Dumpster Diving. Dump Picking. Etc. What automotive things have you found?

[Dandy Dave]

I go and visit an old buddy a few days ago. He pulled this from a dumpster and saved it. No telling what else was tossed in that dumpster? Wish I was there. He put it aside for me but did not know what it was? I knew as soon as I saw it. It is a Diesel Injector tester for Buda diesel engines.

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by Dandy Dave (see edit history)

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Reminds me of a HS pal who was a gas pump jockey like me.  One night he empties trash at end of the 3- 10 PM shift, pouring typicsl gas station s*** all over some poor sob sleeping in the dumpster.  Dumpster guy screams, jumps up and runs off.  To this day Rich is not sure who was more frightened!! 

 

Edit - Oh, before I get flamed I am not putting down or making fun of the obvious homeless person, the situation just struck me funny. 

 

That said, I sure would not have minded dumpster diving in the  stretch where countless gas stations were remodeled into convenience stores.  I am sure a lot was lost in those transitions.

Edited February 13, 2023 by Steve_Mack_CT (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

What about dump picking?  My Father has brought me some great stuff from our (hometown) local dump.  I also got to pick my Uncle's estate when they were cleaning it up,  who picked the dump when he was retired,  before my Dad.   I got some great stuff from him that I know came from the same dump.  I'll have to get some photos. 

[alsancle]

I pulled one of these out of a dumpster behind the gas station at the center of town.  Ended up giving it to a buddy to put on his car.  

 

[RetroPetro]

Atlas battery sign, Eco air meter, ……………………..

[dship]

My dad and I used to go local town dump picking in the early sixties before most towns/cities switched over to transfer stations.

Just recently, my son went to his local transfer station with his son/my grandson.  They actually found a 50" flat screen tv over to the side that actually worked when they brought it home.  My grandson to it to his college fraternity house to use. 

[keiser31]

Not from a dumpster, but from an old orchard. This Pegasus was rolled up in a ball by a bulldozer. The orchard owner gave it to me. I brought it home, donned two pairs of safety goggles and proceeded to unfold it as best I could. 

[Grimy]

In 1982 I drove my Datsun longbed pickup equipped with a canopy over the bed to a local small college to pick up a new lady friend who was attending an extension course there.  I parked near a dumpster adjacent to the library, and of course checked the dumpster while I was waiting.  I found and retrieved numerous old magazines, including several years of the AAA magazine from the early 1920s with great motoring articles and ads, plus earlier Sunset and Old West issues which were oriented to selling California as the place to move to and live.  (That was then....)

 

Good thing the truck has a canopy enclosure, as I soon 2/3-filled the bed with library discards.  Some magazines I sold, others I still have.  The lady had to wait for awhile, but even helped by loading magazines into the truck as I passed them out from the dumpster.  Yes, I did have to go home and change before continuing our date....

[Restorer32]

In 1939 Dad was scouring a dump looking for scrap metal he could sell.  He kicked a tin can and out rolled a large pocket watch.  He gave it to me when I graduated college and I gave it to my Son when he graduated high school. It was made in 1881 and the case is coin silver.  Not worth a lot but we cherish it.

[The 55er]

Years back a local garage closed downtown and the proprietor, who was a long time Ford mechanic, was tossing everything in a dumpster. I had no idea the place was closing up shop. A buddy of mine knocked on my door and told me I'd better get down there right away. I saved about 50 vintage Ford, Lincoln & Mercury shop manuals & parts books. I kept a few but most were sold at swap meets. Fortunately I was alerted before they were hauled away or got wet. That's the best stuff I ever found in a dumpster, sometimes timing is everything. 

[Mark Gregush]

Have found stuff in the dumpsters after our big swap meet that I sold later or put to use, sometimes it all in the marketing. 

[TTR]

Being my shop is located in a business complex with numerous other automotive repair shops, etc, I do see parts and thing being thrown into dumpsters everyday (I discard stuff into them also), but "diving" appears to be conducted by local scrap metal recyclers and/or homeless people in rickety trucks, vans or shopping carts.

Most of the re-useable vintage car parts, everything from good body panels & trim, chassis & mechanical components, etc, I used to "donate" to a local junkyard specializing in vintage cars, but they closed down few years ago.

