Older guys....ever scrap any old tin you now look back on with regret?

While I was in high school, 30 years ago, I found a '34 cabrolet body out in the woods and drug it home. I also talked a guy out of two 8BA flatheads. (they hadn't been run in years, but were all original, never opened).

When I went off to college, my parents moved out of town, so I had to get rid of it all. Couldn't find a buyer, so I took it all to the land fill. 5 years later, I saw bodies in similar condition sell at Pomona for $1500.

It's a shame, but you hafta move on.

 

I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT! I think i'm gonna go cry now.

 

I actually saved this one last month. A guy in chi-town pushed it into the street and called a scrap hauler to take it. His new car got hit in the street. I blocked it in with my Cherokee and called my tow guy. I got a bill-o-sale from him, too. Turns out he dropped out of our car club a few years ago. What an A##-####.

 

Year --- 1963
Car --- 1933 Ford Vicky
Went to local junk yard and bought the vicky ($375), 39 trans ($25), 283 chevy ($125)
Local speed shop for an adapter($25)
3 weekends later I'm drivin it
Next weekend puttin in another trans(didn't like the torque of the SBC when tryin to speedshift)
After about 8 trans changes, got real pissed off, called a buddyand told him to meet me in the Back Bay of Newport Beach with a gallon of gas and a 6 pack.
Just about sunset we threw the gas inside the car, lit it, then let it burn for a while , then pushed the car off the cliff into the pacific ocean.
Just like in the movies.
What we did as kids, I'm still kickin myself in the ass for that 1.

 

In the early sixties we cut up a nice 33 Ford two door for scrap. We got enough money from the scraper to pay for the torch rental.......plus I scratched up my 55 Pontiac convert hauling the frame.

In the late sixties I sold my 49 Harley panhead for $600........

In the late 80's I bought an original 1970 GTO Judge convert for $2400 and sold it for $2800......a year ago, after a first class restoration, saw it go at auction for over $100,000. It was red with a white top and red interior.....

I had so many cars that I bought cheap and should have kept but I always had to get rid of one to buy one.

 

I didn't scrap one. But, many yrs ago I asked a girl I knew why she wasn't driiving her 65 Mustang conv any longer. She said it needed a timing chain, and the car wasn't worth the cost of the repair in those days. She asked me if I wanted it. I said no, I don't like convertibles. So she left it on the street for the city to pick up

 

I couldn't afford to keep all of my cars in 1978, so I sold my running, licensed, red '57 Bel Air convertible, 283 power pack/PG, for the whopping sum of $1000.

 

I tossed some parts in a dumpster, I was moving out of state and was feeling pressured, 15 years ago. I still feel guilt. It is immoral to destroy vintage parts/cars.

 

....bought a nice A sedan for $35, sold it a week later for $45 (1965); bought a cherry 53 Merc cp for $40, drove it for a couple of months then sold it for the same $40; we rolled a 47 Ford cp on to its side and removed the rear axle, then rolled it on over and into the slough (1966); bought a 57 vette for $600, promptly broke the rear and sold it $300 (1967); bought a very nice 35 Ply 2-dr sedan, sold it, bought it back and then sold it again (1971); cannot count the number of Road Runners, Chargers, GTX and R/T cars that were bought and stripped for parts during the early 70's.
There are still some cars on the road that should be preserved for 'later use' but storage space/conditions always seem to get in the way.

 

Junked a '69 Toro this year when I couldn't find any demand for it.. saved some pieces, it had a good parking lens, my buddy later tosses a carburator into the crate the lens was in... you got it lens in a million pieces. Cut the front part of the frame right out of it and tucked the 455 away. Only guy I know around here who digs them already has about 25 of the damn things.


The only one that really pains me is the '59 Olds 88 4dr I had that I swapped to a junkyard that was "old-car friendly" for some parts... only to see it end up crushed later on. I should have bought the '59 El Camino he had when I could have got it for $120 - it had a lot of rot, but was up and rolling. There was a good solid '57 Plymouth 2dr sedan in the back someone had set up off the ground... a couple of Stude 2dr wagons, one a '57 or '58 (rare as all hell)... lots of stuff like that, and 90% of it is all gone now.

