What was your best junk yard find?

[Guest S_A_W]

84TransAm did you buy it?

One of the worst finds we had here at Standard was a couple months ago we had a car with what looked like a bomb in the trunk (a huge barrel with all kinds of wires and tubes sticking out of it), we closed down and called the local bomb squad in. It turned out to be some sort of crazy fuel modification they had done to the car.

[Amphicar BUYER]

I was looking for some parts for my 66 Caddy Ragtop when I spotted a coupe that looked like it hit a very solid wall at a good speed. I mean FLAT across the front. It was white w red interior as mine was but the int was gone except in the back, upside down wrapped in carpet was a perfect, not sun-faded or cracked dashpad in the correct red! Better yet is was a stereo dash with 2 factory speaker grills, 1st year offered. Bob told me if I found a useable dash pad it would be $75. When I showed up with my treasure, he tried to get me for $300, but I reminded him of our deal he reluctantly let me have it. I had spent a lot of $ there over the years and got great deals before that. After the dash incident, my discount seemed to shrink!

[Dave Henderson]

Both of these were "best"; wrecked, complete '37 Cord, $45, Harman Collins flathead early V8 magneto, $8

[RiKi5156B]

While junkyard shopping in central Wa. I talked to a guy that mentioned a 63 Plymouth on a farm nearby. I checked it out and turned out to be a 63 Belvedere 2dr htp. Max wedge minus engine. $200. I drug it home with the intention of putting an 11 sec. 440 together. Two weeks later the farmer called me back and said "Hey I found the original eng/pushbutton trans. $500." I bolted it togethor fiddeled with a couple days and ran high 11s. After a nice resto it brought 80K.

[Guest S_A_W]

After a nice resto it brought 80K

$700 -----> $80k is sweet! I bet you put in lots of elbow grease!

[Guest windjamer]

:)My brouther-in-law found a old 60s caddy herse at a local yard. Burried in the mud and siting on the frame. He poured some gas in it and the darn thing started and ran like new. He wanted the engine and tranny,so we dug it up and he bought it. Befor we pulled the motor he took a wire brush to the bumpers,gave the thing a bath and drove it to a local show. Took second place in special intrest and P O a bunch.

[john2dameron]

Sometime in the fifties while I was still in school my dad went to a repair shop to have a job done and the owner had a J.Y. out back. While dad's work was being done, I went prowling in the junkyard. Found a large, black c.1930 Pierce-Arrow 4-door that looked ready to drive. It was long enough to have had jump seats but I don't recall looking inside it. Interstate came through soon after that, the operator moved out in the county, and I guess everything got crushed. Story I heard later was the P-A belonged to a black minister who had it parked in his yard. It ran off downhill and ran over a large rock doing some damage underneath and he scrapped it.

[slimt]

Found JY in NE Ohio in mid-70's. Heard about it from my older sisters boyfriend. He was into 'vette's & hot-rods. Seems hard to bellieve; but; I saw it 2-3 times. Yard was in small creek bottom off a country rd. Contained at least 100 cars from the 30's. Yard owner finally agreed to show me his prized collection up near the house. UNBELIEVABLE!!!! My favorite was the 1931 V-16 Cadillac 4-door with the "sweep" panels on the hood. Next to that was a 1932 Auburn V-12 sedan. On my 2nd trip, he trusted me a little more & showed me 3 Cord 810-812's, one with the supercharger; at least it had the flexible exhausts out side. There was a Packard 12 from '33-'34. And off to one side was an approx '28-'29 Jordan coupe. All of these cars were fairly complete & probably restorable at the time except the Jordan. I remember the Caddy was starting to rust thru the running boards; but interior was in good shape. Even the V-16 grill badge was still there.

In the very back sat a '33 Plymouth with weathered paint, which; with a little work; could probably have been driven out of the yard. He had many school buses & delivery trks sitting around full of "stuff". I can only guess what "goodies" were in them.

