In the early sixties I was in high school and my friends and I would regularly visit the dumpsters behind the chevy dealership and the GMC truck place. We would find all kinds of blocks and heads and harvest parts from them. One night we found a brand new 283 short-block laying beside the dumpster. It was black as hell out, but we could see it was shiny orange paint on the block so we preceded to load it into the trunk of my '55 chev. When we got it home, we found out it had a rod thru the block, but I got a new crank and seven rods and pistons out of the deal. They went into the engine I built for my '60 chev biscayne.
'50ChevySuburba, I have to agree about the FREE-BAR. If yo don't use them anyplace ELSE, they make GREAT (and FREE) reinforcement when you rae planting a gate post in concrete!
Gigantor, I don't give a damn if osmebody said they reject it because she was something or the other. SHE MUTS HAVE HAD A GOOD HEART & GAVE MORE THAN SHE EVER RECIEVED. Keen story, & THANKS for sharing it! I'll GET that '38 out of that ravine, buddy! EVEN if I have to budge it an inch at a G-D time!
When I was... 10..12... one house down the street one year for junk day put out three small toolbox-sized cases of 45's and a stack of 33 1/2rd albums. The 45s, all 1955-1965 vintage, Elvis, Buddy Holly, all the big pop hits. Some nice, some well played, but I got a ton more enjoyment out of them, and I still have one of the cases I take to car shows and sell extras for 50 cents each. And a couple years later? A '28-29 Model A hood top, complete with terrible hackjob scoop and remains of old candy blue paint. Same house. Somewhere I have a Packard script bumper from about 1940 that was another junk day find down the street that I carried home before I could drive. Hell, I wish I had some of the stuff I picked up then, I remember a cool little metal case early portable 13" TV with tubes in it. From like the early 60s maybe. Heavy bastard. I had tons of radios and tubes and things, I still have a few of them.
Rusty, there's a '47 DeS club coupe ack in the woods about 30 miles from me. Your PACKARD mention made me remember it. Bumpers and trim are perfect to VG. I imagine somebody could USE those things! But, there the sit. "Desoto" script bumpers & all -- WAY back where no body would DARE to venture, 'cause the guy who owns the property if taller than ME, and I'm 6'2".
Found a set of Chevy aluminum heads going to the scrap yard. Need some weld repair, noooo problem and the are zl-1 casting numbers. It is my best find yet
OOOPS "RATMOTOR"!!! I MEANT to write that I was digging in the dumpster behind an office building that they were renovating and found a Sawzall that someone had (cut the cord off of, for some reason and) thrown it into the dumpster. Other than replacing the cord, and having to replace the screw and clip that holds blade in place, it worked just fine. "JIMI'SHEMI291"... I REALLY like retro pin up art! Glad that you like it!
I've dragged so much stuff home the entire family and inlaws have named me "pack rat"Scares the hell out of my kid to go anywhere with me (he's 38)Our town has a small portable shed that you can leave or take anything from but they will call the cops if they see you take anything from anywhere else in the recycling center yard it's too bad because lots of folks don't bother to leave good items there.Last week I saw a complete right down to the propane bottle SS gas grille sitting near the Iron dumpster grills, griddle, burner logs all cast metal not tin 500+new wasn't allowed top touch it because it wasn't in the "exchange building"but it was clearly and carefully set aside when it could have been pushed into the dumpster below.now if someone would only leave a 26-27 T windshield assembly out for grabs !
I work next to a golf course maintenance yard. There is a 40 yard dumpster that yielded enough recyclables is one years time to buy ourselves a HD big screen TV. Car stuff I found a set of MG factory wire wheels (ebay'd them) I found a brand new in the box brass gas pump nozzle from the 40s? A slightly used ping pong table which I still have. A new gas powered blower in the box that was only missing the air filter cover. (I made one out of a tuna can). I was at the dump and this guy next to me tosses a electric chainsaw on the pile. I ask whats wrong with it. "I think I overheated it" The chain brake was on. I still have it. Lots of old license plates. Surfboard I sold for $50 Lots of hand tools. etc. etc. etc...