Now, any left-overs clients don't want back, I just throw into dumpster or set aside next to one for the aforementioned "scrap metal recyclers".

[auburnseeker]

I was at a junk yard that was closed down and they were going to scrap out what was remaining.  This was tucked behind some junk metal in an old dumpster.  Never have figured out exactly when it was made or why it has so many rivets.  Also has all the colors etched in the back.  Maybe a sample piece or for an auto show,  that's why there are so many rivets?   It's in the neighborhood of 18 inches tall by 24 wide or something like that from memory. 

 

 

 

[Bhigdog]

Back in the day i don,t recall ever seeing a dumpster. Most gas stations just threw not working stuff on a pile out back. I had 3 or 4 stations where i,d comb the piles. Regulaters, gens, starters, coils, motors of any kind. If i could get it home on my bike i took it. Even got a tung-sol battery charger home. 

Once home they would be opened up to see what was inside and to try to figure out they worked. 

I saved a lot of magnet wire, contacts, springs etc that were just not available to a 12 year old.

I was forever making toy motors, winding coils for magnets, doing experiments and every once in a while blowing a house fuse. I knew where the old man kept spares and never got caught...bob

 

 

[1937hd45]

Best dumpster dive was at the house and one car garage cleanout of a friend, he was and old car guy all his life. I didn't expect to find any good stuff. It was a low side dumpster about 4 feet deep, easy to get into and toss out stuff. I started in one corner and tossed out any metal I could find along with any "collectables". Later got $200.00 for the scrap metal, and kept a pair of NOS headlights. The neatest piece was a Dynamo flashlight from the early 1930's, don't know how they worked, but I flipped the switch and it worked! Town dump has been good to me, one day I looked over the edge and into the metal bin, there on top was a Triumph Bonneville! I asked the attendant if he would hook a chain to it and pull it out. "Sure, It just got rolled out of a pickup 10 minutes earlier" It rode around in my van for a week, and never came home from Hershey. 

[lump]

LOVE this thread!

 

A couple years ago I answered an ad for a Hupmobile Model R 4 cylinder engine in an estate sale near Pittsburg, PA. About 4 hours from home. My wife and I got in the truck and headed out next day. When I got there, the estate close-out was being managed by a young guy, and he showed me the engine. But there was NO way to get it into my truck bed. But what I really needed was parts like the manifolds, distributors with caps, head, etc. While loading these parts, I walked right by the low-wall dumpster being used to discard trash. I asked if I could rummage through, and was allowed to take anything I wanted. He said sure. I found tools, car parts, huge bunch of old 45 rpm records, 1950's hot rodding magazines, all manner of cool stuff…even a marble gearshift knob. Best “Dumpster Dive” ever, for me. Check out the photos. All items shown were found in that dumpster:

[JACK M]

One of my best friends, Jim, got a job driving a garbage truck. We were in our twenties then.

It turned out to be a career that fit him well. One of the most personable guys I know.

Early on he was collecting at a local strip mall and found about a hundred brand new shoes.

Trouble is they all seemed to be left shoes. He looked at every single shoe to finally find a right shoe and then found its match.

A free pair of shoes, not a huge problem that one was a high top and one was a low top.

As the years went on that guy had the best annual garage sales that you could imagine.

One of his weekly routes he called his treasure route. A very high-end neighborhood in the Portland area.

Rich people throw out the darndest stuff. All of his wardrobe, house furnishings and yard art came out of the trash.

When he got married, he wore a suit that came from the trash.

The old ladies on the treasure run loved him and fed him and saved the good stuff for him. They looked forward to trash day.

Several of the old gals make the trek out to his place to attend his annual garage sales and enjoyed spotting stuff that used to be theirs.

He is retired now but his stash still supplies the annual sales (along with his ongoing picks) and the old ladies that are still living still visit once a year.

There is a group of five of us that ran together in high school, and we get together from time to time after all these years.

I think I will give Jim a call and see how he is doing.

 

[keiser31]

14 minutes ago, lump said:

LOVE this thread!