The somewhat eccentric owner made me promise not to attempt to buy, in return for showing me the cars. The yard was back off the road & hard to see even then. I stopped there 4-5 yrs ago to ask neighbors what happened to the yard. They said the owner had passed away & kids (who lived out-of-area) had sold cars. Never heard anymore about it.

"Slim" Tim Gary

[jeff_a]

Complete Packard single six engine minus carburetor.

1937-39 Packard 120 Sedan, "ran before going off embankment".

[Vila]

When I was in the Air Force from 1972 - 1980 I found a few items for my 1933 Chevrolet Master in Junk Yards.

While I was stationed at Pease AFB, NH from 1976 - 79 I found a few junk yards in the Eliot, ME area. I needed a cylinder head for my 33 Chevy and the first yard I went through had a both a 33 Master and Standard. The Standard had the head but the Master did not. Among all the cars they had, as I recall they had 10 or more chevys up to 1933 and a 1937 Lincoln Zephyr. I did get an original set of Chevy logo spark plug terminals from a 1931 Chevy truck that are still on my 33.

I stopped at another yard and asked if they had any 33 Chevys and the guy asked what I needed. When I said a Cylinder Head, he pointed to an old bus and said he thought there was one on the floor in the bus. Price $5 as is. On one of my trips home, I dropped the head of at my dad's house in PA where the car was stored.

A year or so later I was at Fairchild AFB, WA for my last year on active duty and got NOS Valves and Springs at the Antique Auto Ranch in Spokane.

When I got out of the AF, I took the head and parts to a machine shop in Carlisle, PA and had it magnafluxed. The head was fine and I had it rebuilt for 35 or 40 dollars plus my parts. It is still on the car.

Visit my website at: Bob's Vintage Cars

Bob

1933 Chevrolet

1962 Triumph TR4

1984 BMW 633 CSi

[Guest Silverghost]

In 1976 at Flemmings Junkyard in South Jersey I spotted a complete Yenko Camaro that was in good shape except for a smashed right rear quarter panel~

I was looking for a replacment big-block chevy engine for my boat at the time but Harry Flemming the owner would not sell me just the engine~

He offered me the entire car for $300.

Stupidly I passed on that Yenko and bought another greasy big block engine for $100 !

I still have that boat & engine today!

Wish I had bought that Yenko Camaro too!

Now if I only had a Time Machine ??? ~~~

[RiKi5156B]

The 63 fury was a nice non rotessirre resto with lots of repro interior,decals paint dabs and so on. No rust central WA body. It was sold to a guy in Florida. Factory black/red inside. Max-wedge was original to the car,so was the trans.Had 4.88s. I tried some 9x29 slicks and ran it at Woodburn Oregon strip,through the muffs,no carb fiddling or anything it ran 11.75 at117.Hope the owner now is doing well with it.

[K8096]

Tim,

The yard you're thinking of in NE Ohio was Pat Kenny's in Rock Creek. It wasn't really a junk yard though, it was his private collection. Nothing was for sale. He died about 12 years ago and everything was sold. The V 16 Cadillac was a 1932, not a 1931. There was an L 29 Cord sedan, a couple of 36 - 37 Cords too. One Cord was supercharged, but that was stolen off of it long ago. The V 16 cadillac was stored in a truck body off the ground, but the roof leaked and it was a disaster. There was also an American LaFrance fire truck from the early 1950's with the V 12 in it. He was kind of like NE Ohio's version of AK Miller. There was a dilapidated house on the property, but it was filled with junk. He lived in a beat up old house trailer. One time, a friend gave him a nice house trailer to live in, but instead he filled it with car parts.

