Awesome BoneYard Finds

peter carroll · 03-12-2006, 03:56 PM

I was in the junkyard the other day and looked in an old Beetle to see if there was anything cool inside. To my suprise, there was a nice seemingly new Grant steering wheel with hub. Not the greatest, but this place is cheap, so I grabbed it. Twenty yards away, was an older BMW with some nice wheels. I went to look at the wheels only to find they were all curb rashed. Then I looked inside to find a beautiful wooden and aluminum Nardi steering wheel. I think I did a double take and realy couldn't believe it. Hub, wheel, horn button all there for a 10 dollar bill!

Please tell of your find. Pete

' 74 914 W/Chevy V6
' 62 Devin D
' 64 Sprite Racecar
'59 Morris Mini

Tidybuoy · 03-15-2006, 07:34 PM

I myself, have a junkyard disease....I mostly go for my eBay business but I usually find myself browsing for hours.

Onetime after dilly dallying all day and the place was closing in 20 minutes, I came across a 914 (I'm sure you know, you almost never see a 914 at the wrecking yard). I immediately started checking it out and discovered that it was pretty complete. And, when I popped the front trunk - Surprise! I found a brand new set ow weltmiester springs (in the boxes) and all of the sheet metal for rust repair, and various other parts.

I panicked as I only had 5 minutes till closing.

So, I was literally the 1st person there the next morning. I used one of the junkyard wheel barrels and basically stripped the car of everything good (taillights, brand new weatherstrip pieces, seats, leather steering wheel, gauges, pedals, etc.... plus the brand new stuff I mentioned).

I packed the wheel barrel full and I mixed in several carpet pieces so that just by chance the clerk would just give me a package deal.......It worked. They couldn't be bothered with my pile of "vw" junk and sold everything for $100

I kept a lot of the stuff for my own car and sold everything else on eBay for about $700

Tidybuoy · 03-15-2006, 07:37 PM

One more thing. A few months ago I found a perfect condition Nardi Wooden Steering Wheel. It was a 1979 model and in near perfect condition.

I'm planning on trying it in my 914. I like it cause it's about the same size as the stock wheel and looks very retro.

If it ends up not looking as good as I think it will, I'm gonna frame it and hang it in the garage. It's definately a great looking wheel.

Vern

sammyg2 · 03-17-2006, 02:59 PM

I found a near perfect chrome early front bumper one time for $30. I took it home, polished it up a bit, and sold it in 1 hour for $100.

I found a side shifter tranny for $75. I re-sealed it, cleaned it up, replaced 1st and 2nd syncros with used 4th and 5th gear syncros from another old tranny, and stuck it in the V8 car. It worked great and the total cost was $115.

I found good a set of koni red rear shocks for $5 each, sold em for $25 each the same day.

I found a quadrajet 800 cfm 4 bbl carb for $25, bolted it onto the chebby V8 914 and after one jetting change it worked perfectly.

I found a near perfect side mirror for $15. Sold it or traded it, caint remember.

And the best one of all:
Every time i walk out of a pick a part I have a pocket full of change. Under the seats, in the ash tray, under the carpet, I always get at least 3 bucks worth of quarters and dimes etc

peter carroll · 03-18-2006, 04:16 PM

Today there was an old " dirt track " type racecar in the junkyard when I went. It was about 100% stripped, but I did find two interesting gauges that were left in the dash. One is a oil pressure and the other one is water temperature . They were next to each other in a metal box in the dash with a big red light next to them. They are labeled "Murphy Swichgauge" I assume you set them to certain engine saving limits and if those limits are reached the light flashes. Inside the metal mounting box was a beautiful clear bodied relay with a built in flasher. I guess you don't want to be looking at your gauges all the time when your racing and you sure don't want to blow the engine. Pete

zumwoll · 03-18-2006, 04:31 PM

when I lived in pc Eugene OR, there was a lot of foreign stuff in the wrecking yards so I made regular visits, but now that I live in Bend Oregon, or as THe Donald refers to us ---the next Aspen---if it ain't for a pickup, you won't find it here.

Tidybuoy · 03-31-2006, 09:20 AM

By Sammyg2:

Quote:

Every time i walk out of a pick a part I have a pocket full of change. Under the seats, in the ash tray, under the carpet, I always get at least 3 bucks worth of quarters and dimes etc

Sammyg2, you crack me up. Everytime I go to Pick-a-Part, I collect all the change I can find too. I think it brings me good luck.

Vern