I Dig Junkyard Browsing.

[TheTerrorist_75]

I have been searching area junkyards for parts needed on my winter rat '88 GMC pickup. I forgot about this small yard near my old house. I drove over there earlier and asked if he had any of the stuff I wanted. I got the guided tour and located a tailgate in great condition, a drivers side outer door handle and 4 excellent mud and snow tires with wheels. Total cost $150. All the other places didn't have one part or the other and most of the tailgates were rotted out and they wanted at least twice as much money. Heck, one place wanted $300 just for the tires and wheels. Rusted out tailgates were going for $50-$125. The only thing I couldn't find was a factory radio with CD player.

[bearskin]

terrorist...when I was younger and drove older cars I loved to browse the junk yards. the parts were cheaper if you pulled the part yourself. I've kept cars running for years with junk yard parts. we had about 8-9 yards where I lived and there was never a lack for parts. it seemed that radiators were always the highest at $30 each but a lot cheaper than new.

[Honda_Boy]

one day my brother and I had a blast looking through a junk yard. We weren't looking for anything in particular other than maybe finding parts to do a 4 wheels disc conversion for my car. We run through a ton of stuff just the fun of it. Plus when we got done it looked like we had just got done mudding in his 4Runner. Man that was a fun day. Till I had to graduate that is. It was the same day as my graduation that we did that.

[TheTerrorist_75]

It used to be every 2-3 years I would buy a "new" winter rat. I always kept them going with junkyard parts. The only things that I would buy new were headlights, signal lamps, wiper blades and brake pads. I miss the days when you could buy a rat for $50 and spend under a hundred at the junkyard and parts store to fix it up. Now it cost anywhere from $300 and up for a rat and usually takes another few hundred to fix it.

I can't complain about the truck though. The owner wanted $700 but I talked him down to $550. He had already replaced the brakes, complete exhaust system, did a complete tune-up, changed oil and filter plus changed tranny fluid and filter. It runs like a top but will need valve seals. That can wait until spring. It has minor rust issues which for NY it isn't bad.

[blim]

I'm not mechanical so no junkyard browsing for me, but I LOVE to lurk at our local transfer station when I bring the recyclables in. The "dumpguys" put usable stuff aside for new homes, and the desk chairs my kids are using at their apartment are thanks to them! Not a thing wrong with them, old wood and metal school chairs.

Great place for scrap wood, too

And our city maintenance garage has a dump of sorts where I've gotten bricks to border gardens and chunks of sidewalk to build planter boxes in front of my porch. The city maintenance guy said, "take all you want, just don't leave a mess" when I asked him about taking bricks!

Liz

[bozodog]

Now I love the "tractor" junk yard we have north of here. I can buy most parts for my 1956 Allis Calmbers new,(try THAT with a car) but I've found some great deals on parts. And I just love walking through the yard looking at all the skeletons of years gone by.

We also have a car yard called "You-Wrench-It" You pay a buck to go back and look, small stuff is free. (wiper arms etc.) If you find your car just go at it for any parts about 1/4 the price of other yards.

[Honda_Boy]

that's kinda like Pull a Part up in Nashville. They let you go in and take it out yourself. I think the trailing arms (I think that's what they were called) off a 4 door civic for rear discs at the yard my brother and I were at, were only gonna cost like $50 and that blew my brother away. I woulda got em If I had money right then.

[TheTerrorist_75]

We have Pick-n-Pulls here. I could have drove 40+ miles to get my parts. I figured with the cost of gas, my time and the possibility they didn't have what I was looking for, it was faster and cost only a few dollars more to buy the parts locally. In fact i prefer to spend my money with the locals.

[marko_tomas13]

I keep my 1990 Civic going with junkyard parts and careful maintenence. It didn't even have any rust on it after I replaced what little was there with fibreglass (fairly inexpensive if you do it yourself).

I did the same thing with my father's Civic however, he has since upgraded to a newer and much nicer 1999 model car which doesn't exactly lend itself to junkyard browsing for parts and all the big stuff needs to be done at the dealer