[keiser31]

I was reminded last night about a car that I found languishing in a wrecking yard just south of San Diego a long time ago (late 1970s early 80's). It was a 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury convertible which they only made 2,489 of. It was gold with a white top and was a fairly solid car. I told my friend, Scott in Michigan about it and he bought it. I seem to recall that the price was about $500.00. He flew out from Michigan and we got the car and made some repairs to it. I forget all that we did to it to make it ready for the 2,600 mile trip, but as I recall, it did not take much at all. Scott had to register the car in California to drive it to Michigan. We had to register it as "revived junk". We laughed our pies off the whole time we drove it after that. We got it together and set off on our journey. Man, I will tell you this...it's a good thing we were young. I would NOT want to make that trip under those same conditions again. We got on some long hill and the beast started to overheat. We pulled over on the shoulder and sat and checked out the beautiful scenery until we felt that we could make it up the rest of the hill that we were on. We managed to make it to Michigan and we were happy campers after that. Along the way, the top had pretty much disintegrated from all of the flapping (the top was not in good shape when I found the car). Scott kept the car for a while, but someone bought it from him and hopefully did it some justice.

Edited November 30, 2010 by keiser31 (see edit history)

[nzcarnerd]

I spent three months in the US in 1978. I drove about 12,000 miles in that time - LA to Florida to do the POCI convention and then back to the west coast and then up to Washington state and back to LA. I wonder if my 1967 Lemans 2-door hardtop is still around? (Cal license TWZ970). In 1978 it had 98,000 miles on it. It was a 326 automatic. At the time I had not long bought my 1965 Pontiac Bonneville 4-door hardtop(which I still have). I was surprised to see very few of them as they had been a big seller when new (over 60,000 built) - I saw only two on the road while I was there. In 1965 they were just old cars and had not yet got to the collectible stage. I did not see one in a wrecking yard.

A yard I remember - but can't remember the name of or exactly which town - was in central California - Merced maybe? - which had several acres of cars - mostly 1960s - , all separated into makes and models. I remember that the main transport around the yard was a 1964 Bonneville 'no-door' - a 4-door hardtop with its doors removed.

A yard I did get some parts from was U&I wrecking in San Bernadino. I got a hood and front fenders and a power antenna, amongst other things, from a 421 '65 Bonneville 2-door.

[Guest S_A_W]

I wonder if my 1967 Lemans 2-door hardtop is still around?

I wonder if a website for these type of 'tracking' questions would do well. Did they have VIN numbers back then? How else would you be able to find out if it was really your car that was still alive?

[mrspeedyt]

in 1971 I bought a '68 396 and 4 speed from a malibu ss for $400... after test driving the car in the yard! the only problem with the 48,000 mile car was paint starting to fade and a razored interior... later in 1974 I sold a '68 buick gs 400 4 speed convertible ( over 100,000 miles and needing paint and a top) to a yard for $175. I had the car for sale for 2 months (during the gas rationing).... and nobody even looked at the car! of course I should have kept (and bought) all the cars I could afford... hindsight....

[Scotts_DG8]

Keiser,

<O:p</O:pYes, the ’68 Plymouth Sports Fury, that’s a fun memory. If I recall correctly you sent pictures, I said I want it, I sent you the money and you picked up the car before I arrived. We played with it for a few days making sure the brakes were good, gave it a tune up and thought that we had it all set to go. Before we went to the DMV to register it we had to have it inspected and they found that the license plate lights didn’t work and we had to work that out right there and they looked it over again and gave it the seal of approval. The next afternoon we took off headed for Vegas and had to pull over to the side of the road in the middle of the desert when due to road work and heavy traffic the car was starting to get hot. Sat there for a couple hours with the top down staring at the stars, never saw them again that way. Made a brief stop in Vegas, lost a few dollars we didn’t have to loose and ate at the Denny’s. Had more problems going through the mountains, the car with all the smog equipment didn’t like climbing the hills. I remember that we pulled over and turned the distributor a bit and took off again. Then there were the fish flies in Colorado and hardly being able to keep the windshield clear enough to see. We drove straight through from Colorado back to Michigan. Yes it was a trip to remember (not as good though as the MGA/Jeep trip). In the end the car stayed at a friend’s for several months before I ended up selling it due to separation/divorce. It was a real solid car, somewhere I might have pictures around here and if I come across them I’ll post a couple. Scott…

[Paul Dobbin]

My best find was a Snap On 3/8 rachet.

A friend sent an employee to the local "You Pull" for a part for a collision repair.

