-Sedan I built had a 327 motor, 400 turbo, Chevelle rear , all from different cars, upper and lower trailing arms from two different year Chevy's, A Mustang steering box, Volvo front disc brakes. Then there were shocks from different autos. Tons of different brackets some that got modified, and all the home made stuff. Oh and the ash try and cigarette lighter. (can't remember what they came out of) Buick Wheels that I modified to accept Model A caps and Corvair Turbo Mufflers.

And that's just one car!

 

That was a good looking Model A. HRP

 

My T had a lot of different car parts but most of them were ford.

 

Some have to have the latest and greatest(perhaps) parts so it's 1-800-sendittome.
Some are not the best at making stuff so it's 1-800 sendittome.
Some are great at making stuff and do it all in house.
Some are scroungers who can see how something from another vehicle can be adapted to work on what they have.
I grew up like a lot of folks where scrounging was the norm. Bucks down rodders. Whatever it took to get it on the road was the way it was. If your ride was a works in progress it was not frowned upon,most of your friends would help and have plenty of suggestions....some were even good ones. Didn't matter what it came from as long as it worked.

 

I ran a Y block in my 56 bird that had 301 Plymouth pistons and 348 Chevy valves retainers and springs.

 

No I had a Vega box in the coupe, Pontiac engine so it had a lot of weight up front

 

Most of my "customers" are "just" car guys, they have a nice car or want one. They have day jobs that don't have anything to do with the hobby. Most of the time I take complete control of ordering parts needed for their projects, other times I tell them what they need and where to get it and they do the ordering. One repeat customer/friend that I was ordering for ask why he was paying for parts and when they get here I have to re-make, alter, weld on, grind, bend, shape, etc. the damn part at his expense hourly . I said nothing ever comes UPS, FEDEX, or USPS that doesn't need "fine tuning", from now on you do the home work, order the part, when it gets here and doesn't fit you spend your time going to USPS, FEDEX or UPS box it up and send it back. That lasted 2 weeks before he understood that marrying parts from diff. manufacturer's isn't a science. He ordered a White convertible top for his '57 Chevy, when he opened the box it was Black. I said I wouldn't walk across the street to see another '57 Convertible with a white top. We ended up putting the Black top on it and all is well!

 

Well, that's how I have built my Dort today!

 

Always thought that was the way it was done. When I started out I had no money or knowledge. Didn't let it stop me. (Slowed me down on more than one occasion, though.) Free SBC 3x2 intake, 5 helicoils and a drilled and tapped pipe plug for one of the thermostat housing bolt holes. Everything uses studs now. Center carb off a '68, 307 C10 with a manual choke. End carbs off of '66, 283's, one Impala, one a Malibu. Water pump off a '79, 250 C10 on a homemade 1" riser. The gas pedal was from an 80's Chevy Sprint. Can't remember what the cable came off of. Aluminum P/G with course output splines and short tail shaft. Driveshaft is the front half or '69 or so Ford van. Trans, driveshaft and 8" Fairlane rear all use the same "U" joint. 3.50 (or 3.55) gears came from a Mercury Bobcat station wagon. Wheels are Mopar, 5 1/2" front. 7" rears with the centers moved in deeper. Beauty rings came off of a 122S Volvo I bought for the disc brakes I didn't use. Baby moon style hubcaps are from an early MGB. The tail lights will use 240Z side marker lenses. The 3rd brake light is from a 90's Chrysler LHS and will mold right into the beltline in front of the deck lid.

 

Most of the wagon is Ford, but I have a GM drive shaft & alternator.

I also have used a piece of VW stainless steel on the grab straps to get into the back seat.HRP

 

I got my T on the road in 1963, all the parts I used came from friends and the dump.

 

That's still how I tend to build my projects! Using junkyard parts, swap meet parts or friend's donations. I do sometimes use the 1-800 parts when needed. To me a great day is going to the junkyard and searching around. Making it all work together is part of what hot rodding is about.

