While at Odessa, ON a fellow saw my HJ wanted sign and told me about a fellow down by Cardinal, ON that has one. I got his number from a guy on Hwy43car club FB site and called and left a message. No one called me back so I called my buddy who live in Johnstown and he said that Russ got fed up with kids smashing windows so he called in the scrap people and sent over 200 cars etc to be crushed. I'm not holding my breath that the HJ was saved. tears in my eyes for all the good projects lost!!
The problem is everyone complains that the owner scrapped cars but when the guy had they laying around everywhere no one wanted to buy anything or wanted the guy to give his stuff away.
Yep, and the scrappers don't piss and moan about little things to try to get the price down more. I've got one friend here locally who was "going to buy" a car that has been sitting in a yard for the past five years and the yard owner finally got tired of waiting on him and crushed it when the crusher came though and got more out of it than the original asking price. He kept putting off going and finishing the deal and getting it until the guy forgot that anyone wanted it.
Cars are not like a greyhound or whippet (dogs..). Not all get rescued and go to a good home. There is really not a huge market for a car that has been laying around in a field for 30 years that is basically a mouse house and is slowly sinking into the earth. A few here may be interested, that's about it. Bob
But how many times have you heard that isnt for sale....even in a junk yard. I know a few yard owners that hoarded the stuff up and let it rot and still wouldnt sell anything off them....
There are also a lot of greedy dreamers. Those are the guys who know where old iron is and don't tell anyone because they want them all for themselves. Problem is, they don't have any money and probably never will. In the past, I used to read threads on the HAMB and no contact info or even an address was given to a yard. Sometimes, we shoot ourselves in the foot. If guys are out and find an old car yard, post the address or at least a phone number. It's not that hard. Honestly, I don't want to read about a yard that crushed. I want to read that there's still hope.
so true. you have grand illusion, but in reality how many cars are you going to build in your life. keep this keep that but when your dead your family will send it to scrap anyway
i have bought some unbuildable cars roll/overs and t-bones and found lots of parts , cut them up for panels etc. so this is hope for some of those cars to give back to them hobby, but sometimes we are focused on profit and the big dream cruiser
Don't beat me up too bad. 5 years ago I bought 302 cars and trucks along with 21 tractors. The years were 1936-1966 mostly complete. The land owner gave me 6 months to clear the land of all metal. I sold ALOT of parts-u pull. Most of the cars were to far gone to save. In the end the crusher paid more than most people wanted to give for them. With time running out the crusher got them. I made alot of money but looking back at the pictures it HURTS.
I called Russ after a friend got ahold of him and he still has the HJ, we are going to look at it next week.
We're our own worst enemies sometimes too. A local yard used to have about 75 late 40s/50s cars and trucks and was a great source for parts, although the cars were generally picked over. I always felt he was fair on his prices too; not the cheapest, but not highway robbery either. But he got tired of 'hobbyists' coming in and low-balling him on parts, culminating in a guy throwing a fit (literally) over a $200 price for a complete set of pristine 57 Bel Air 2-dr stainless. Within two weeks, everything older than 15 years was gone.....
When it comes down to a car only having a few odd pieces that are usable, they are probably only good for scrap. And getting the word out to the masses about what ya got, good luck. The logic of hoarding up cars only to have them turn to mush escapes me. Bob
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