Employee got the part and $121 in cash under the floor mat.

Employer went after work and found $241 in the trunk of the same wreck.

[trimacar]

1965, restoring a 1931 Chevrolet. My father owned a cotton gin, and behind the gin was King's Junk Yard. Needed a splash apron for one side of the car, walked back to King's, found a frame with a few sheet metal parts. There it was, nice shape, and the corect one I needed. Mr. King gave it to me........

[Ovalrace25]

In the late 60's I needed a transmission for my 59 T-Bird. Went to Al's Auto Wreckers and he offered my a complet 59 T-Bird with the 430 engine.. The car was nice, but had two bullet holes in it from a fast get-away the past owner had made when a husband came home early to find the guy --- visiting his wife...

Then in the 80's I was in looking for some 57 Chevy stuff and saw a NICE 62 ImpalaSS.. Red with red interior, no engine or trans, but nice shape! I got the car for 200 bucks, dropped in a 409 and 4-speed I had, buffed out the car and ----- PLAYED!!!

[keiser31]

O.K....not really a junk yard find, but years ago (about 1974) when I owned a 1926 Chrysler and one of my '31 Dodges, I was Jeepin' through Death Valley and looky what I found up in Panamint City!! A radiator shell for the '26 Chrysler and one for the '31 Dodge! Middle of nowhere...no other car parts in sight except the cowl for about a 1926 Buick or something similar.

[auburnseeker]

I bought a 56 olds hardtop in 1993 (My first old car)and someone had installed a hideous pair of Camaro bucket seats from the 1980's. I pulled them out and threw them away the day the car came home. That spring my Father and I were on a trip to Indiana and stopped at a Junkyard in Ohio where I found a complete seat from a 1956 Buick with usable upholstery for $25. I Unbolted one side, but the other didn't want to give up so we tore it out of the Floor pan. I used the nice seat track from a 4 door parts car Cleaned the upholstery up and Bingo drove the car that way for the next 10 years. Then swapped it for a super nice seat my dad had in a 56 Olds he bought then decided to sell.

Also in the spring of 1995 we went on a trip to North Dakota to visit an uncle who had a little junkyard. Well all the cars he had were just not quite nice enough to drag home but I did score some parts while I was there. We were there to buy so my uncle to us around to different places he knew of. Some of the stuff out there is incredible. He took us to an old ladies farm who had a few cars including a 49 Plymouth Sedan 58 plymouth sedan and a wrecked 53 Mercury 2 door. The 49 had just beautiful chrome and a factory radio. We bought all 3 cars for $65. I stripped the chrome off the 49 and my uncle took the rest for scrap. There was even a new set of brake shoes in a box in the trunk.

We passed on some really good stuff. Including a mint 1958 Impala front fender with all the trim on a scrap metal pile. It even had the factory shiney paint on it. ( I could have had that for free as it was at my uncles Yard) A 1935 Ford 5 window coupe body in an old quanset hut for $300 absolutely rustfree but just a completely stripped shell on a pair of frame rails with an engine block. Who knows what happened to the rest of it but being this was that nice I would have liked to see the rest of it.

Probably should have bought more and taken alot more parts. I have photos of the trip somewheres. I bought a 46 Ford Coupe out of a barn while I was there for 1200. Pretty much rustfree but needed to be completely restored. sold it for 2500 when I got home so it paid for the cost of the trip.

[Harold]

My father and I went to Niagara Falls from our home in Brooklyn in the summer of 1964, driving our '52 Plymouth. The Plymouth threw a rod and a gas station attendant recommended that we stop at Stanley Stauba's junkyard in Darien Center, NY (not far from Buffalo) to see if we could buy another car to continue our trip. Stanley didn't have a car he would trust to get back to NYC, and told us to avoid his competition up the road because they were unscrupulous. He did, however, have a '51 Belvedere with a good engine that just came in. We made a deal to buy the engine from the Belvedere and have it swapped into our car. Total cost: $46.00!!

We learned later that Stanley really was an all-around nice guy who did lots of good things for the community. When he passed away, one of the TV stations in Buffalo did a feature on him.