 

A couple years ago I answered an ad for a Hupmobile Model R 4 cylinder engine in an estate sale near Pittsburg, PA. About 4 hours from home. My wife and I got in the truck and headed out next day. When I got there, the estate close-out was being managed by a young guy, and he showed me the engine. But there was NO way to get it into my truck bed. But what I really needed was parts like the manifolds, distributors with caps, head, etc. While loading these parts, I walked right by the low-wall dumpster being used to discard trash. I asked if I could rummage through, and was allowed to take anything I wanted. He said sure. I found tools, car parts, huge bunch of old 45 rpm records, 1950's hot rodding magazines, all manner of cool stuff…even a marble gearshift knob. Best “Dumpster Dive” ever, for me. Check out the photos. All items shown were found in that dumpster:

Cool little DeSoto Airflow!

[lump]

12 minutes ago, keiser31 said:

Cool little DeSoto Airflow!

My reaction exactly! And it even still has the remnants of the water-transfer decal on the driver's door! 

[Dandy Dave]

6 hours ago, auburnseeker said:

What about dump picking?  My Father has brought me some great stuff from our (hometown) local dump.  I also got to pick my Uncle's estate when they were cleaning it up,  who picked the dump when he was retired,  before my Dad.   I got some great stuff from him that I know came from the same dump.  I'll have to get some photos. 

I just added dump picking to the title. 😃 

[1937hd45]

20 minutes ago, Dandy Dave said:

I just added dump picking to the title. 😃 

If you also ad the  local recycling center I can add the 153 Chilton repair & maintenance manuals I collected one day. Found the lady dumping them and she loaded the rest directly into my van. Bob 

[Dandy Dave]

7 minutes ago, 1937hd45 said:

If you also ad the  local recycling center I can add the 153 Chilton repair & maintenance manuals I collected one day. Found the lady dumping them and she loaded the rest directly into my van. Bob 

Cool. Let it be known the terms, dumpster diving, and dump picking, will be used loosly here. Post your free finds from the trash all you want. 😁

[JV Puleo]

In my 20s, when I worked for a Volvo/Saab/Triumph dealer, Massachusetts had an inventory tax.  It was common for the parts dept to go through their inventory once a year, just before the inspector arrived, and throw parts for cars we no longer sold in the dumpster. I got a new set of MGTD hub caps (used on my MGA) and an accessory cast aluminum MG valve cover that way. But the best dump story I know is this set of Brown & Sharpe micrometers from 4-5 to 10-11, graduated in ten thousandths. My cousin bought them at the Westerly RI dump for $20 and, since his health precludes using them now, gave them to me about two weeks ago. Interestingly, the are marked "Brown & Sharpe, North Kingston, RI" so they must have been nearly new when he bought them about 20 years ago.

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by JV Puleo (see edit history)

[Dandy Dave]

9 minutes ago, JV Puleo said:

In my 20s, when I worked for a Volvo/Saab/Triumph dealer, Massachusetts had an inventory tax.  It was common for the parts dept to go through their inventory once a year, just before the inspector arrived, and throw parts for cars we no longer sold in the dumpster. I got a new set of MGTD hub caps (used on my MGA) and an accessory cast aluminum MG valve cover that way. But the best dump story I know is this set of Brown & Sharpe micrometers from 4-5 to 10-11, graduated in ten thousandths. My cousin bought them at the Westerly RI dump for $20 and, since his health precludes using them now, gave them to me about two weeks ago. Interestingly, the are marked "Brown & Sharpe, North Kingston, RI" so they must have been nearly new when he bought them abut 20 years ago.

 

Brown and Sharpe is good stuff. They relocated from Providence to North Kingstown in 1964. 

[JV Puleo]

9 minutes ago, Dandy Dave said:

Brown and Sharpe is good stuff. They relocated from Providence to North Kingstown in 1964. 

I know. I've met Henry & Peggy Sharpe. They were neighbors of the cousin who gave me the mics. I especially like their machines which is why I have a B&S 2H mill and two of their surface grinders.

 

(Edit) About five years ago Mrs. Sharpe called me. Her son & daughter and their families were visiting and they had never seen one of the old B&S machines actually working. Would I demonstrate one for them? So, one Sunday night I had most of the Sharpe family in my shop taking videos with their cell phones of the big 2H milling a slot in a piece of aluminum.

Edited February 13, 2023 by JV Puleo (see edit history)

[Dandy Dave]

3 minutes ago, JV Puleo said:

I know. I've met Henry & Peggy Sharpe. They were neighbors of the cousin who gave me the mics. I especially like their machines which is why I have a B&S 2H mill and two of their surface grinders.

