So mine is not exactly car related but I was in my car when I found the trash pile last year. My last name is Zuelke. There are only 9 of us in Louisiana. I was going through my neighbors trash piled by the curb after cleaned out his garage and picked up a couple of books and come gun holsters and other random shit. When I got home and opened one of the books, a receipt for an electrical inspection for a guy in Tennessee dated 1953 falls out. The inspector was R. Zuelke. Now I said only 9 of us in Louisiana. There are only about 100 of us in the whole freaking country. What are flippin odds of that. Wierd. I still got the receipt.
A friend of mine just 2 weeks ago was about 15 miles out on a hike and found a complete, fairly nice 32 fordor sedan. he is now tryin to figure out how to get it out.
Many mango seasons ago, I lived in central Massachusetts. A buddy and I were hoofing it thru the next town over. We took a short cut thru a yard that had a large barn/garage in the back yard. Looking inside, we found an original 36 Ford woody. Super nice condition. It still had the isenglas windows on it. Another find was on a back road in New Hampshire. When I say back road, this sucker was so far back, they had to pump the sunshine in. There was a junkyard of about 6 or 8 acres filled with early iron. There were model A's stacked one on top of another. I remember a nice Zepher coupe, a Packard pickup, assorted Mopars, GM's Fords and orphen makes. I have often wondered if the yard is still there. I think it may well be due to its location being so far out. However, this was about 30 years ago.
About 20 years ago I was wandering around out in the desert out side of Las Vegas, looking for a good spot to return a desert tortise to the wild that I had found wandering around the city streets , how he got to town I don't know, but it was illegal to capture one , or keep one so I was going to put him back in the desert.He was an old bugger, had a date of 1800 something carved on his shell. I spotted a pile of junk that was obvious engine parts & went over to it . I found & still have 3 ---354 hemi cranks , 5 Hemi heads , 1 54 that was hugely ported & with Monster valves, 2 56's & 2 55's (tri 5 heads) & a set of Marine Adjustable Hemi rockers ~!!---- along with a bunch of Ford & GM stuff that I left there , not enough room for all of it .
In the late 80's a couple of buddies and I skipped class to do our usual trip to the local auto wreckers. There was a bunch of old school busses full of parts. At the very rear of one bus, buried was a ram air cleaner from a 69 Buick GS 400. I had a 70 Skylark with a GS hood and damn near shit myself when I found it. I took it to the parts counter and the guy said "Where in the hell did you find that?". "In one of the buses. How much?" I asked. "20 bucks" he replied. You never saw a 20 dollar bill fly out of my pocket so fast! Todd
My other score was a NOS Cuda or Challenger Pistol Grip shifter that a guy at work bought off the shelf of a Chrysler Dealer in the late 70's. He sold it to me for $20! I had that 20 bill out almost as fast as I did for the GS air cleaner (see post above)! I sold it for $250 back in 1990. Todd
The 20 dollar bill reminded me of another find. Between Las Vegas & Henderson on the Boulder Highway about 18 or so years ago there was an area where a lot of the houses had old junk sitting around the yards -- cars -trucks - washing machines --all kinds of crap. One day my son ( he was about 12 then ) & I decided to poke around a bit --- came across this pile of engine parts in one guys yard --- 354 hemi stuff --- rods - pistons -valve covers & the like --- No block or heads -- the guy came out -- he said some body had come along stripped this stuff off the motor & stolen the heads & block. I poked around & lifted one of the valve covers--- A Set Of FACTORY 300 Adjustable rockers -- BOTH sides . Acting like it was not much at all BUT I could use a few "spares" I asked what he would take for it all . 20 Bucks ! Man, I whipped it OUT & when my son started to pick up a piston , I pointed at the rockers & he grabbed them FIRST & put 'em in the trunk & closed the lid ---even at 12 he was sharp enough to know sumpin' was up when I pointed at the rockers. After we got the pistons & rods home I found out they were .040 oversize -----all in a good 20 $ investment !! Dave
While living in Sebring,Fl some local tree hugger types discovered several indian burial mounds out by the airport. They brought out a bunch of college kids to excavate said mounds for there historical artifacts. As soon as they started digging they started turning up aircraft parts. Their indian burial mounds were actually B-17 crash sites. Sebring was a WWII bomber base and after crashes they would salvage them on the spot and bury the rest with dozers.
My father told me of a story from when he got his first job working at a Ford dealership in 1962--- His order was to "Throw the old shit in the basement away- Take it all to the dump" 3 complete cosmolene wrapped flatheads and dozens of pieces of NOS 40's and 50's sheetmetal... So, search those dumps in northern New Jersey, maybe you'll find 'em--or Jimmy Hoffa...
About two years ago I took my Dad hiking in the woods near his house on some trails I mountain bike on. I'd seen a pretty decent '37 Chev grille in the back yard of a house you can't see from the road and some other stuff laying around the previous year. We hiked around and in and as it turned out, the stuff had been cleaned out since I had seen it last; the area was being logged and somebody else had probably hornswaggled the owner out of it or straight up stole it. Anyway, we cut across some property through the woods that were owned by the logging company and came across one "metal dump" where there were some old crappy wheels, cans, etc. and I found a pretty decent '36 Chevy truck grille that's hanging on the front of my house now. We continued and found an old car dump that has a '36 Dodge 4 door (on it's side), lots of miscellaneous body parts, and a early 30's GM coupe (maybe a Pontiac) that looks nearly perfect from the driver's side. It's sitting on it's passenger side and that half is pretty much rotted away and beyond hope (believe me, we built a Model A coupe out of about 6 cars and this one is considerably worse). It'd be a cool shop wall hanging though; but it'd be a major pain in the ass to remove. If anyone has an idea what it is let me know.
