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Folks Of Interest What's the coolest thing you have found dumpster diving?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Robert J. Palmer, Jun 20, 2015.

  1. Rogga
    Joined: Sep 3, 2009
    Posts: 115

    Rogga
    Member

    Haha! ....Wonderful!
    I like to see it in your A coupe someday! //Roger.
     
  2. Went to the dump and my Dad couldn't believe - someone had brought an old trailer in and dropped it. My stupid brother and I loaded it in the back of Dads pickup (flat tires) - shoulda seen the look on the ladies face when we weighed more leaving than entering. The bed was junk but it had a Ford axle and '35 wire wheels. I trashed the rotten wood box and made a motorcycle trailer in metal shop class. Now I'm looking at the wheels thinking I may re-reuse them on a project.

    Our dump now has a "hazardous waste section" where things get sorted and made available. It's not far from work so if I'm early I'll stop by and see what's there. Hazardous waste that I've gotten for the cost of my signature include cases of motor oil, trans fluid, 4 cases of new fluorescent tubes, more wd40 type cans full of spray than I'll ever use and on and on.

    Toted lots of "garbage" stuff from work too. Good for pocket/folding money off Craigslist.


    Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
     
    drylakespeedshop likes this.
  3. strait8
    Joined: Jun 11, 2014
    Posts: 142

    strait8
    Member
    from Skokie, IL

    Not car related but......Walking out of a bar at closing time in Oshkosh Wi sitting on the curb waiting for my buddy Frank to emerge so we can stagger back to the dorm. Girl walks out from the back door of Rocky Rococo's with 2 large garbage bags and chucks them into the dumpster. We both look at each other and smile having the same light bulb go off in our drunken minds. We return to our dorm floor as heroes at 2am with individually boxed slices of warm Pizza for the whole floor. It becomes a ritual as our floor mates start to return on subsequent weekend nights with warm food from the local restaurant dumpster in the early morning hours.
     
    Clay Belt likes this.
  4. I visited the local scrap yard to look for some steel for a project. I spotted a manifold in their aluminum bin. It was one side of a "60 - '61 Mopar 413 cross ram manifold. (These had one set of rams for each head) I asked if they had the other one. Answer was: "Well we did, but the other one went to the smelter yesterday."
     
    fourspeedwagon likes this.
  5. 68hillbilly
    Joined: May 10, 2007
    Posts: 158

    68hillbilly
    Member
    from KENTUCKY

    I used to work for a major auto parts store 15 or so years ago and one time they did an exhaust changeover. All the old brand gaskets, clamps, hangers, pipes ,mufflers etc. We're thrown into the dumpster. The muffler were usually struck with a sharp object to put a hole in them but sometimes it just glanced off. The holes were small and easily welded up. Given away many of these over the years. Haven't bought a clamp in a long time.
     
  6. Deuces
    Joined: Nov 3, 2009
    Posts: 23,753

    Deuces

    That's gotta be a heart breaker.... :(
     
    Clay Belt likes this.
  7. firebrrat
    Joined: Jun 26, 2010
    Posts: 100

    firebrrat
    Member
    from Payson Az

    little red 50 likes this.
  8. firebrrat
    Joined: Jun 26, 2010
    Posts: 100

    firebrrat
    Member
    from Payson Az

  9. dreracecar
    Joined: Aug 27, 2009
    Posts: 3,476

    dreracecar
    Member
    from so-cal

  10. topher5150
    Joined: Feb 10, 2017
    Posts: 3,338

    topher5150
    Member

    I hope you told the cops that you found an old person in the dumpster.
     
    Clay Belt and czuch like this.
  11. dreracecar
    Joined: Aug 27, 2009
    Posts: 3,476

    dreracecar
    Member
    from so-cal

    fell in once, needed help to climb out
     
  12. henry29
    Joined: Sep 5, 2007
    Posts: 2,872

    henry29
    Member

    oh wait... you said dumpster diving
    [​IMG]
     
  13. topher5150
    Joined: Feb 10, 2017
    Posts: 3,338

    topher5150
    Member

    I'm surprised the rat rod community hasn't jumped on that style yet
     
    drylakespeedshop, zzford and patmanta like this.
  14. brasscarguy
    Joined: Jun 12, 2010
    Posts: 184

    brasscarguy
    Member
    from seattle

    About 20 years ago I used to buy and rebuild salvage cars from the insurance pools. Mostly Subaru's but on occasion GM cars for the motors. My ex wife had the hots for an Eldorado so I found an easy fix and bought it.

