A Junk metal buyer stoped at my place today

Well get this maybe some good will come from this:

I'm on vacation from work this week so I could get a good amount of work done on my 31 A today. I'm working away in my shop radio on, air compresser running, Look up and there a gentlemen standing in the door. Scared the shit out of me for I live in the middle of nowhere and don't get many strangers showing up on my place.

I stop what I'm doing and talk to this older gentleman, and he looking for old iron to buy, Farm equipment, scrap items. At frist I was a little taken back that someone would pull on my place looking to buy scrap iron and kind of got mad, Well a light in my head comes on and I start talking to him about cars he runs across, well he says ya we come across a lot of older cars on farmsteads that when they buy the scrap iron people throw the cars in just to clean the place up.

This gets me thinking and I tell him to call me when they get some of these old cars, before they take them to the crusher to see what they are and if there anything useable or Salvageable off of them. I told him I would give him the scrap price for the old cars and take them off his hands, because I just hate seeing old iron going to get crushed.

Just maybe I can just help someone get there car done or find the one of there dreams. Maybe just maybe something good will come from this.

 

Great idea! I hope it works. I hate seeing old cars get crushed.

 

That's great, try to turn it around so it benefits you, him, (and the farmer), plus save some old tin from the crusher, beats getting mad at the guy!

 

Opportunity knocked... and you were sharp enough to see it.

 

had one stop by here he was not looking for scrap tho, he was a vulture, hauling his trailer fancy truck.. and wanting to give a 100.00 for my dads 48 ford.. tried telling me thats all it was worth.. and im thinking to my self.. yeah the vet rear suspension should be worth at least a 100 to someone one.. anyhow, he try to tell me i was wrong.. i just said have a good day.. he did go up 200.00 its a cancer free 48 2 door ford. nova front clip, etc. not most desirable set of wheels.. but my dad has had it for a long time and now he is retire i hope we can get to work on it for him to finish what he s tarted long time ago.. its a cool car.
chris.

 

You should have offered him 10 - 20 % more than scrap to make it worth his effort.

 

We used to have scrappers stop by the store with an occassional load of car stuff or a car or truck body. Didn't buy much but did have the first/last opportunity to save some stuff. Best day was when a guy came by who was cleaning out an old line independent auto parts store on the east side of Houston. Got hundreds of pounds of hardware and oldtime plated steel wire connectors and spark wire ends plus a bar of silver solder and a batch of small tools and various small parts, all for $50. Didn't get as much as I wanted because the guy had a deadline to make it to the scrapyard. This was over 15 years ago when scrap was low.

If the guy remembers you'll probably have the first go at alot of parts or cars that wouldn't ever be seen by anyone but the scrapper and the guy at the scales.

 

i have had junk metal guys come by with a truck load of stuff asking if i was interested, i bought a 30/31 A coupe door, a set of nash doors, a set of 30 chevy rear fenders, the rear window roof part of a 30 chevy, chevy splash aprins and one running board and an engine stand, $50 and they unloaded it all right here.

 

I have a lot of good parts that I got this way! Loose the bad ass additude and a lot of these guys will bring you lots of good stuff! Not all of these guys are tweekers. They are just out trying to make a buck!

 

X2 Jalopy Jim,make it worth their while. They are not stupid. They work their butts off. Most aren't thieves and generally make more than the people they pick up from. I had a salvage yard for over 20 years and most pickup junkies made 3-500 per day. Hard work,catch shit from a** holes and get jerked around on the good stuff. I paid a premium over scrap for good stuff,sold it for what is worth, and funded my habit[cars]. A little respect goes a long way and a cold one on a hot day makes it better.

 

That was a lucky day for ya the way you played your cards! Hope you come across a great save from the crusher for you or someone else! It's all about saving history and keeping dreams alive!

 

Was watching c span this morning and heard that scrap metal is like our second largest export to China. Save all you can.

 

out here they don't bother talking to people, they just take. stole the phone lines right off the pole out by my work, couple hundred feet of cable. and another time they ripped out the copper sprinkler valves out by the street.

got a friend who is a legit honest scrap guy, they cut the lock on his gate and steal it from the bins he has in his yard.

they should park a police car out by the scrap places and go hassle anyone who drives by with a load of scrap but does not stop.

 

the largest export to China from the port of Oakland here is empty containers. that is not a lie.

 

The copper thieves are just thieves. If a man has a load of this and that with a work truck and trailer he's probably straight. The copper thief won't pick up tin,mufflers,etc. the yards that buy copper only from the tweekers should be charged too.