Almost forgot. 30 years ago I was 19 working for a Ford dealership as a parts runner/ lot boy. I washed cars and chased parts. One day the service manager tells me to clear out this 40' semi trailer on the grounds being used as storage shed. I unlock this shed and it is stuffed with parts, service books, tires, hubcaps. I ask if I can take some of it He says "Take what you want but don't make a mess". I load up the shop truck and bring it to my folks house. I start filling the garage. My mom is blowing her top. I reassure her that this is a gold mine. I even score 2 camper shells. Back then the local paper had mini ads 2-lines for $1.50. I sell the camper shells for $50 and $75. The next weekend I take what I can to the San Jose Flea Market. I sold everything! The following weekend same thing. I made about $600 in 2 weekends which was about equal to one months take home pay back then.
I got a very similar RCA TV out of the trash some years ago, the guts had already been removed. I set it up as a fish tank for a while, now I want to put a flat screen inside the case, with a radio frequency remote so I can use the remote without having to see the edge of the TV through the old cabinet glass.
Ok food tops the list we found out that at the end of the day all the ordered pizza were ste on top of the dumpster for clients to get after hours we even would order what we wanted assumed name and go get it after they closed we lived accross the alley so could watch them put them out even had the name so we aould not get the achovie asperagus sur prize . . Oh ya about 50 feet of pallet racking found recently REVERSE DIVING A BUDDY WAS DUMPING A VAN FULL OF OLD TIRES (30 OR SO) AT A CONSTRUCTION SITE JUST ABOUT DARK WHERE A FEW TIRES WERE ALREADY PILED FOR UNLOADING CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS ONTO THEM FOR A SOFT LANDING..... ANY WAY THE LOCAL COMMUNITY SERVICE OFFICER PULLS UP AND SAYS" HEY PUT ALL THEM TIRES BACK .. AND GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE .. AND I WONT REPORT YA .. SO HE EMPTIED THE LOAD WHILE BEEIN SUPERVISED .. APOLIGIZED AND LEFT much much more if i think about it
I was on a test drive after fixing something on my ride, and got a few block from the house and saw 3 pallets of kitchen cabinets with a free sign on them. I drove home as fast as I could and got my truck, and loaded them ALL. It was enough to line my pole barn and the garage on the house. Picked up a '36 home radio sitting by the curb. got a Kelvinator 180 RC Cola cooler for free, that I am converting to a trailer to pull behind my A. A few too many bikes, but there is always a kid somehwere that is happy to get a bike from me. 3 sets of GM steel wheels, and 2 Weld wheels that were being thrown out because there was a little curb rash on them.
Found a Chevy '67 283 engine. It was a short block, with flat tops. I brought it home, tore it down, and noticed the crank shaft flange looked wierd. It had a notch cut out. SO, I got the #'s off of it, and looked it up. The crank in it was a '67 302 , forged, nitrided, and std. No idea how it came to be installed in this 283, but who cares. A quick call to a friend of mine, and it was on the way to Rick's Camaros. They paid $400 for it.
I found this in the trash! It was in pieces. I found almost everything except a few parts. Glued it back together. It has a small electric motor that makes the engine run and small lights that make it look like the plugs are firing, the tranny shifts and even reverse works. If you remove the wheel and brake drum all the brake parts are there and work. A cool find. I've seen them on Ebay for more than $600.00 Mel
I love dumpster diving. One time I was out walking the dog with my then 13 year old daughter and as I jumped in she said, "dad, there are people watching, it's kinda embarrassing." She got over it in a few years and now enjoys it as much as I do and doesn't give a shit what people think.
Picked up a small gas powered compressor, like the one used for construction. It was sitting in front of a neighbors house for $100 no takers, than $50 no takers, than free,that was my price. It runs needs a little work but for free who's complaining. My two favorite words FOR FREE.
friend of mine not a car guy was cleaning out a rental house he owned , that his renters bailed on him, in the back yard was a trailer made out of a pick up box told me it looked like a car engine was in it buried under a bunch of trash, turns out to be a fresh rebuild 348 complete minus carb, got it for free.........about 5 years ago.sold it wish i still had it.
I had an electrician friend call me when I was building my shop. He said everything to wire and light my shop was in a dumpster beside a building getting redone. I got it all.......... wire, lights,(nice bright 4ft,4 light fixtures-20 of them) switches, and enough conduit for two shops. All for free. Thanks Big Al.
Atually a "dump truck" dive. A friend to me about 2 large (8 feet by 3 feet) Firestone signs in a dumptruck when they were hauling stuff out of an old tire dealer. I ran down and picked them out. They were 1970's vinatage plastic but not in bad shape. I thought about working them into the walls or roof of a tool shed and they would be like stained glass windows, but I sold them at a swap meet.
The Jalopy Journal