    Got it back to the shop and started working on it, she decided to detail the interior and was busy with the vacuum when she lets out this big scream. I went over to see what the noise was all about. With the vac head she pulled out a 9mm Glock from under the front seat, loaded with one in the chamber.

    Another time I bought a chevelle at an police impound auction for the sb motor. Of course as usual no keys so once home we decided to start it to see if it was a good motor. We also decided to punch the trunk lid to open it. Once opened we found several new Skill saws, a couple of new saber saws and a bunch of new hammers and carpenter tools, all new never used. We figured it was a stop and rob deal ad we were the lucky recipients of their hard work.

    just sayin'

    brasscarguy
     
    czuch and luckythirteenagogo like this.
  15. Fordors
    Joined: Sep 22, 2016
    Posts: 5,373

    Fordors
    Member

    After I retired I was home for about two years and was getting bored. I was only 58 so I decided to get a job, something easy. I wound up at a nursing home doing plumbing and light electrical work. The administrator was kind of anal, one time a delivery driver backed into a light standard in the parking lot and destroyed it. That style was not available and she just had to have them all the same, so the aluminum poles were removed and replaced. The contractor left them in a pile so I got the Sawzall and cut them into pieces I could load in my truck. After work I stopped at the local scrap yard and went home smiling with $335.
    I changed plenty of faucets there too, it was a twenty year old, 225 bed facility and was being updated. A five gallon pail of “faucet brass” as the scrap yard called it averaged about $90. Nice fringe benefit!
     
  16. Fedcospeed
    Joined: Aug 17, 2008
    Posts: 2,011

    Fedcospeed
    Member

    When i worked at Niagara Machine and Tool Works in Buffalo,the famous sheet metal equipment makers, They were doing a department clean out of "old stuff" A Rockwell Tester, bead rolling dies and about 400 press brake dies,cut offs..The dies I gave them 2X scrap price. Send and done made 10K on the dies , sold them by the foot,100bucks on the tester and I still use the bead roller stuff and some of the 2ft PB dies. No BS either here.
     
    czuch likes this.
  17. patmanta
    Joined: May 10, 2011
    Posts: 3,872

    patmanta
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Woburn, MA
    1. MASSACHUSETTS HAMB

    I dunno man, it's got good proportions... ;):D
     
    belair likes this.
  18. COCONUTS
    Joined: May 5, 2015
    Posts: 1,163

    COCONUTS

    After attending Jump School at Ft Benning, I had two weeks to kill, before being shipped overseas (you know where I was headed for---1969). The First SGT of the school gave me a pickup truck and told me to go around the jump area and the OCS area and take down any rock monuments that were falling down. So me and another PFC were loading up rocks and taking them to a dumpster to get rid of them. We loaded up that dumpster almost right to the top with rocks. The next day the First SGT told me and the other PFC that some garbage guys wanted to see us, out in the parking lot. Well they were pretty upset, they could not pick the dumpster up with their garbage truck and wanted us to remove the rocks from the dumpster. So the First SGT had us remove the rocks and load them into the bed of a deuce and a half (2 1/2 ton truck) and take them to a rock quarry off post (yea we did have a "off post permit pass for the truck). Now if you are still reading this , you are probably wondering where I am going with this. We get to the rock quarry, unload the rocks and took a tour around the area, just to see what the truck could do. In the process of driving around we found a 1956 Chevy Nomad, beat up and rusted, sitting at the bottom of the quarry where there usually was water, nothing left of it except for the tail gate. So with a hammer and wood chisel (we got from the rock quarry worker) we beat on the hinges until the tailgate was free for the taking. I never did use that tailgate, in fact, I gave it away to another GI, before heading out West, the far West from Ft Benning.
     
    czuch likes this.
  19. Found a nice jet drill press by the dumpster on day -no cord wired it up and it worked !
    Felt guilty and went back to see if it was actually scrap the owner of the shop laughed as he had it for sale on line for a while with no takers so he kept the cord and scraped it!


    An old sears atlas lathe in the trash with tons of tooling, no change over gears :( but it works looking for the gears as an FYI !

    When. I worked at jag every 3 months parts would throw out warranty parts and obsolete stuff, I snagged lots of eaton superchargers , rims with bends and scuff , interior wood panels gauges etc that weren’t “ perfect” and would sell it on line or e-bay etc.


