dumb person
Well-known member
A millionare. They sell on ebay now.
Wrecking yard-101
- Thread starter BILL WILLIAMSON
- Start date
BILL WILLIAMSON
Well-known member
Pluck,
Customers would sometimes leave their old "sample" brake drums with bearings. I'd remove the brgs. & races, clean, inspect, re-pack, roll in tin foil & label them.
Shortly after gettin' our first INTERCHANGE MANUALS, I'd read & read & read! F-FASCINATING!!
A guy asked, "You got any front wheel bearings for a '32 Pontiac? nobody lists them anymore." I checked my "MAGIC BOOK"----Same as some later Chevs. (didn't tell him that) Dude was AMAZED! I had them. Sold him 3, yes, 3 sets, and got PREMIUM price! Howard liked me 'cause Chief had taught me to SAVE STUFF. Howard's parts room was piled with NOS parts for various makes, so in my spare time I would try to identify, label, & shelve them.
Found a set of BLUE striped seat covers for a '26 Chev. touring, still in the box, sold them along with a Hog Ring Kit to a kid with an old Model A! I told him, "Iffin' you stretch it like this-----cut it like this----- Hog Ring it like this-------and you'll look GOOD in this car!" HE BOUGHT IT!!!!
In the engine shed, I learned to "mount" a motor in just the right size old tire, built a roll around cart with an instrument panel from some old car, small gas tank, battery, jumpr leads, etc, and I could have an engine runnin' pronto for a prospective buyer's inspection. God! that was fun, RIGHT OUT OF THE MANIFOLDS----- RUDN, RUDN, RUDN,RUDN!
------Bill W.
dumb person
Well-known member
We need to know this. That & how to remove the glued in kind without breaking them. i always do that...As originally requested; does anybody have any shortcuts/secrets?
Not necessarily for Fords eg how to remove an engine in 2 steps OR how to pop a windscreen out by just using your feet
Manuel in Oz
juke joint johnny
Well-known member
Bill You started a good thread here Ya got 4 stars allready !!!.
Everyone on here must have some favorite Junkyard memories
I'm still laughing about that poor guy in the out house with Texas Tummy
and then a PIG tries to get in there with him!!!
I remember a family in England who had a Junkyard for many generations
They had 2 houses that would have been worth a fortune if they had been anywhere else but they were right in the middle of the 60 acre Junkyard cars right up to the door !!! Very Much a British Beverly Hillbilly sort of familly
When you bought something and they had to give you change you had to go into the Kitchen where they kept the money on the Kitchen table in a Big Mixing Bowl, Everything that was bought or sold the money stayed in that Bowl !!!
They had a lot of pre war and 40's 50's trucks including some USA Dodge Ambulances
I wanted to buy a late B engine from them that was in a Forward Control Truck , but like so many of these people they had to sell the whole thing !! I didn't think I could Smuggle a Dump truck in the Yard without the Wife seeing it.
Here's another Question for those out there .
What would be the most valuable car today that you have seen in a Junkyard ?
I saw a 1939 Lincoln Zepher convertible in an abandoned Junkyard in Norfolk England years ago
I imagine it was left behind by a USairman as there are a lot of bases in that area.
John Cochran
Everyone on here must have some favorite Junkyard memories
I'm still laughing about that poor guy in the out house with Texas Tummy
and then a PIG tries to get in there with him!!!
I remember a family in England who had a Junkyard for many generations
They had 2 houses that would have been worth a fortune if they had been anywhere else but they were right in the middle of the 60 acre Junkyard cars right up to the door !!! Very Much a British Beverly Hillbilly sort of familly
When you bought something and they had to give you change you had to go into the Kitchen where they kept the money on the Kitchen table in a Big Mixing Bowl, Everything that was bought or sold the money stayed in that Bowl !!!
They had a lot of pre war and 40's 50's trucks including some USA Dodge Ambulances
I wanted to buy a late B engine from them that was in a Forward Control Truck , but like so many of these people they had to sell the whole thing !! I didn't think I could Smuggle a Dump truck in the Yard without the Wife seeing it.
Here's another Question for those out there .
What would be the most valuable car today that you have seen in a Junkyard ?
I saw a 1939 Lincoln Zepher convertible in an abandoned Junkyard in Norfolk England years ago
I imagine it was left behind by a USairman as there are a lot of bases in that area.
John Cochran
lance leblanc
Senior Member
When I first started in the auction business (early 90's) I'd get cars that where donated to the Slavation Army for tax right offs.
The New Orleans S.A. office would give me any car that they did not sell within 30 days. I would go see them every other week and make a list for transport to auction.
On one particular day they had a 1960 Dodge Polara /383. with under 80,000 miles.
Perfect enterior and it ran. My guess was it was a estate donation, only because most cars they recieved where beaters that didnt run.
Regreatably, I was uneducated as to how rare the car was. I did know that old Dodge's sold well, but it didnt have a Hemi so I thought is was just an old Dodge.
It had'nt been there the manditory 30 days but I offered the Capt. $500 and he took it. Sad part was I still didnt know what I bought and before I even had it picked up, I had it sold with cash in hand for $1,500. Should of been my first clue. Because before the car arrived to its new home an hour away I had to many inquires about the car to count. Lesson I learned that day was do your Home Work. Buy doing that homework I later got a '65 mustang covertible that was purchased originally by my idol Hue Heffner as a gift to one of the first playmates. It sold well at auction.