Nice. I have a B&S 2L suface grinder myself.

[Bhigdog]

7 hours ago, auburnseeker said:

What about dump picking?  My Father has brought me some great stuff from our (hometown) local dump.  I also got to pick my Uncle's estate when they were cleaning it up,  who picked the dump when he was retired,  before my Dad.   I got some great stuff from him that I know came from the same dump.  I'll have to get some photos. 

Back before everyone got persnikity about garbage, guns and generally having fun, most ruralish towns had an open pit dump along with any number of boot leg dumps. A fun way to kill an hour or two was to take my Mossberg, crawl the dump, then spend a box of .22 long rifle hollow points shooting bottles, rats, and other targets of opportunity. Found any number of vacuum cleaners with the cord cut off.

Try that today..............Bob

[Bhigdog]

20 minutes ago, Dandy Dave said:

Nice. I have a B&S 2L suface grinder myself.

Me too!...........Bob

[1937hd45]

Before Town Dumps people had their own burn pits for trash. Back in the 1960's I had several families I'd cut grass for and rake leaves in the fall. Still used an ancient burn area in the back yard. Still have an 1860's beer bottle that had worked its way to the surface. Stuff got buried in the old days, I have the remains of Model T Ford fenders dug up when the local Mobil station back lot was repaved. 

Edited February 14, 2023 by 1937hd45 (see edit history)

[Bhigdog]

Around here bottle collectors  excavate old filled in out house pits. They find all kinds of interesting shit............Bob

[mikewest]

When I was a kid between 1968 to about 1972 , and old enough to handle my prized Springfield 22 semi automatic, dad would let us shot rats  at the dump.  We would head up with our cans , back up and dump em out. There was no dozer  pushing crap back on the weekends . It was real thrill... My older brother had a 410/22 under over, I think it was a Stevens??? Not sure. It was a nice little gun until a 2 legged RAT  stole it out of pickup.

[edinmass]

I found my first wife in a dumpster…………I haven’t been dumpster diving since!

[1937hd45]

I was told a fellow with a garbage truck rout in the next town over had one of the best lever action Winchester collections. At some point it time it was common for a newly widowed woman to hand over gun collections just to get rid of them.

[yachtflame]

I pulled a 1962 Bridgeport from a salvage yard in NH for $50. Took it to a friends garage and cleaned it up. It’s probably not dead on but works good enough for us! I just love walking through junk yards and scrap yards!

 

[Bryan G]

One of my first jobs, at a trailer shop, they had a roll-off. One day I'm tossing trash in when I noticed a film projector in a case, including a built-in phonograph. Still with it was a filmstrip promoting BF Goodrich Silvertowns with a first generation Mustang. (The record was missing, however.) Along side that was a pile of NOS 6v sealed beams that sat on my shelf for years; I finally installed the last one about 30 years later. 

[Frank DuVal]

Lump, my dad might have made this. The Richmond Foundry made lots of them for Brown.

 

[1937hd45]

Driving into our dump, sorry "Transfer Station" I spotted a good size pot missing the handle in the roadway. Looked it over and it was stamped Rolls Royce, a headlight from the late 1920's, I asked it where it came from and never got an answer. If only things could talk, think of what we could learn. 

[AL1630]

My best dump find is probably a 1941 dated 5 gallon Army gas can. From what I have read 41 was the first year of production for those. We were dumping a rusty old bbq grill on the metal pile when I spotted it. I think that was a pretty good trade.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

11 hours ago, edinmass said:

I found my first wife in a dumpster…………I haven’t been dumpster diving since!

 Damn it man, that was pure GOLD.

 

  Ben

[Restorer32]

This is almost unbelievable but I know it's true.  Friend of mine was restoring a '29 Packard Dual Cowl.  He was missing all the hardware for the passenger side hood doors, all the springs etc,  He also was a real estate investor.  He purchased a commercial property on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. While looking over his purchase  he was in the attic and noticed a high shelf, too high to see or to reach.  Standing on something he felt around and you guessed it.  He pulled out a '29 Packard  hood side, complete with doors, springs etc.  It was the only auto part in the building.