 

last scrapper stopped by my place borrowed the gallon can of lawn mower gas i had on my portch , dont leave anything worth anything out now

 

I had the same experience and did the same as you,couple years ago,I pay him a fair price and now it's one of my best friend .I show him what to look for and even gave him book of sbc casting#.He bring me so much stuff i had to redirect him to other people i know.It's unbeleivable what people trow away.Once he bring me a bowtie block filled with pink rod, forged piston and a hank the crank 327 crankshaft.Also 2 complete southbend 9" lathe among other tools,rear end,carb, heads, trans etc.

I talk him into car and now he own a 68 nova that he rebuilt with my help.
Pat

 

I'll have to talk to some of the scrapper i run into locally, never thought to ask them about old cars. A local scrap yard just got shut down and an idiot from up the line was arrested after stealing the copper grounding wires from those giant windmills. The police actually caught him tresspassing on the windmill property at 3 a.m. and then folowed him for a while. they tracked him the the now closed scrap yard where they found he had been paid $20,000 in one month for "scrap" copper.....

 

i saved a sweet nose off a 55 chevy that way-----and i have a 56 4 dr with complete drivetrain sitting in my field---just payed scrap prices to a local guy--

 

My buddy has been trading them stuff so they make a little more. He picked up a bunch of vintage tractors that way, some of them runners, and is working on a couple other things.

I did my trading at the scrapyard, scrapped some stuff to buy things out of the you-pick side.

 

When the scrap prices are high around here you don't leave anything that has iron content outside. The bastards will come right in your garage and start carrying stuff away. Catch them and you'll get the most innocent reply, "oh I didn't think you wanted that it was just lying here on the driveway." I hardly ever go to the shop anymore without carrying my concealed piece. They can walk right up behind you without making a sound. Turn around and they're right in your face.

Frank

 

had a lady use a stolen credit card to buy $5000 worth of rebar, truck comes buy picks it up and takes it to the scrap yard for $750 cash!!! talk about the laziest scapper known to man... if they are out there working hard and not stealing im all for it.. but stealing thats another story

 

my oldest son does some scapping on and off. sometimes he is given the stuff and sometimes he buys. he keeps pretty good records of where he got it and gets receipts or permission slips. anyway last thanksgiving when he and the family come for dinner, he says "dad i've got something in the trunk you might be interested in". sur was, there were 2 flathead alum 2x2 intakes in there with carbs. he paid $25 for the two and i gave him $50. both of us were very happy

 

I have some scrappers coming by my place, I ask them (in my best spanish) if they ever come across any old Schwinns bicycles. So far they've brought me a couple of Wal Mart bikes and a "my little pony" bike. I dont think they understand me? They did come in handy lately, I'm in the middle of a move and they came by and I put them to work, a couple hours later they had a truck load and I had a clean shop.

 

around here all the old cars have been scraped the local car builders would only want to pay 1/3 of scrap
went to look at a 49 merc cut roof as $300 craigs lise add
i called it came from Bruton Al was in a barn had motor rebuilt could not get running
so it sat from the 60's
i called and said i was comming 45min drive i was there after a scrapper bought it for $150 i offered him $600 he was old and a jerk
when i pick up somthing foe scrap it is scrap and smashed the windshield and yelled alot
this was a good builder good chop all was there verry little rust shaved door handles and so on
the car when i saw it was in century FL
it was part of a garage cleaning project and traylors that he wanted
he gave $50 for it

 

any scraper's i meet i give my #,i tell em i'll give a bit more than the yards.

 

Well I was just contacted by the scraper and he will be picking up a 1952 Studebaker two door with title. This should be interesting, he getting it from the orginial owner. Will post more when I know more. Thanks everyone

 

I get about 3 different guys coming by my house a day, and they are different ones each day and time. I live in a housing tract between the 22 and 405 frwy in So Cal, the closest field is a cemetery and school yard. I would ask them but, I dont speak Spanish or Vietnamese. They each yell as I am working on my car, "Trash or Scrap" while pointing at my car.
That is awesome that your guy is going to work with you.

 

My son is a scraper( with a business license) up in NW CO. He is working on getting me a 38 Ford coupe. No engine or glass. He is working with another scraper to get it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, I have a 50 Merc. flathead looking for a home. He pays about 10% more than the others and is busy 7 days a week.

Lee

 

One scrapper brought me a Muncie 4-speed the other day and I asked him how much. He said $50! Of course I said yeah. I guess the yard would've probably paid him $20, so he was happy.