Remembering a favorite junkyard

FL&WVMIKE

FL&WVMIKE

Well-known member
REMEMBERING A FAVORITE JUNKYARD !
Back in the sixties, a buddy of mine and I discovered a building, which had been a junk yard, from the twenties until shortly after the end of WWII.
The state made him clean up his yard, so he sold off all the cars and locked up the barn.
We spent several years buying and selling fenders, grills, running boards out of there. Too bad that neither one of us had any storage space.
When the ole fellow died, his daughter came in, scrapped all the parts and razed the building. We got the "cream", but some really good stuff, by today's standards, got lost. Sure wish that I could buy stuff, today, for what we sold it for then ! I think that the best price we got, was about $35.00 for a NOS appearing 1934 R/F FORD front fender. Those were the days !
MIKE :)
 

Attachments

  • junk1.jpg
    junk1.jpg
    326.2 KB · Views: 138
  • junk2.jpg
    junk2.jpg
    296.7 KB · Views: 136
  • junk3.jpg
    junk3.jpg
    290 KB · Views: 140
  • junk4.jpg
    junk4.jpg
    319.7 KB · Views: 122
wow! great pictures, wish I could find a barn full of treasures like that now days.
 
jdl .................
Back then, they weren't, so much, considered treasures. You could still buy good, complete flathead FORDS for not much money. Model "A" parts were the hottest thing then. The ole fellow told us that he had sold about all his "A" parts, during the war. There just weren't many "A" parts there. We, mostly, bought and sold Buick, Cadillac and even a pair of Pierce Arrow fenders. Some of that flathead stuff, we never even brought home. I kept a few extra fenders, etc. for my phaeton.
I still have boxes of door handles, cowl lights, tail lights, hub caps, head light lens and misc. from there, stored away.
MIKE :)
 
I thought about a deserted junk yard,and decided to see if anything was left there.I wandered the area,and found a few remnants that were not usable,and also heard dogs higher on the hill.Decided to retreat.An overgrown road was the only access,and was was blocked by two grizzley looking german shepards.As they got closer,I got into a metal cabinet lying on its back,and could cover with the doors.Each time they left,and I tried to get to the road,they would come back.It was getting late,and no one knew where I was.(before cell phones)Finally I had to scale down a steep rock wall in the opposite direction of the dogs,to get to my truck.
 
Yes Mike, My first car was a nice 41 Ford coupe, bought for $50. I was 15 yrs. old.
sold that one to a friend and bought a 35 Ford 5w coupe for $75. then my boss at the auto parts store where I worked gave me a
nice 39 Ford woody, on and on. I have always
loved old flathead Fords. great memories.
thanks for posting the pictures...jdl
 
Back then, before lawyers and insurance ruled the land, we could pack a lunch and wander yards all damn day. Fenton Auto Salvage, Speedway, etc near St.Louis were the prime spots. I miss those times.
I remember Speedway had a $50 engine policy. Any engine, $50. Wish I had a $100 for that Flathead sitting in that old school bus next to that Hemi.
 
My mother in law lives in Minnesotta, western center of the state by the Dakota border, Hortonville? I went for a ride with her and the wife, there were about 6 really excellent yards around there, of course I was a prisoner on this trip, in the back seat. I was spinning around like a dog back there, this one yard was well stocked with our kind of iron. The place I got my truck in central Minn. had a ton of cars, the whole area of central Minn has a lot of old iron. Most of it is a bit rustier than we are used to but I think picky days are fading fast.
 
My friends and I loved to go to the wrecking yards in the early 50's ,we drove those cars every day, street race drop a ****** ,no big deal just go get one, out and back in a few hours,and did not care about safety, boy were we lucky. Harold ,central coast Ca.
 
I would rather spend a day walking around an old junkyard than in any museum. Looking at the old, wrecked cars, filling my mind with stories, memories, and dreams--it's pure bliss...slim-
 
I have fond memorys of several yards that I would wander, 1 I remember the dog that guarded the path to the back of the yard, there was a clear path in a circle that was the "limit" of his chain ---except that he walked his circle 3 feet short of the limit of his chain.