    Used to go dumpster diving as a kid at a Robertson screw driver factory , ha e more “ Robbie” screw drivers , bits and attachments then any one man, family , neighbourhood etc could use in a life time !!!!!
     
    Clay Belt likes this.
  20. A friend of mine found two new in the box condom machines complete with keys (no condoms) in a shopping center? dumpster. He gave one to me. He sold his for $75.00 and mine is hanging on the wall in my shop.
     
    drylakespeedshop likes this.
  21. On the way to work I stopped at a traffic light, and I could see a bar fridge next to a dumpster. My shed beer fridge died, so it was time for a brand-new second hand one. When it was still there on the way home, I stopped, and asked the bloke at the place if it was OK to take (some people are very possesive with their trash, and get upset if you take it), he said "it's stuffed, go for it". I took it home, fixed the supply wire which had been run over, and now have cold beer, the best type. Now I just need to find a few cases of the stuff.
     
  22. MrMike
    Joined: May 21, 2010
    Posts: 139

    MrMike
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Best find was a Simplex railroad jack and a Kennedy machinist toolbox with Snap-on Craftsman , and SK hand tools
    wasn't full but I am not complaining the price was right.
     
    badgascoupe likes this.
  23. badgascoupe
    Joined: Jul 22, 2011
    Posts: 186

    badgascoupe
    Member

    John Deere sx38 tractor w 42" mower deck. Cleaned the mouse house out the air cleaner,a new fuel filter,and gas,runs good.Wasn't in a dumpster,was on a front lawn with a free sign.
     
  24. zzford
    Joined: May 5, 2005
    Posts: 1,823

    zzford
    Member

    Once, while dumpster diving I found Jimmie Hoffa.
     
    TagMan, Speedwrench and Clay Belt like this.
  25. czuch
    Joined: Sep 23, 2008
    Posts: 2,688

    czuch
    Member
    from vail az

    24"x24"x6" Black Sterret granite.
    Unbelieveably heavy. I was super glad I put a strap down before it went in the car.
     
  26. GTS225
    Joined: Jul 2, 2006
    Posts: 1,244

    GTS225
    Member

    ************************************************************************************

    Go here.....http://www.machinistweb.com/forum/ ................and join the forum.
    Do an Ebay search for "Craftsman lathe", or "change gears". There's lots of parts out there in the used market, yet. Clausing, in Michigan, still makes a limited amount of new parts, and Boston Gear makes a line of gears that are a direct replacement for the change gears, depending on how old your lathe is.

    Roger
     
    VANDENPLAS likes this.
  27. Thank you
    Kind sir
    I’m looking now !!
     
  28. carryallman
    Joined: Jan 5, 2009
    Posts: 399

    carryallman
    Member

    yrs ago when i was a teen ,my buddy stopped by & said he found a muncie 4 speed on the curb! he gave it to me/knowing mine was bad ,i pulled the side cover & it looked like new inside ! installed it and was very happy with it ! a few months later my buddy & i was at a parts store & met a guy there that said he just got his chevelle together -he was putting a new clutch & disc in his car in front of his house & somebody stole his muncie trans -that was sitting on the curb ! my buddy just looked at me & smiled! & to this day -he wont say if that was this guys transmission?not dumpster diving BUT curb diving ????
     
    Clay Belt likes this.
  29. Beanscoot
    Joined: May 14, 2008
    Posts: 3,053

    Beanscoot
    Member

    "Used to go dumpster diving as a kid at a Robertson screw driver factory"

    Everyone knows what Robertson screws are, right?
     
    VANDENPLAS likes this.
  30. LM14
    Joined: Dec 18, 2009
    Posts: 1,936

    LM14
    Member Emeritus
    from Iowa

    Wasn't a dumpster, but when I worked for a road department I was sent to check out a complaint of stuff dumped in a ditch. Was late in the day and I was going to be within a mile of there after work so after work I took my personal truck to check it out.

    Half a dozen aluminum intakes (SBC, BBC and SBF), several Holley carbs, a couple "1.31" Autolite 2 bbls (great at the time for stock cars), pair of new in the box 2.5" Walker turbo mufflers and I could see more up the road. Drove up to that pile and there were 4 new Thrush mufflers, more Holleys, several old bike frames, a few odd sets of headers, a complete set of 4 ET slots and 2 new Cal Custom 14" air cleaners still in the package. There were also SBC blocks and heads, oil pans, some GM metric rearends, lots of small parts. Spent almost 2 hours digging and loading stuff. Pretty much filled an 8' bed.

    Nice haul.
    SPark
     

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