 

Haven't trashed any really old tin, but 20 years ago I hacked the back clip off of a 67 Rally sport convertible camaro to fix another ragtop I had, way before they started reproducing all that stuff. At that time the car I hacked only needed floorpans.
Not long ago I started wondering if the car still existed, made some phone calls and found it was still buried in the same warehouse. Last month I bought what was left of the car I cut up back then, ordered new sheetmetal, and have started building it back for my wife. no one else knew of the car because it was totally covered under a mountain of parts along side of another camaro convertible. The parts were mostly 1st gen camaro, but there are also some flathead blocks, a 31 ford roadster body that is mostly all bondo, and a hacked up and badly rusted deuce frame.

 

What's that old saying" If I'd have kept every car I owned ,I'd be a millionaire" and the other guy replies, "No, if you'd been a millionaire you'd have kept every car you ever owned" You had to sell 'em to buy the next one. Here's a few to make you're eyes water and your wallet itch.


Paid $15 dollars for this 3 window and sold it for $20, a nice 25% profit. Paid $25 for the the five window below because it came with fenders and a grill. (Note the 25 louver hood which disappeared somewhere along the way)



Sold the five window to a mid Missouri round tracker for $27.50. I wanted $30, he offered $25, we compromised



Paid $40 for this T because it ran and got $90 for it. You can see where this is going




Paid $125 for this without an engine and paid $200 for the Tudor below because it had a "full race " flathead to swap into the '32.



Parted out the Tudor when I joined the Air Force but saved (and still have) the roadster so I can't feel to bad about all the tin I screwed up.
Enjoy

 

Been broke around here in North Georgia, bike shop is slow..
I stuck a engine in this old wrecker to use around the shop..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kpQ3QYAGY0
Yep, I been hauling things to the scrapyard. A full sized ford truck will bring $550 across the scales and makes child support payments just fine.

I been saving the best parts for my collection of building cars.

That 4b 351C, the three 351W's, the four 302's gone gone.. Probably come back as a harbor freight tool. Ya;ll should've hollered.. I figure a complete engine at $280 Ton versus #500lbs for a engine.. what a loss. There was two 4b COE 460s in vans.. gone..

I'd rather do this than do car repossessions from widows with children and low paying jobs thou.

(SACRILEGE, don't throw rocks) Sorry guys.. better to pay that child support instead of sit in jail thou. OUR Country needs a enema to get things started.. None of the politicians I see make me secure feeling.

 

Oh, man! Ready for this? I grew up in a 'junkyard' ('recycler' by today's vocabulary) in the 50's and 60's. You can imagine what tin I played around in! I've got pics from when my grandfather and father started the yard in the 40's - so much 20's and 30's stuff it was piled on top of each other in some places! Oh, it hurts just thinking about it! On a personal level, I bought a '38 Ford 5w coupe body from a guy (1983) for $50. Complete dash, steering col and wheel, both doors complete, solid floor, most of the glass, rear fenders welded in, trunk lid welded and filled. Sold it for $200, borrowed $100 from my brother and bought a '33 Chevy 3w coupe body, a pair of 32 rails and grill shell. Sold it within a year for $1100 and took wife and 2 kids to Disney World. More stories could be told, but tears in my eyes are making it hard to type.

 

In the service, had a few too many cars and stuff and got orders to transfer. Tried to sell my 52 Henry J, no luck, had $25 in it, pushed it into the lake (no engine or trans). Completely machined but unassembled 365 Caddy V8 and rebuilt Hydramatic from my 57 Sedan Deville, drivetrain for the Henry J, had $175 in it, tried to sell, no luck, got $3.25 for it from scrapyard.
Did take my 35 Std 3W Chevy Coupe, had $35 in it, with me, sold later for $450.

 

My father who's in his 80's now used to wheel and deal all the time. I came home from high school one day, 1977, and there was a 36 ford three window & 57 Caddy convert sitting beside the house. The caddy had a bad rod, the three window had a stuck motor. Very little rust from what I remember, none in the caddy. He bought both of them for $175.00. I wanted the three window bad! My dad worked nights so I had to wait for him to come home from work before I could attack him. When he showed up it was too late, he'd already sold the three window to a guy at work for $300!!! The guy promised to sell it to me if he ever got rid of it. About six months later I found out he sold the front fenders, grill and hood, and cut the rest up for scrap. Body and all. Lost his job and got stupid I guess.

The caddy sold for $100 the next weekend. I've got lots of stories like that. The three window hurt the most cause I was infatuated with old cars. I give him shit all the time for the cars he had and didn't keep. But it was different times then, I've been guilty of lesser stupidity, but I'm sure with time it will grow.

 

I've never scraped any of my cars that I regret. But I sure as hell regret selling some of them.

 

Year 1968

Car 1955 Chevy Convertible

Car would not start on dirt road..traded car to hunter walking by for his shotgun and bottle of whiskey.