[Guest 38cadillacjack]

back in the fifty's my dad ran ace auto wtreckers near sacramento,iwas about 5 or 6,went out to take him lunch.there he was with 2 40 ford coupes,both black both non wrecks,he had a torch cutting the front fenders in half! i still love those today.

[auburnseeker]

I just remembered another junkyard find. Although not Directly automotive, it was still a pretty neat score. My wife actually went over to our local scrap yard to drop off some junk metal and saw their latest aquisition. A 40 foot long neon sign that read COACH HOUSE in 4 foot tall letters. I expressed interest but they were fishing for offers and I wasn't quite sure what to do with a 40 foot sign. Well 6 months later I got word from one of the yard operators it was time to move it or scrap it. The letters are all made out of aluminum but pretty light so the scrap value was pretty low. I took a second look made a rediculously low offer and bingo now have one very large sign hanging in my shop. I haven't gotten around to trying to light it. Sorry for the poor photo but it was the only one I could find on my computer of it.

A neat side note. This sign was on the roof of a restraunt from the 1980's-2005? and very visible from I87 North just above exit 19 in NY state.

[Guest Silverghost]

In 1975 while poking around Ed Heller's junkyard in NE Philadelphia I stumbled upon two of his yard guys running a full blown illegal STILL !

They had a good fire going and several boxes on Mason jars for product collection. They were using an old car radiator for the condensor ! I guess they did not care about getting lead solder in the end product ?

I was offered some of their illegal product~~~ whch I declined.

I was stunned~ ~~~ Geezze~~~This was NE Philadelphia and it was 1975 ! A STILL in NE Philadelpha~~~ I could not beieve my eyes !

There were few yards located in Philadelphia in those days..

Ed lived above the yard's old run down garage. His son &family across the street.

The Philadelphia police were at this yard all the time to check for stolen cars, titles etc~

I often wonder if they in fact knew about that illegal Still ?

In the eightys old Ed & his family sold the yard lock-stock-and-still to Harold Katz the former 76ers basketball team owner for $4 millon... There is now a very large shopping center on this old yard site !

I often used to kid my Dad that the EPA should have declaired this yard a Superfund Toxic waste site.

The ground was black with oil anti-freeze and other assorted auto fluids ! There was also a small creek nearby the railroad that bordered Ed's yard property.

It's no fun anymore in my area as there are no auto junkyards to explore around here anymore !

Any other Philly guys remember that old Grouch Ed Heller ~~~ Or his Junkyard ?

Edited December 10, 2010 by Silverghost (see edit history)

[Guest Kingoftheroad]

I can't remember having a best junkyard find but, I do enjoy walking through one. I always find interesting things in a junkyard.

[OldsDoug]

I once found a '71 Olds Cutlass Supreme convertible that had a complete Rallye Pack in it... this was the optional gauge package in those years, consisted of one cluster with an oil pressure gauge & temp gauge (standard cars were warning lights) and a second cluster with a concentric tachometer and clock. Hot damn! It turned out to be a working unit.

Edit - after glancing at other posts, reminds me... one time (late 1980s?) went to the local police auction at their impound lot and saw a white '70 Buick GSX, missing some of the interior panels, rest of the condition unknown (needed restoring). It wasn't in the lot of cars that were to be auctioned that day - when I checked on it later that week, the owner had reclaimed it. At the same auction was a '71 Cutlass S Holiday Coupe that had been wrecked by a drunk who drove it into a phone pole up to the windshield... that car went for $500; most of the rest of the stuff I saw auctioned that day went for between 50 and 90 dollars...

Edited December 10, 2010 by OldsDoug
added second paragraph (see edit history)

[Guest 95parkav]

Hi, Marty,

I live in Lutcher and own a 1995 4-door Buick Park Avenue. The driver's seat won't completely go up. Do you know someone in south Louisiana who can help me?

Thanks.

Jerry

[trimacar]

To continue my story about Kings Junk Yard, he went out of business, but just across the bayou on the road in front of our business, another yard started.

