why the hell would someone scrap a souped up flat head

Seen amazing things myself in the scrapyards here in Bako. Savable chevelles leveled as I drove in with my trailer of pipe and bent/junk racecar parts.-Weeks

 

Acoording to the posters story, when asked, he hung his head in shame. IF the story is as true as told,,,,,, he knew.

 

Not saying it's true, but from some of the scrap dorks I've seen around here, it's certainly possible. A couple years ago, I saved a N.O.S. tail light panel for '67-'68 Camaro off of the scrapper's truck, literally seconds before he started throwing our junk brake rotors on top of it. Here's something that you would think he would at least TRY to get something out of (more than the .50 a scrap piece of tin would have brought at the time), but he couldn't see it. He was overjoyed when I gave him $10.00 for it; hey, that's a case of Old Milwaukee! It lasted about ten minutes at Fall Carlisle before I sold it.

 

I have bought five different aluminum intakes out of our local recyclers over the last 15 years and two were flatheads, one Edelbrock and one Sharp

 

My brother work for a company that goes around and buys truck load of motors for cores, you don't want to know how many nailheads, hemis my brother has scraped because his boss sees no worth in them.

 

I lived in a house in San Diego that used to belong to a printer. I got all kinds of posters and auto brochures from the 30's to the 60's. They found out they were in violation of fire codes and FILLED dumpsters. We went through em and made quite a bit of money. I have calendar art from the 40's that is just the neatest. Little desk calendars with cool pics. Even a couple of the Peek-a-boo calendars with the clear bikini over the posed doll.

 

My Saturday run to my local junk yard cut up with a chain saw and scattered through the "light metals"pile is a complete "Experimental Aircraft"the engine being the only missing item !I first noticed the canopy laying at the edge of the pile with the blown lexan windscreen to scratched to save and the required "Experimental"decal below the glass.I asked the yard owner why the hell he junked an airplane that obviously had not been wrecked ! HE said that the planes owner was advised by his lawyer NOT to sell the plane complete that it would leave him open to law suit if anyone got hurt in it!My brother in law is President of an EAA chapter,a lisenced Airframe and Power Plant Mechanic an lisensed EAA and FAA inspector and laison between the EAA and FAA!this guys lawer needs to be shot!But it still doesn't change the fact that this aircraft didn't belong in a scrap heap at the local auto junk yard !

 

Hit the scrap yards. The small, not very busy ones. Every so often you'll find a 97, 2GC or a good generator or maybe an intake or something. They'll usually sell it to you by the pound! Bought a scrapped merc engine years ago from a scrapyard. Pulled the crank and rods, generator and carb and sold the rest back to the yard. Block was cracked. Found good Holley double pumpers, aluminum manifolds, starters with the snout I needed, Camaro aluminum bell housings, and other stuff that way too. The Muncie I put in the Deuce came from a scrap yard.They even loaded it in the pickup so they could weigh it. I know guys today who drive by the scrapyard on their lunch hour to check out the "new" pile. Sometimes they get lucky.

 

I bought a perfect Edelbrock rectangular port BBC cross ram in a scrap yard last year for $35.00. It was in the trunk of a mid 70's Firebird. The guy from the scrap yard knew it was something cool but he sold it to me for the scrap price.

 

I've recently been going to a nearby location that was covered in old cars and trucks a few months ago-most all have been cut up and put into debri bins and sold as scrap. Tried to get some early (1940) truck sheetmetal, but was too late, told they were gone-as scrap. I did get a few things, but I can only go there certain times, and well, I have been trying my best to get as much as possible, but, most of it's already gone...I keep hearing "you shoulda seen the XXXXXX we cut up and threw out..." AND, a friend told me about throwing out boxes of carbs, manifolds and headers from the 50's and 60's cuz "nobody wanted that old junk..." Told me he threw away a huge box full of 97's, cuz nobody wanted them...Yes, people do things like that, all the time...makes me sick...

 

Sometimes we bury ourselves in saveable stuff and have to get out. I've done it several times, offered stuff to car guys, got no takers and off to the scrap it went.
Once I was buried in Ford wire wheels, sold a guy a set of 37-41 spindles contingent on him taking all the wire wheels with him. He moaned and pissed and finally loaded them up. I saw him at a swap meet several months later smiling like a Cheshire Cat and he told me I made a bad choice when I sold him those wheels as he made $300 selling them at swap meets. I just looked at him and asked him who DIDN'T load those heavy ass wheels in the heat and cart them all over the state to swap meets and sit day after day in the heat to make a lousy $300 over several months.

 

Exactly. It was done. Somewhere around here I have an old magazine with an article covering putting a flathead in an early '50s Chevy. A fair amout of work, it was.

 

My buddy is a plumer and he called me one day when he was taken some copper in. Next to the place was a scrap yard. He tells me there is a tub car body like you like down here come ask them for it, looks like they are going to scrap it. I went down and bought a 29 sport coupe turned race car roadster body and A frame with a nail head for $400 in Oakland CA. I sold on HAMB years ago. I see it on the HAMB every now and then in the So Cal pictures people post on here.

 

Why not?
I've been around a long time, and have seen a lot of things. I still wouldn't run a flathead in any of my cars...sorry traditionalists. They are underpowered, and overheat. BUT, they DO look nice and sound good!
Back years ago, you wouldn't believe what people junked...even hot rodders. Some had some sense, or were just packrats and saved stuff they pulled off. Back then, you could get a factory fuel injection set-up for almost nothing. Vette guys pulled them off and ran carbs, cause they were easier to diagnose, fix, and modify to run faster. Two fours, 3 deuces, 6 deuces......25$. SIngle fours ran better and were easier to tune to track conditions.
Save a flathead...you have to be kidding! They were slugs, boat anchors! A junkyard 327 would run circles around them.
That was the sentiment, all thorugh the 60's 70's and 80's!

