How do you pull parts from junkyards? Topic is solved

[abscate]

And don’t be a grifter.

If you harvest for resale , keep your markups to cover your time, Labour at $25 an hour, travel, plus some profit on the part. “ Rent-seeking” is bad for capitalism, per Adam Smith.

Harry’s price plus 25 plus shipping is my guide. I’ll add hours in for a big part like a subframe, but if I score a four bolt off one, no time added.

[FireFox31]

I finally went to a nearby (45 mins away) self serve junkyard. The staff was professional and explained how their place worked. Though their Hondas and Toyotas were up on giant wood blocks, their Volvos were all on the ground. This prevented me from getting some parts I needed and made others much more difficult to pick. 2.5 hours in the yard got me an understanding of how the place worked, a few brass brake line fittings, and seeing a stripped 240 sedan with current registration.

It was really peaceful working in the shade of old trees on a nice day at the edge of the yard with no people around. I may get the two doors I want (but don't need) from the car they have there. But no way I'm getting the bumpers with the car on the ground.

I wonder if there is a difference in mentality between junkyards in rust free areas like the West and rust prone areas like the North East. Maybe the West considers junkyards as long term resources since the cars won't rot away from snow while the North East plans to get rid of cars after a shorter period. Maybe the North East yards take the best underside parts off before setting them on the ground (some cars had written "remove driveshaft" on them).

[abscate]

Oooooh, I spot a P2 in 466 Baltic Blue


Firefox, can you share the name of the junkyard?

We used to have a boston area junkyard thread I’ll hunt for

Holland’s is highly regarded

https://www.hollandusedautopartsma.com/


And smacnab has PNP covered in the Island of Rhodes

I wonder if you can call a big dealer like Herb Chambers and ask the body shop where the totaled wrecks go.

[volvolugnut]

I finally went to a nearby (45 mins away) self serve junkyard.

Nice Photo.

volvolugnut

[FireFox31]

Holland’s is highly regarded
https://www.hollandusedautopartsma.com/

Holland in North Billerica, MA is the junkyard I first described with cars stacked two high in the mud, crawling with locust scrappers taking parts to resell. Maybe I'm doing it wrong and maybe the snow didn't help, but that place was entirely not useful to me.

The yard with the Volvos pleasantly turned out to pasture under shady old growth trees is Brandy Brow in Plaistow, NH. Still, I assume your personal collection of parts cars are in better shape than these.

[FireFox31]

I have now successfully used this method to pull parts from junkyards. Ultimately, the goal is to find a junkyard which doesn't let people wander around the yard, instead bringing the car to you to remove parts from, ideally near where you're parked for access to your tools.

Process, quitting if any step fails:
1. Find parts you need on car-part.com.
2. Check that the junkyard is well reviewed on Google Maps.
3. Look at the yard's images on Google Maps to confirm cars aren't stacked up and conditions are safe.
4. Check Google Maps satellite view to see if their yard is organized or a mess.
5. Call and see if you speak to someone courteous and professional.
6. Ask if they still have the stock # / car and if they can send pictures of the part you need (to confirm availability and condition).
7. Ask for their procedure to get parts from their cars.
7a. Confirm their yard is on-site so you can access the car.
7b. It's good if either they pull the parts or bring you the car to pull parts from.
7c. It's ideal if the area where they let you work is near where you've parked, giving easy access to your tools.
7d. Ask if you can bring/borrow a jack and stands to get under a car.
7e. Ask if you can use a blow torch to heat rusty parts.
8. Make an appointment to pull from a specific stock # / car so they can pull it from the yard to the work area.
9. Make a list of all of the parts that you need.
10. Research and decide what you think is a fair price for each part (comparing to other yards, eBay, new, etc).
11. Show up early in the day so you have plenty of time.
12. Discuss prices with the yard before you start to pull parts so there are no surprises.
13. Pull the parts from the car which was brought to youin a safe work area near your tools.
14. Leave all pulled parts visible until you're ready to check out to show you're not stealing.

I had a positively delightful experience at a junkyard which passed all of these steps. I got every part that I needed and may go back to get backup parts and parts to rebuild.