 

My 32 is built from a lot of junk yard parts rebuilt . I would barter for parts , I would rebuilt a carb., a trans , a rear ending for something I needed . To me that was the fun of doing it . Meet a lot of great people , in the process . Nothing sends me into the meltdown mode faster than a person that has thousands on his plastic card paying for his car that he never touched building it , cutting down the hours of labor a not so blessed person has but into his home build pride and joy . My OT is a real mishmash of parts , Dodge Power Wagon , Cummins Diesel Power , 5 speed trans , Chebbie transfer case , hydraboost brakes , 1 ton steering box . All of it bolted together and works fine , just took me years to locate the parts I wanted to use . But it is a great hobby , and there many great people to help you , if you ask .

 

I won't use parts with a bar code on them in my old cars has to be the way I've done it over 40 years OEM parts from wrecks,junkyard etc some times repairing the original to refit is the way I go, just recently I ordered some 40 head light rims to put on my 39 sloper when they arrived didn't go anyware fitting , of I go to a mates place get a original pair from his garage wall took them to my car they fit perfect ,back into his his garage with my new Chinese crap and hang on his wall were it belongs

 

Parts from the junk pile or wreckers? How else is it done? When you point out what came from where to most people, you get the "And it fits?" question, and you answer "No, but I made it fit., then they think your'e a brain surgeon.
Lotsa brain surgeons here!

 

It's how it was done before the advent of 1-800 numbers. HRP

 

Good thread, HRP.

 

Sounds familiar... while mine was OT here so no pics... it was a similar story. I started with a decent body (late 70s GM A/G body) there were millions of them to be had in junk yards and back yards. Most pieces were bolt in across the manufactures.... I had a Pontiac with an Olds engine (any SBC would bolt right in on any given weekend), and I think a Chevy trans. A Mix and match interior with Buick buckets, Pontiac center console and dash, Chevy carpet...even my spark plugs, wires, cap and rotor were used parts...lol
Every time I had a couple extra bucks I'd walk through the junk yard and look for any part that was in better shape than the one I was running at the time, grab it, take it home and put it on.
Occasionally I could scrape together enough cash to buy a new part. (but gas and girls kept me pretty broke most of the time)
For a 16yo with a part time job it was fun, quick and pretty reliable transportation. It didn't look cobbled together at all and my dad would help me out with it any time I asked and sometimes when I didn't ask, looking back he was just making sure it was safe. Mom told me years later he would always get up early and check my work before he went off to work. Good times, I miss those days even more now that dad is gone.
Chappy

 

My 51 has Chevy parts, Ford parts, Dodge parts, Jeep parts, and a bunch of hand-fabricated parts. Mad scientist moments are the best "part" of building a car, and the true reason I participate in this madness. Nothing gives me more satisfaction than figuring out how to make some not-OG part work on my build... bonus points if I make it look stock enough that I am the only one who recognizes I did it with some oddball part.

 

My Merc so far has a lot of Ford stuff, fair bit of Buick stuff, some big Caddy pieces, some in your face, OMG, Imperial pieces, and T-Bird stuff. A lot of weird home made stuff, too. And I'm nowhere near finished. Some suspension stuff is 1-800, but that's all.
I'm old enough to remember great junkyards. Went to Atlanta one Saturday after work to David Cranes place, a true heaven on earth experience. He had gotten to know me from previous visits, and for some reason liked the long haired dumbass kid from Tennessee. I had to get back Sunday night, and needed a lot of time to remove stuff, so he suggested that if I wanted an early start on Sunday, I could sleep in my van inside his locked gates, get an early start getting parts, and he'd be in later after church and Sunday dinner to settle up with me. It was the middle of winter ( you didn't go deep into his yard after about April 1st, unless you wanted to hang out with about a billion copperheads, plus other really bad critters ! )
I froze my ass off that night, but I was buzzed so much over the deal, I bounced out and got to work at sunrise.
He was a helluva nice guy, gone much too young. Then his kids sold the timber ( big $$$$$ ), and crushed the yard. A huge yard full of cars I've never seen before or since anywhere else.
Anybody remember his place?