289 ford on craigslist free last week! crome valve covers,edelbrock aluminum intake manifold. guy said it was his kids from past jeep project REBUILT! just tired of looking at it. pulled the valve cover and it's clean as a whistle still has rebuilders heat paint on valve springs. even had good manual flywheel on back. also loaded up 22-r that will be sold next week as a core. cha-ching!
I've found the following along and on the roads: -misc. hand tools -snow shovel -snowmobile roller -bungee cords -kayak paddle -late model Chevy p/u wheel/tire We have "transfer stations" up here where everyone takes their garbage. There is a "reusables" section at them where you leave serviceable items that you don't want. People scrounge around them. I've seen lots of things, but nothing I wanted. In the summer, people just hang out at the transfer stations waiting for "the big find". I've pulled in with my pickup to drop off old carpet, well casing, etc... and had other people unload my pickup for me. Lots of times things never hit the ground!
Found a NICE tool bag, FULL of snap-on tools, plumbings stuff, etc....had a motorola radio on it. It was literally sitting RIGHT in the middle of the road. When I stopped to pick it up, I thought it was going to be a joke or something..... I was on my way to work so I didn't have time to fool with it. Once I got home home that night, I keyed the radio and found the owner. Turns out it was a plumber's bag. Most of the tools were his father's that he'd inherited. The owner of the plumbing shop came to my work the next day and picked up the bag. He gave me the "there's not many guys like you" speech and gave me $200 in gift cards to an awesome restaruant. I thought that was awesome!
You wouldn't think you'd see 3 brand new 14x7 chrome smoothies sitting out on the curb near the trash. Here in Florida, they are usually on something. My beat flatbead trailer now has spiffy chrome wheels. and... One night my girfiend and I are sitting at a light behind a pick-up truck with the tailgate down. We watched as one of them 101 piece Craftsman socket sets in the plastic box slid out of the back of the bed in front of us. I honked and flashed my headlights, but he didn't stop (I guess they were out after work doing some drunk driving). The box opened up and the sockets exploded all over the street. The street was not a busy one that time of night, so we got the flashlight out and grabbed as many pieces as we could... 100 of them.
my cousin noticed a big black plastic case in a ditch going home from his job at the fire dept, went back and it was a near new Milwaukee 28V cordless set,Hammerdrill,saw, sawzall, charger, extra batteries, the works, must have slid out of the back of someones truck.
I picked up a 1/2" Milwaukee drill in the middle of the road in a milk crate full of plumbers supplies once. 2 years later I swapped it for a torque wrench I still have. When we moved back to MI from OH 7 years ago, I was fixing the barn that had some serious rot in the main beams on the ground. I jacked it up and made posts like a pole barn 6' into the ground. Was going to rent a cement mixer to pour footers around each one. Went to get pizza one night and ran upon some scrappers dreams. He must have not tightened his load and ALL of the scrap was in the road and along side. 2 old snowmobile carcasses, some engines (junk V5s and an inline 3 (missing pistons)), and a CEMENT MIXER!! Still got it, still use it. Needed to replace the mounting bolts on the motor and fix the plug. Got $4 in it and hours of fun...works good to clean up big parts, too. Throw in some pea gravel and turn it on, cleans up the stuff like a rock tumbler kit.
many years ago a neighbor found a large 1/2 drill motor in his driveway. He went in his shop pluged it in. It was full of explosives and killed him.I guess wifes are not easy to share............................................................I have found many things folks have set on the street to be picked up. . home built trailers with complete brakes and all. A servayers transit. mag wheels, running lawn equip, transmissions, working fans for the shop, last week 20 , 8 ft light fixtures, large and small lots of scrap metal, I have a yard and building full of this shit. I always drive a truck and have good gloves. You never know what treasure you might find.. Bobby..
O/T but still a score. One day I drove by an old buisness/warehouse that closed down and noticed that there was a lot od crap piled next to the dumpsters, so I investigated. I pulled a couple of things off the pile and there it was. I checked the lable to make sure it was an original, and it was indead an Eames chair form the 50s. Which regularly sell for btween $5000-$6000 dollars in OK condition and this one was. Right know I have it sitting in my livingroom, but I really should sell it.
Seven years ago I found a bench grinder missing the on/off switch in the dumpster behind the shop. $5.00 later, still going strong.
some asshole in a tire truck cut me off going into sams club here in town. he was in a hurry to change a tire on a big rig at the other end of the lot. i went into the store and got my stuff and as i came out he was pulling away. it was a sunny day and i saw something shiny over by where he changed the tire. turns out he forgot to pick up his impact gun..... it still had the extension and socket attached used it yesterday ha ha tk
I the late 70's I was canoeing on the Green River outside Pinedale Wyo & saw a 27 Coupe Body on the Riverbank in the Natl. Forest. Talked to the ranger & he said it was junk & get it out of there. A hack saw & chisel & a couple of hours I had a rust free body in my PU heading for Michigan. Funny part was that I met a male full grown moose"head on" on a deer path as I was carrying the cowl section out, I'm still not too sure who was more scared me ? or the moose with me looking thru the windshield frame????
Sometime's I'll be out in the woods, and catch what looks to be an early roadster/touring car in the corner of my eye, which later turns out to be an 60's refridgerator/deepfreeze or something similair.
That's really not cool. Bury that with some respect. You're a real asshole if you keep that around in your house like it's a fuckin' toy or something.
I found a car battery in the right lane of the highway going 65 mph at dusk in my wifes Taurus! I didn't know what it was until I was about 30 yards from it. It ripped the tranny pan open and dumped about 6 quarts of fluid in 1/4 mile!
I found a laundry hamper full of stuff on the turnpike at 80 mph around midnight, right in the center of my 79 Mazda Rx-7. I found the owner a mile later looking for it.
The Jalopy Journal