 

hi mark how about that guy john in elizabeth that had all his dad,s stuff it was junk to him but not us

 

Back in the 50's when flatheads, even hopped up ones, were just old engines, many were junked for caddy's, olds or chevys. Hell I cry now thinking of the 1956 Ford Crown Victoria I traded in on a 62 Ford Galaxie. But, to me then, it was just an old car that had a 312 in it that gave me fits. Same goes with the flatties, just old engines

 

Druggies stole a $1500 Oil Cooler off one of some of my dad's equipment, and junked it for $30.

The scrap guy gave it back.

They just don't know or care, its aluminum or copper to them.

 

Yup
those that know pay the big price see the "value"and grab it

those that don't know need the room for something else or it was just clutter and blah blah blah

i have dealt in antiques and old cars for many years
i have sold stuff to cheap /quick,
given things to people who sold it for big bucks,
kept stuff til the value dropped 500%
appraised stuff for people that ended marriages and split up families (the stuff was crap before my appraisal)

at estate salesi've retrieved the valuable crackerjack prizes , comic books out the trash and had a hard time convincing the families the old dishes and silver plate tea service were crap


but i still collect
still give stuff away
still look for more
still gripe when i see things i had owned quadruple in value

i envy the guy (briefly) with a bare walled clean spotless uncluttered garage
i have way to many projects

but i know i'm happy doing what i do 99%percent of the time

sorry bud let it go
the stuff you missed out on is the stuff ya remember or regret

let it go

find more

 

Right now, I have a saveable 41 Chevy coupe in the HAMB classified for sale, with a title. It's also on Craigs list, and setting in the yard with a for sale sign. 90 days, and not one looker. So how long do I wait before I take it to the scrap yard?

 

I agree that even car guys will do stupid things when they are hurting for cash,or can't seem to find a buyer.Back in the '60's and '70's,not everyone imagined that we would be scrounging for every piece rusted out junk.They only saved the really good stuff..My uncle DROVE a 64 Impala convertible to the scrapyard in 1975 because the top was bad and he couldnt get anyone to buy it,and as a little kid I personally witnessed him cutting up a 36 Ford 3 window.When I look at the pictures of that car now,I realize it was better than anything I ever see around now.Sickening!

 

i tried to chase down a ratted ass flatbed truck once, the entire bed was filled with engines just stacked and tied down every which way you could imagine. and they were all rather clean looking and some had transmissions hooked to them. sadly it said "We buy scrap" on the side.
a load of V8's died that day.

 

Just wait a minute here..........I have to go and put my barn yard boots on for this one !

 

I've yet to run into one of these "too dumb" operators! haha
Gold and old speed parts....a pretty sound investment.

 

Sounds beleivable to me. I know a guy with a 1955 chevy truck that put a 318 in it. Don't matter the car, people use what engines they like. My grandpa's 47 ford truck had a flatty, when that quit, an olds 215, then a 289. All stuff that was lying around. As for scrappers, they will gut and empty house for the copper why wouldn't they scrap and engine for the aluminium.

 

What's nice is when they try to steal copper wire out of an energized switch cabinet and blow themselves up. Happened out here in colorado a few years back. The copper 1000 cu wire we put in for distribution/feeder weighs 8.5lbs a ft.

When 7620v goes phase to phase it's not pretty would hate to see what it looks like when someone is in between them while it happens.

But to stay on topic, i scrapped most of an old s10 awhile back and there were a bunch of old motor parts in a big pile. Newer stuff mostly but there were some flathead parts in the pile. It was a shame to see. Worst part is the scrap yard wouldn't let go of any of it since aluminum scrap price is down.

 

Yep, it happens.

I got a complete Paxton SN 60 blower set-up for a small Ford six from a guy on eBay; his cousin had thrown it in the trash bin while she was cleaning out his uncle's garage. She had no idea what it was.




Later, Kinky6

 

The question still hasn't been answered. What makes this guy think there was a flathead in his chevy. It almost seems like the gal knew better than to think someone would put a built flathead in a chevy and she was jerking his chain. Or some dipshit wasted a good flathead and put it in a chovie.

 

Hello it is true about scrap yards and aluminum. I frequented for many years
a junk yard turned metal recycler that belongs to some old friends. In the 60,s we would recieve tons of scrap on a saturday and the amount of wheels and multicarb manifolds that would come through the scales was
amazing. Even then I knew these items were to good to be scrapped. To
a scrap buyer they were nothing but a commodity to be bought for pennys and sold for nickles. One day I was at the yard poking around for
"stuff" and was aghast to see one of his helpers knocking carburetors off
a pallet of multicarb manifolds with a maul to seporate dirty aluminum
from clean. Also they would beat real magnesium wheels to pieces to mix
with dirty aluminum. Sometimes I was able to snatch a few pieces before
theywere lost. I still have a y block ford Edelbrock 2x4 manifold that I
rescued many years ago.

 

About 20 years ago I bought a 6x2 intake for a 348 Chevy with carbs and chrome frogmouth scoops on it from a junkyard. I sold it shortly after for like $125. Wish I had it back now. I also bought a couple of aluminum trans adapters out of another junkyard's scrap aluminum pile. One was a Nailhead to Ford and the other Pontiac to Ford.

 

I pick up a "489" 8-3/4 sure grip (b-body width) that someone 'installed' in a 78 Nova years ago. Worst hack job i had seen in a while. Got a set of really nice Appliance slots too (from the scrap aluminum wheel pile).

People will scrap anything.