Best Pull-A-Part Find

I've never struck the proverbial gold at the Pull-A-Part (or any u-pull-it) yard, but I bet some people have found some really cool stuff.

Not just a junkyard, but an actual Pull-A-Part style yard where they typically cater to newer cars, but might get in a few older ones sometimes and typically change their inventory every 3 months or so. If it's a junkyard that has kept old cars in it for years, that doesn't count.


Brandon

 

I have always been fond of the local junkyards. that's how I got my name. I guess the best thing I've ever found in one was a six Stromberg carb and manifoldset up for a small block chevy. I think it was an Offenhauser manifold and it was complete to the linkage and fuel rails. I paid $200.00 for the whole thing and sold it to a car museum in Los Angeles for a little more. It was a good find.
Dave

 

I guess it depends on where you live. Check out the pics from my local Wrench-A-Part here in Belton Texas. Lots of old stuff!

http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23920&highlight=belton+texas

 

Nothing too great, but I found my 80s vintage American Racing turbine wheels at a Pull-A-Part here in metro ATL. They were on an early 80s Ford Bronco II. I had seen them on my first visit, when I was looking for coil springs from a 79 TBird, but could only find 3 of them. I had to return to finish the coil spring removal, and decided to do more digging. I spent at least 30 minutes searching for that 4th stinkin' wheel. I finally found it under a car, a few down from the Bronco. They were dirty, took lots of elbow grease and blisters to clean them up. I have $100 invested in them, after buying new center caps (which cost as much as the wheels).

 

They go through the cars with a fine tooth comb around here, never any good non-car junk in them. Those guys even pull the third note horns from all the Roadmasters, nothing else though? I've found a few cargo covers and stuff like that at Pull-A-Parts, no big deals, find what I need so I can't complain too much.
The best things I've found in cars at old school type yards that let you pull parts are tools that were left in the cars by the owner, you can walk right out with them since they figure you brought them in with you too. I was at Pull-A-Part recently and a guy walked in and asked them if they had a lost and found because he left his wrenches on a car and when he went back to get them they were gone.

 

Yea, I'm the same way, I've never really found anything super rare or cool. I did snag a 77-79 Caprice/Impala Aerocoupe back window for $30. Those are pretty hard to find. I also once saw a full King James Bible laying in the front seat of a car that had the window down. Somehow it felt wrong to just let it be destroyed so I put it in my bag.

I keep thinking one day I'll find some money, or a body, in one of the cars.


Brandon

 

I agree also with BlueVista never found anything rare or valuable but have found what I needed the last 2 weeks. I went for parts for my '77 p/u and found the original bolt on grille bowtie emblem, a new upper radiator hose that must have been put on truck then wrecked and a fairly new tail pipe I needed for it for a grand total of 12 buck!

 

My best find wasn't a car part. I worked in the hot humid south Florida climate most of my career and the heat usually doesn't bother me. When I was in living in Colorado, I went to the yard one day during the middle of the summer. I had skipped breakfast that morning which I NEVER do and didn't drink anything either. It was close to lunch time, but all I was looking for was a small part that should have taken me a few minutes. However, it's not possible for me to spend only a couple minutes at a junkyard. After a half hour, I started feeling weird. I was close to passing out and sat in the back of a Jeep Cherokee. I looked down and there was an unopened package of Gummy Worms. I tore them open, gobbled half the bag and in a couple minutes I was feeling back to normal.

 

hahaha, it's kind of funny you mention that. When I went and got the rear end out from under a 2 door Explorer for the '37 Chevrolet I'm building for my wife I spend most of the morning looking at every Ford Explorer, crawling under them and finding their gear ratio and then using a list to narrow them all down until I found the best rear end. Then I removed it. It was very hot and near lunchtime my blood sugar dropped super low, but I wasn't about to leave that rear end there so someone could just pick it up and be gone and I would have to start all over. I couldn't get the U-Joint knocked out of the rear end and I was getting pretty far gone. I felt like one of the crazy 70's movies where they would show long scenes with no dialog and everything kind of blurry for that psychedelic effect. Those gummy worms sound like a super score.

 

You know, on a side note, when I was driving home from my 12 year tour with the US Army,(Medical discharge.) in my 1984 Monte Carlo SS, I was just east of Winslow AZ. and I broke a timing chain. My budget was already stretched to the limit and the 60 dollars it took to buy the new chain was about all I had left.
A real nice guy with a gas station let me work on the car in his lot and even loaned me tools to do the work. I still had my uniform on as I fixed the car. I think he liked that I was a serviceman. I bid him farewell and many thanks and made my way to the freeway. I had 1/4 tank of gas and had the drive to Los Angeles ahead of me.
About twenty miles down the road, I had a flat in the left rear. I had already used the spare somewhere in Texas so I made it to a truckstop where I spent my last $15.00 buck to fix the tire. Just before I was about to leave, I sat down on the front seat with my feet out the door to think about my situation and try to remember the phone numbers of some people that might be able to send me a couple of bucks to get me home.
My hands were still greasy from the fix and the tire change so I reached down to grab a brown paper bag laying on the asphalt so I could wipe my hands. I felt something inside the bag and looked inside. I swear! In the bag was $220.00 dollars in $10.00 dollar bills. I thought to take it inside the store and ask about it for a moment, but only a moment! I figured it was a gift from heaven. I did do one thing to appease the gods, if you will. I took one of the $10.00 dollar bills and put it back in the sack sticking halfway out and left it on the gas pump when I filled my tank. I figured it was the least I could do.
Dave.

 

Now that's an awesome story. That's one of those they couldn't even put in a movie because it seems so crazy.

 

I doubt it has any value, but it was just a really weird find. I was 17/18(1984/85?) and can't even remember what kind of car but scrounging for parts in a local wreaker I took a floor mat out of one car to use as a mat. There was a lot of loose change under it and while scooping it up I ended up hauling garbage out from under the seat and found a stop watch....

.... from the Zlatoust Watch Factory USSR. I don't believe it's silver but it does weigh a fair bit. Still have it, it still works. The cold war was still going strong so how it ended up here is a ????

 

It seemed odd to me that the print on the back was in English so I did some research and found this: http://forums.watchuseek.com/f10/adanac-16-jewels-zlatoust-watch-factory-ussr-430319.html

Seems strange that there were much/any trade relations between Canada and the USSR back then.

 

Looking hrough my local u pull a part for a Nodular case 3rd member I stumbled across a 12 bolt rearend. It just happened to be from a Camaro with th original stock 4:11 positraction unit still in it. $50 later it was in my truck. Off to ebay it went and $1,057 later it was sold Best day ever!!!

 

Those last two posts are really cool. I really like old time pieces. The engineering fascinates me.

Yeah, those F body 12 bolts are bringing some serious cash these days. So you're the guy who gets there 10 minutes before me all the time.


Brandon