The New Orleans S.A. office would give me any car that they did not sell within 30 days. I would go see them every other week and make a list for transport to auction.
On one particular day they had a 1960 Dodge Polara /383. with under 80,000 miles.
Perfect enterior and it ran. My guess was it was a estate donation, only because most cars they recieved where beaters that didnt run.
Regreatably, I was uneducated as to how rare the car was. I did know that old Dodge's sold well, but it didnt have a Hemi so I thought is was just an old Dodge.
It had'nt been there the manditory 30 days but I offered the Capt. $500 and he took it. Sad part was I still didnt know what I bought and before I even had it picked up, I had it sold with cash in hand for $1,500. Should of been my first clue. Because before the car arrived to its new home an hour away I had to many inquires about the car to count. Lesson I learned that day was do your Home Work. Buy doing that homework I later got a '65 mustang covertible that was purchased originally by my idol Hue Heffner as a gift to one of the first playmates. It sold well at auction.
Cool Hand Lurker
Well-known member
Here's one of my favorite places. It's still there, about 18 miles outside of Mineral, S.D.
Nice Photo. So where is Mineral, SD? I couldn't find it on Google Maps. Is this a joke?
BILL WILLIAMSON
Well-known member
Manuel in Oz,
I don't remember takin' out the glued windows, maybe they didn't glue them in the "50's? Regular rubbered ones, I just sliced the rubber with a razor blade box cutter, easy!
On fast sellin' back fenders, with a light duty cuttin' torch, I could torch off them caged nuts, with a surgeon's skill, and that danged fender was off, without even burnin' the PAINT!! Sold a LOT of '46 to '48 Ford & Chev. fenders & complete front end assys & doors. Many times we could match his car color if it had not been repainted some PUKE color!
Before impact drivers, them BIG Phillips door hinge screws were a *****.
I'd drill with an 1/8" bit, then bigger & bigger, 'til the head fell OFF!FINAL "RITES" for a stripped out car: On it's side, take out the gas tank, torch the frame in 2' X 3' pieces, & BURN the body! Man! I collected a fortune in LEAD that melted off!
Howard was a good dude, he gave all the lead to an oooold disabled man that cast & sold fishing sinkers to make a living!A previous employee, Pat, whose father died young, was helped through college by Howard, and later worked with Werner Von Braun in devlopment of solid rocket fuels!
"LAMBERT'S WRECKING YARD" is a place that's dear to my heart in SO many ways! Bill W.
I could torch off them caged nuts, with a surgeon's skill, and that danged fender was off, without even burnin' the PAINT!!
I collected a fortune in LEAD that melted off!
A previous employee, Pat, whose father died young, was helped through college by Howard, and later worked with Werner Von Braun in devlopment of solid rocket fuels!.
Love those stories {above}. Keep them coming Bill.
BILL WILLIAMSON
Well-known member
The uses for torched out body sections/shapes were endless! Floyd sectioned a "T" bucket for his 3/4 midget, alas! he had NO bustle, (trunk) Cut the roof rear corners from a '30 Model A coupe top, welded them together, VOILLE' a trunk! Bought a heavy small serving tray with a beaded edge, VOILLE'! A trunk lid.
His crosswise mounted Flathead Indian Twin was too wide for the hood, sliced some old headlight buckets, and VOILLE' AGAIN! had beautiful hood side blisters.
Sliced yet another headlight bucket to make a great air scoop over his Stromberg 81 carb. Yes! a Stromberg on an Indian! Chief & I had a midget also with the same engine setup, except we had chain drive, RRR, RRR, RRR, always hopin' that dang thing didn't break & give us a SECOND mouth!!
Tapered drive shafts were a big seller for makin' "BLOOIE" exhaust CANNONS. One guy had an old black, 7 yard long, Buick Sedan that could put CAPONE'S BUICK to shame for great exhaust sound!! It sounded like a cross between a DUESENBERG & a SHERMAN TANK! "Doc" Young used to come by in his 2 passenger Duesenberg Indy Car, with lights, license, etc, with a Zephyr V-12 engine, but it DIDN'T sound like that old Buick!
Wish I could go back to the days of "MADCAP" inventors, IDIOTS chopping tops, and all kinds of stuff that would boggle your minds! Bill W.
His crosswise mounted Flathead Indian Twin was too wide for the hood, sliced some old headlight buckets, and VOILLE' AGAIN! had beautiful hood side blisters.
Sliced yet another headlight bucket to make a great air scoop over his Stromberg 81 carb. Yes! a Stromberg on an Indian! Chief & I had a midget also with the same engine setup, except we had chain drive, RRR, RRR, RRR, always hopin' that dang thing didn't break & give us a SECOND mouth!!
Tapered drive shafts were a big seller for makin' "BLOOIE" exhaust CANNONS. One guy had an old black, 7 yard long, Buick Sedan that could put CAPONE'S BUICK to shame for great exhaust sound!!
It sounded like a cross between a DUESENBERG & a SHERMAN TANK! "Doc" Young used to come by in his 2 passenger Duesenberg Indy Car, with lights, license, etc, with a Zephyr V-12 engine, but it DIDN'T sound like that old Buick!Wish I could go back to the days of "MADCAP" inventors, IDIOTS chopping tops, and all kinds of stuff that would boggle your minds!
Bill W.