They knew me pretty well there, as I'd wander over every few days to see what had been dragged in. One day, a pretty nice looking 1965 Thunderbird was sitting out front. I asked about it (this was in the early 80's) and was told it ran, but had a "little oil leak." Will it get across the bridge over the bayou? Well sure, they said, and for $200 the car was mine. Nice paint, nice interior, a good car.

As I went out front, here came two of the guys from the yard with a funnel and 5 quarts of oil. They told me to get in the car, get ready to start it. They poured the oil in the car, slammed the hood, and told me to start the car and drive off. I drove quickly over the bridge and into my business yard. All told, maybe two football fields away, 600 feet. Stopped the car, got out, and could see a steady stream of oil back going across the bridge, and ending about 50 feet before I turned......a small oil leak indeed!!!!!!!!!!

Don't even remember what it was now, but it was fixed, and that was a good car......

[Guest 63Stude]

Studebaker parts for Larks are plentiful, even NOS, but I had looked from South Bend to Hershey for red armrests for my '63 Daytona Skytop R1. A buddy told me about a junkyard near our mutual hometown in NW PA. We went there, and I found excellent armrests from a 4-door Cruiser, as well as a tinted windshield to replace the clear one that had been installed in the car at some point along the way. I also got sunvisor clips from the same Cruiser I got the armrests from (even though I could buy repops of those).

[addicted to cars]

10 year ago I bought two 32 for car grills at a local wrecking yard for 35 bucks, I wish that wrecking yard was still around!!

[OldsDoug]

My best find was a Snap On 3/8 ratchet.

Hey Paul, that's _my_ ratchet!

[Dave Mellor NJ]

When I bought my house there was a 350 Olds engine in the garage. I happened to hear a guy talking about a 35 Ford flathead engine and trans he had in his little junkyard. I asked him if he'd like to trade. He told me where he was(Franklinville,NJ) and I went dowm and made the deal. I stopped a few times after that and always picked up some Hershey material. He kept talking about a Cadillac grille he had in his basement but he wouldn't show me. One time after I had gotten two 46-48 Chevy trunklids he asked me to install a ceiling fan. I agreed if he would show me the grille. Turns out it was an original stoneguard for a 30-31 Packard. I hung the fan and he gave me the stoneguard. I made out well and brought him back $50 from Hershey.

[Guest Albert]

Well a number of years ago i needed another motor for a friends chev, and Picked up a complete motor from oil pan to intake, at Standard on there $45 dollar days,, was fun carring it out along with all the other stuff, Another time at another wreakers i pick of a T5 for my Mustang with the clutch, and frywheel and bell housing for $45,,,,

[Guest S_A_W]

Well a number of years ago i needed another motor for a friends chev, and Picked up a complete motor from oil pan to intake, at Standard on there $45 dollar days,, was fun carring it out along with all the other stuff

Wow, great to hear! I full motor for under $50!! Great find!

[Restorer32]

We bought a restorable '32 Packard 900 Convertible out of a junkyard. Of course this was in 1969.

[Guest Albert]

At a local wreaker here i found a cam shaft removal/install tool for cars pre 1952 cars in the scrap pile,, another time i found a watervliet planishing hammer also in the scrap pile neather one cost me more than $10.. Have carried many parts out of Standard in the past,, kept my cars on the road for years..

[Guest S_A_W]

Well this one would not qualify as best, but definitely strangest!

At the yard here back in Nov. 2009 we found a really weird looking electronic device hooked up to a barrel with wires coming out of it behind the seat of a pickup truck that was here to be crushed. See news report below:

A bomb scare caused Standard Auto Wreckers on Sewells Road in Scarborough to close down for almost two hours on Thursday.

The company notified the police early in the afternoon after seeing a mysterious device behind the seat of a pickup truck. Police were immediately called to the scene where they locked off the surrounding area. About 100 employees and an additional 100 customers were evacuated from the site for precaution.

After inspection it was determined that the object was not a bomb but an electrical device.