At another I bought the "rights" to strip a 48, at the time I was driving a 46, and after school I would drive out there, take whatever i could remove, sometimes the owner would come out and tell me storys--- one was about a car he got without the radiator, but it still ran, and that he drove it up and down the road --shifting to reverse at 40 mph, that it would still do 60 in second---that the engine was glowing hot ---that it still ran the next day so they drained all the oil out ----and continued the abuse untill it ran out of gas.

As I took the car apart --it was complete except for a radiator I came to realize that it was the one from the story, after I took of a head I saw the cracked block, the rear was chewed up, all the teeth were off first and reverse ---I had paid 60$ for the stripping rights, I carried home all the parts, I had cut out the cowl because they had no rustout, the front axle was still good, I still have some of the parts, and i did get my 60$ worth, soon after I got a 47 for free, it had a bent front axle, and had a crushed cowl , so I used the parts to fix that car, and I still have some of the parts.
 
I visited a junkyard in Roswell NM. a few years ago, all old iron and a very cranky owner. the guard dog was actually a "guard donkey" the owner would not let you look around by yourself. I had to be escorted by a chaparone. Fun times.
 
Lanny said:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------


hey Frank, I am only 50 miles from Ortonville, Mn., and know of many
good ol' scrap yards arround the state, especially in central, Mn.
Just curious, Care to say which yard you found your truck in ? :)




=======================================================
Click to expand...

I dont know if it was a legal yard, this guy just had maybe 400 cars, he was buying and selling heavy, This was a few years ago, I wish I had a camera, there were a lot of old gals up there just waiting to be restored, like I say a bit more rusty than the south west stuff but those days are gone, got to be a metal worker now.
 
Back in the mid sixties there was a business in Oradell NJ known as Carl's Model A Junk yard. I visited once when a friend bought an original damage rust free complete running driving 30 coupe for $125.00 There were a few complete running cars to choose from and many, many disassembled T's A's and a few 32's available for parts picking. Eventually the yard was closed and sold because the area was developed. Years later I found that all of the salvageable cars and parts were relocated to a dairy barn in Nanuet NY. In order to get everything into the barn the complete cars were disassembled in a reverse assembly line. When the "cars" got to the back of the barn the bare frames was tilted up against the wall. I learned all this from the man who bought the “junk” from Carl. Unfortunately he was also forced to sell because the dairy farm was sold and would become a shopping mall. The barn that he was renting was scheduled to be torn down and he had to move everything out. The clearance sale was advertised in the classifieds in the NY Times. After reading it for three weeks, I visited. I had no intention of buying anything but I ended up buying a pair of VERY VERY good welled fenders with complete side mount brackets for $12.00, a nice pair of usable bumpers with brackets and bolts for $6.00, a pair of door handles and deck lid handle for $1.00. A week later the ad appeared again, this time with the new threat "EVERYTHING MUST GO". I went back, the seller knew I had a 32 so he walked around picking up random 32 parts and giving them to me at dirt cheep prices or free. The more I bought the more he gave me. I spent another $20.00. I remember a set of front fenders, a horn, a head light bar and a wiper motor and much more as I had trouble getting everything into my Corvair van. He was actually asking me to take any and all 32 parts as possible because he was desperate to empty the barn. He asked me if I wanted a 32 frame, front end, rear end, trans, engine? At the time I had no interest and no place to keep all the stuff he offered for free. He was NOT kidding. He brought me outside to show me a huge hole dug along side the barn. He said that the barn and anything left inside would be plowed into the hole by the end of the week. The next week, no ad in the Times, so I went back for the third time to see if the frame was still available. Bull dozers were making sad memories.
 
BoxCar Tom ..........................
Makes you want to cry, doesn't it ?
I have a shovel. Do you remember where ?
MIKE :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top