yeah ther in rapid. the one i always trried to walk was north of motive parts between the mall and the base
There are U-Pull-It yards here, total access and no escorts, you just waive all rights and pay a buck a day. But your yard guy is right, all thru this yard there are otherwise nice engines that have had all the accessories torn off, intake manifolds and carbs/EFI removed and thrown in the dirt, all the wires snipped, so some asshole can get a set of used lifters for $10. EVERY dashboard is torn apart with a crowbar so the lightbulbs and fuses can be scrounged.
You know, here in Sodak that sort of stuff is minimal. Never saw it in these same yards. In fact, they were so busy that every couple minutes one of the yards rats would buzz by to pick a new part and see what you are up to.
this is absolutly true that guy came through woodland and dixon as well and cleaned up!!!!!even went through dentist offices and buildings in industrial parks that were not even open to the public and won every lawsuit filed.you cant blame those yards even though we all know it sucks ass!
the junk yard i normaly go to for my newer and classic cars is amazing, you pick the parts, they even have tandum wheel barrels, pop machines, porto-johns and fucking giant chain drop engine pullers, covered tables. And everypart, reguardless of make, model, condition is the same price, and all the cars are lines up in neat clean rows lifted off the ground on welded rims. now some say thats just too much but im telling you, parts are just as much of a bitch to get off. Now the strictly classic auto junk yard i know of, which is one of thouse old guy owns a bunch of land with literaly cars stacked in some areas, you have to be escorted, but i mean you can look & go wherever & the guy is just hanging back watching because with no barriers, just land, it would be easy to sneak off with something. And when i say he has stuff you better believe he's got everything you may think of. but if you want a grill he'll try like hell to sell you the whole front clip. My buddie tried to get a drip rail for his 47' Dodge drag truck, guy wanted him to by the cab.
I usually find what I need at the ones that let me window shop, so I'm happy. The ones that don't allow it will never sell me a part. Remember one thing, complaints made at the place of business don't usually reach the ears of the boss. Pass the word. If all of us told THE BOSS, whether it's burgers, bananas, or bolts, the practices that cost them business, some of them might learn. Communication is important. Just last year in a local burger joint I ordered a egg-muffin "without cheese". The uniform at the register said "they come with cheese, can't have without". I went home and called the boss on the 'phone. Now, they ask "with or without cheese", with a smile... Take the time to find (the boss) and pass the word; "SINCE YOU DON'T ALLOW IT, I'M GOING SOMEPLACE ELSE. CHANGE YOUR POLICY OR YOU JUST LOST MY BUSINESS FOREVER"
You know, they kinda caught me off guard, I just didn't feel like pushing the issue that day. I will see about word getting back though, CrazyD sponsors one of the guys stock cars
Yes disrespect and all the gas cap ,,radio knob horn button stealer's have ruined it for a lotta folk..They steal the lil stuff then sell it. Though on a whole respect is something traditional that seems to have truly been lost
The cheapest local junkyard quit allowing people to go back unescorted and I quit going unless I need something for work,their excuse is people stealing parts but their employees destroy more parts in the process of removing them then people stealing. I bought a pair of disc brake spindles and had them remove them and they cut the control arms instead of using a fork to seperate them destroying parts that could be sold,when they remove a trans they cut the driveshaft instead of removing the U bolts but the driveshaft is usually destroyed by the loader they haul them around on. I will drive 50 miles to a yard I can walk around in instead of having to be escorted.
Trent, Same shit happened here after some ass wipes started a fire. But after a few month he let us back in. This pic is when the fire just started, it burned a lot more before they got it out!!
In my opinion if you go in a yard to remove parts whether it's a U-pull-it or not you should try to do the last damage when you pull parts. Somtimes it's not always possible I had to cut up some fenders recently on a 1962 Ford F100 to get the grille header off because the "speed nuts" broke and there was no real way of getting to them short of bringing in power tools and cutting off the heads of the bolts. If these were good fenders I would never have done it but they were badly dented and rusty. I still felt bad though.
I went to the junkyard I was talking about to find a good motor wiring harness for a 84 crown vic but when the employees removed a distributor or throttle body they cut the wires but there was only one untouched and I got it.
My daughter heard about it and called me at work and said hey dad your shopping mall is on fire !!
I have worked in a late model salvage yard here in Georgia for the past 15 years. Some of you are right about the insurance and people tearing up the cars . We have a lot of rodders come in looking for seats but don't know what they want. The problem is all the seats are not left in the cars and are stored in 3 or 4 places so someone has to take the time to go with them . I always try to be helpfull but sometimes were busy and selling a motor is more important than someone just looking to see what you have.
I needed a later model small back door window glass and the donor I took apart was power window.. so I pried the rollers off the mechanism to get it apart. I figure, none of the ones I've ever seen have been bad, and the door itself had a rot hole in it.. everything else I took apart, though. But I see a lot of stuff wrecked or thrown around, guys using back seat bottoms to lay on under cars, etc. -
I've always been lucky enough to get most of my stuff from people I know that has a few old junkers out back or my own junkers out back.I've met a few good guys in junkyards but most of the ones I've come across are crooks and assholes that think all their stuff is gold and won't get off their ass unless you want to spend $100 or more for stuff that they got hardly nothing in and is questoinable whether its any good or not.
Since I started this thread, I will end it with this. Fuck the modern yards, I walked into 2 of them that day ready to pay for a Mustang pedal setup, even pay em to pull it if needed. Instead I am building my own Ansen type pedals............THAT is how businesses die. When your base moves away or does not need you? Guess what? I spent last night drafting my version of the pedals, just got off the phone with a pal of mine in the business and we may try and produce our own. Who knows? fuck the insurance guys and bean counters (sorry Bob)!
I am very fortunate to have two really good yards within five miles of my house, that I can pull stuff and pay a decent price for the parts. If one of the yard guys is available, he comes right over and helps remove whatever you need. Unfortunately, I can see both yards going away within about five years, since housing additions are encroaching on both. I do what I can to do business with both, in any case. The local BIG pull-a-part yard has too many thieves circling the parking lot to rip you off, and the owner won't do shit about it. Haven't done business there in over twelve years.
The bad part about it is guys like us don't spend enough for them to care if they have our bussiness they make most of their money from dealers and bodyshops fixin wrecks to resale.
We have one u-pull-it yard here in northwest Arkansas that I know of and it's been pretty well picked over. It's still neat to take a day a walk around out there. He still has quite a bit of old stuff though. The owner says, "Take your tools, and come back with your parts." Cool guy.
Man, I must have it great, my favorite yard you can still walk through and check stuff out, the prices are cheap and their old stuff inventory just keeps getting more and better lately it seems. Front axle for my 63 F100 for 40 bucks hub to hub! Model A rear spring 10 bucks, you just cant beat the old school way of doing business with a stick!
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