Went to pick up an engine and the wife unit asked if I could find her some good rims for her car. So I go to a Pull and Pay yard and discover that all this has been computerized! You go in, they ask what you need, look it up on the computer and out spits a list of the cars and locations. Then you go out to the cars and they are tagged with computerized stickers. Prices are great! I haven't been to a yard in probably 15 years, times have changed!
15 years?! That's way too long. What did you go on AA for junkyards? I was at the Pick and Pay today and finally saw something worthwhile. Drive train still in it.
the only problem with this is that the yards only have about a months turn around time--then the cars are crushed and GONE FOREVER ,I've seen some cars that could have been saved at a local yard like that(2 early stude trucks,49 chev business coupe, 53 chev,too many 50s&early 60s trucks to count) around here once a car enters the yard its gone( they will only sell parts NO complete cars or even stripped body shells).these F#@$in places and the scrappers are destroying MY (OUR) hobby & lifestyle 1 car at a time
I really miss the junkyards I grew up scouring for parts. The ones down here are pitiful and have no cars before 1980 or later. There used to be a pretty good one down south by the Everglades but it has been gone for years. It was a little wild and wooly with snakes, gaters and Florida panthers roaming around, but they had stuff like 56 Fords and earlier Ford pickups. I scored a lot of good hot rod building material there, but when I went back a few years later it was leveled. Don
Our pull and pay has hoists, broke hobos willing to "help" you pull parts for a small fee. I usually find enough left over tools at the end of the day that people have left behind in or under cars to more than make up for the cost of entry and about half of what I take out. One can actually search the yard online if you are looking for something in particular and have a pretty good idea where to start looking if you are looking for pieces.
I left my tape measure behind today, grrrr. The other thing I saw today was, in their 'project cars for sale' a '57 Jag MK9 with a small block Chev. Looked pretty close to runnable. They want $30 grand for it! What do the pay for cars, couple hundred bucks? Nice profit margin.
There's a yard in San Pablo or Richmond, CA that still has a ton of cool complete cars and they let you go wander around. Problem with them is they stack cars on top of each other. Lot of cool vintage speed equipment hanging off the walls inside.
I saw some people post pictures of this on Instagram. Did you end up buying it? Would make a super cool project. Wish I was closer I would totally buy it. I want a '55-'56 Ford two door so bad.
yep....when they ask me....usually have to say a 2000 Hon..OT part...just so I can go look around at stuff....
There are lots of Pull a Parts and U pull its going on around the Charlotte area. This seems to be the new trend. If you find an off brand (not corporate P.A.P) they often have weird stuff and don't turn over as often. If you find something pull it right then! I have missed out on some trim rings when I left them to see what else ws available....came back and the row was gone....them boys don't play around.
Nasty dog chained up in the garage for after hours tours of the fence line... A building you walk through with puddles of oil on the floor (and I mean REAL puddles), tires in racks against the wall. Engines and Tranny's sittin' under workbenches (covered with misc parts). Go out back... through the double garage door and it opens up to a nirvana of car parts, and dirt paths full of muddy ruts. Over to the right there is an OLD Dodge Powermaster with a makeshift winch/ tow rig for pulling parts and a Oxy/Aceteline torch. Old "Joe" will help you pull parts for a small cost... AND, you can walk in without signing a waiver or paying a $1.00 to look around..... Junk yards DO NOT EXIST anymore!
Bud's Auto Wrecking in Cheyenne, Wyoming. You have to sign in, but it's not a waiver. His dad had Lincoln Valley, right down the road, but supposedly they crushed everything last summer, after he passed away. Pre-war stuff and all.
I used to go with my dad. We always had something we were looking for... He always said to watch out for Bees and Snakes as I would wander around pulling fuses(my stay out of the way kid job) and finding "trunk treasures". The best yards had cool family names like "Schatzees" and "Maddox Bros" I'm sure the rows were in catagories by make, but as a kid I just liked wandering around while dad found what he needed...
Butch Cadman's place near Chatham Va; New London Auto Parts outside Lynchburg; Elon Auto Parts (looong gone) outside Amherst; Virginia Auto Parts when my Dad worked there in the '60's, Madison Heights.... lots of small places Dad knew about... Charlies out near Rustburg. Cunningham Brothers, first place i knew that had a mapped out system and tracked their cars; i worked for them for three years running the warehouse. liability insurance has damn near eliminated the "walk around" yard, and pic-n-pulls have to rotate the hulks quickly to keep stuff moving. i haven't seen a place that still stacks cars AND lets people roam, at least not locally. you want to find deals, find out which local yard does "Kidney Cars". the Kidney Foundation takes cars in as donations, the yard can still sell them whole or in parts in most places. i've bought four or five running cars that way, including a nice '65 Breezeway Merc and a '62 Midget.
It's still there, my lot's full! It was discussed on another thread that buying a car that is not in their "project cars" area is not easy. Basically you have to cut it in half and buy both halves. This one was missing the hood and right front fender, but most of the interior was still there. It's too bad these cars don't make it to Craig's List before someone calls P&P.
Junk yards sure have changed... most of them around here have been turned into subdivisions. Enjoy 'em while you can.
A lot of those cars probably were on Craigslist before the PO gave up and sold them to the junk yard. I have had three ot parts cars on Craigslist in the past year an a half and all three went to scrappers who showed up with cash in hand and didn't quibble after the cars had been on Craigslist for weeks without a bite. Around here my wife's 91 mini van is too old to find parts for in a wrecking yard in most of the yards. Several have gone to computerized inventory and have parts pullers who pull the part and you never set foot in the yard.
our local yard is one of the largest in Western Canada and is a gold mine for used parts. I was out there last week taking a walk through and checking on a few parts so once the snow is gone, I can go back and get them. I used to work for the owner so he just lets me take a yard truck and pull all the parts I want, and always for a great price. All the older stuff isn't in their computer so they tell me " you know where it is, go get it yourself" and that's what I love about it. I've spent entire afternoons robbing little parts of many different cars to use on projects at home. The thing I love most about it is, they rarely crush the old stuff. He still has all sorts of cars and trucks from the 40's to the 70's still sitting whole, ripe for the picking
Oh, I miss that place!! There were two of them close to where I grew up in Northeast Ohio, and when I moved here to Missouri there was a HUGE one with nothing newer than around 1975 or so. (Although he was missing the shop you walked through and it's too dry around her for the permanent puddles.) All three have been long since cleared, crushed, and cleaned out. I am still in mourning for the last one.
I searched it online and found the same inventory as they had, but one of the cars they said they had was nowhere to be found! Slow moving webmaster, I guess. These guys had wheel barrels too! I borrowed a 13/16 spark plug socket and found a small metal pipe and used it to get the lug nuts off. Now, outfits like LKQ use them there computers to find what you need, then charge you the proverbial arm and leg for the part. They wanted $65 per wheel, I got them for $8 each. Now let's see, that comes out to $114 savings that paid for most of my gas money to drive out to Denver. What I saved on putting the wife unit on the plane in Denver was probably another $100, and what I got back for the frame (that the engine was mounted on), another $12.75. Hmmm, that adds up to $226.75. So that whole thing cost me nothing, and I got the rims for nothing too, if you use the savings! Smart money sense.
Man that blue Lincoln (below) is what I need, It looks to be a 54, which is what I am restoring. I gotta get out there soon!
Better act soon. Owner died, family has taken over but not much going on. Get 'em before the Chinese do. Pretty neat they stacked the good stuff on top.
I think its Richmond real close to Pinole, i drove by it 2 years ago and you can see the old cars stack near the enterance.
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