Shit!

Bill

 

My dad used to get tri-five chevys all the time $25-250.00. Once in a while he'd come across a convertible, he gave them to his circle track
buddies. He and a guy named John Ward built a 55 chevy convertible
(the first chevy to win @ Saugus). The last cool car we had was a
'56 nomad he bought in 1970 for 125.00 w/broken engine. He sold it
in 1972 for $250.00 complete, red ext. black diamond tuck int. 327/4spd,
redlines and 3.55 posi.., and bought.., caugh, gag, puke..., a PINTO!

A couple of years after he and my mom married and started having kids,
dad had to sell his beloved '55 Tudor Delray, 271" early rochester injection, 4speed 4.56's and chrome steelies 13.80's/100 mph to get a
'56 moredoor wagon. Several years later he runs into the guy he sold the
'55 to (who lived just down the street). The guy says he had crashed
the front end and parked it in the garage, not much later he moved and
since the car was not drivable, he just left it there, never to return for it
or call dad and tell him go get it if ya want it.

I'm still in therapy

 

I sold my '39 Merc two door sedan for 65.00 when I joined the Navy (1958) it needed a water pump. But I bought it a year earlier for 75.00. Wonder if it survived.

 

'65 Mustang 6 cyl F/B pulled up to the service dept door at the Ford dealer I worked at in '73. Knockin' loud. Before it could get inside it blew. Junkyard was paying $35 so I gave the guy junk price for it, towed it home stripped it & made $100 off the doors fenders & insides. Rest went to the junkyard for $25. In '02 sent a '53 F100 shorty, a '66 Catalina convert, a '65 Catalina 4 dr and a '60 Falcon 2 dr to the junkyard cuz they were in the way & I was moving. Some guys wanted but never came to pick 'em up. Got $100 for all 4 complete vehicles. Was able to keep a '54 Crestline, 2 '56 fairlanes & a '66 Cyclone. It still hurt, especially the '66 Catalina.

 

1968-1975 i had a tow truck junk many tri 5 chevy,s and fords

 

I had a '71 Charger. Didn't think much of it, it was kind of beat. Hemi orange, slushbox and it was 340 car. Hmmmm, looked like an R/T but the interior was beat, had a flat hood off another car and it literally looked like they used it as a roundyround practice car. Super solid but not a straight panel on the car. I was 16, used it year round and drove it like any typical 16yr old would....sideways and as fast as it would go....and added plenty of new dents along the way thanks to the Joey Chitwood meets the Dukes of Hazard driving style I had back then. Stripped it for parts for my '72 Satellite Sebring and scrapped it out. Found out later that the car was an original 340/automatic equipped SuperBee....one of about 270 built with that engine combo.

-Bigchief.

 

I'm not about to admit to the stupid shit I've done on here .. Hell it's bad enough thinkin' about it much less talkin' about it ... I don't want everyone on the planet knowin' how friggin' stupid I was back there .. or may be now .. and would be if I admited this shit here .. !!

 

Groucho, my brother bought a 57 Chevy ragtop for $65.00 back in the late 60's. It didn't have a motor or trans, but the damn thing was cherry! He ended up selling it because to him, back then, it wasn't what he wanted so he sold it for $125.00 and bought a 57 2 dr post car..........

 

a 1957 Dodge Coronet 500 two door hardtop with a '63 Chrysler 383. i dragged that car from Virginia to South Carolina and ran afoul of code enforcement... it was complete and undamaged, gold and white, and the city towed it away while i was aboard ship.

come to think of it, that wasn't my choice, now was it...

a 1953 Ford Customline Coupe AND a 1953 Mercury Monterey hardtop; a running 1963 Galaxie 500xl 4d sedan, a 1965 F100, a 1960 Starliner, too many Falcons, a 1965 Mustang 2+2. a 1967 390 Mustang FB, a 1978 King Cobra (which donated many parts to...) a 1951 Ford Business Coupe.
i don't turn cars loose too easily any more, though.

i sorely wish i could have kept that Dodge.

 

no , cadillac dave

 

"can't restore them all" was one line that really used to piss me off. now i'm the one using that line! until economy gets better and scrap prices stay high everyone is going to thin out their stock,people gotta eat!

 

should have kept my dodge aspen, could never get that dam manifold and cyl head to ever not leak exaust though even after machining both. .underbody was pretty badly rusted . If i has saved it I could have put a hemi in it someday. would have been a great sleeper. I don't think anything worked right on that car.