y5mgisi
1 ton status
It's just not fair. I want to start my own square body only junkyard!
CK5
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another day at the parts yard
- Thread starter Chief Brody
- Start date
it truly is one of my favorite things to do is go walking junk yards 
Me too..I never tire of looking at the trucks and cars in junkyards.. --IF I see any in the boneyards here any more that is...its getting very hard to find used parts for any square bodies..
One yard I go to often had well over 100 of them as recently as last year--once scrap prices went up,they crushed the yard out,now there is maybe 4 or 5 left,very few "new arrivals" come in too,and the few that do dont get left in the picking section long,before they get scrapped..
Looking back ,I think working in a junkyard,though not always pleasant,was the job I'd have the most "fun" at...its a lot easier taking vehicles apart than assembling one,especially when you can just cut things off instead of wrenching...the demo derbies we had,and heavy equipment we used,made the job more fun than boring...but it did kinda suck pulling windshields in 90+ degree heat,fighting off wasps,getting cut and wounded ...its not a easy job,nor one for anyone much over 45 or so..
If I ever hit the lottery,I'd love to buy an old junkyard,and just use it as a personal "playground" much like the boss did at the one I was at--it was only a "legit" business to keep the place legal...the boss didn't really like selling parts or cars or buying scrap ones,he'd just buy enough to pay the salaries and cover operating expenses..
One yard I go to often had well over 100 of them as recently as last year--once scrap prices went up,they crushed the yard out,now there is maybe 4 or 5 left,very few "new arrivals" come in too,and the few that do dont get left in the picking section long,before they get scrapped..
Looking back ,I think working in a junkyard,though not always pleasant,was the job I'd have the most "fun" at...its a lot easier taking vehicles apart than assembling one,especially when you can just cut things off instead of wrenching...the demo derbies we had,and heavy equipment we used,made the job more fun than boring...but it did kinda suck pulling windshields in 90+ degree heat,fighting off wasps,getting cut and wounded ...its not a easy job,nor one for anyone much over 45 or so..
If I ever hit the lottery,I'd love to buy an old junkyard,and just use it as a personal "playground" much like the boss did at the one I was at--it was only a "legit" business to keep the place legal...the boss didn't really like selling parts or cars or buying scrap ones,he'd just buy enough to pay the salaries and cover operating expenses..
Same for me. Back when I drove semi-truck if I drove through a small town one of the things I liked to do was find the junkyard and just wander around. You find some really old, really cool stuff that way. Of course, back then I never had any money, but it was still fun to look.it truly is one of my favorite things to do is go walking junk yards
Ditto on walking junk yards, it's like a calling and in your blood to understand.
I would drive a long distance to walk some yards....if I knew where some were...I'd use vacation time to do it.
There's a couple u pullts's in the memphis area but like most the squares are few.
Especially in the last couple years. I keep an eye out but when they show up they get hit fast.
Now it's cooling off I'll look harder.
Especially in the last couple years. I keep an eye out but when they show up they get hit fast.
Now it's cooling off I'll look harder.
We had some guys come from Norway,Denmark,and Switzerlan,among other countries,to come browse around the yard..it's amazing how word of mouth spreads!..one of the guys was elated to find the '59 Mercedes coupe that was rotted to death in the tree line still had a cherry hood and trunk lid,and restoreable bumpers--he bought basically the whole car,but he had to take all the stuff off he wanted by hand--the trees surrounded the car,our loader couldn't get close enough to lift it--and it likely would have broken in at least two pieces if we could have..
There was many "strange" cars junked at that place--lots of big land yaghts like Caddy's and old Lincolns,Corvairs, Sunbeams,Simca's,there was even a Yugo there,with only 10K on it!..still looked new,the engine was junk,seized tight..more than one person said "thats probably the longest one ever ran before it died!"...there was still lots of stuff from the 40's to 70's there too,and many were not the everyday common cars or trucks you normally saw..
Amazingly a lot of the older cars were pretty much intact and unmolested too,right down to things like radio knobs and the usual trinkets everyone swipes for souveniers..all the "muscle car" and later stuff was either stripped to bare shells or rusted to death...there was a '66 AMC Marlin there that was still restoreable,but all the windows were left open for like 20 years,the interior was completely mildewed junk...
I get a gut wrenching ache when I drive by the place now,and see it abandoned and empty,the fences falling down,and it looks like its been closed 50 years ,not just 10...sadly a lot of other old yards have suffered the same fate--many were just farms that turned into "illegal" junkyards,and were forced to clean out the vehicles and close,others that existed since the 30's and 40's and never "crushed" anything had the owners grow old and pass away--a lot of history has dissapeared in MA since I was a kid..
There was many "strange" cars junked at that place--lots of big land yaghts like Caddy's and old Lincolns,Corvairs, Sunbeams,Simca's,there was even a Yugo there,with only 10K on it!..still looked new,the engine was junk,seized tight..more than one person said "thats probably the longest one ever ran before it died!"...there was still lots of stuff from the 40's to 70's there too,and many were not the everyday common cars or trucks you normally saw..
Amazingly a lot of the older cars were pretty much intact and unmolested too,right down to things like radio knobs and the usual trinkets everyone swipes for souveniers..all the "muscle car" and later stuff was either stripped to bare shells or rusted to death...there was a '66 AMC Marlin there that was still restoreable,but all the windows were left open for like 20 years,the interior was completely mildewed junk...
I get a gut wrenching ache when I drive by the place now,and see it abandoned and empty,the fences falling down,and it looks like its been closed 50 years ,not just 10...sadly a lot of other old yards have suffered the same fate--many were just farms that turned into "illegal" junkyards,and were forced to clean out the vehicles and close,others that existed since the 30's and 40's and never "crushed" anything had the owners grow old and pass away--a lot of history has dissapeared in MA since I was a kid..
They charge for emblems? No way.
I also LOVE walking through old junk yards.
Martin
78K-5BLAZER
Registered Member
I would like to share my $0.02. First off I love going to junk yards. Me in a junk yard is as bad as a kid in a candy store. When me and my step dad go we are there 3/4s of the day. Now for the sand news. Like everyone has said not a whole lot of square bodies. I see pickups and suburbans full size brazers/jimmys are very scarce. The most I have ever seen at a junk yard was 2 or 3 and regardless if it is a pickup suburban or blazer/jimmy they seem to be picked through as soon as they hit the lot.
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