Junkyard Legends

I recently entered the realm of junkyard legends when I picked up a good Miata torsen from a local junkyard for $75. For those that don't know, it can be sold for close to 10x that amount.

I got to thinking what other parts should a junkyard hawk look out for? What have you personally scored?

A pile of airbags, when 240SX people still bought airbags when they needed them, made some coin that way.

Mitsubishi turbo stuff, injectors, turbos, ecu, 4 bolt rear ends.

Maserati BITurbo complete motor, SHO Taurus motor 140 bucks or whatever. I immediately flipped them after some clean up.

BMW E36 Coupe door seals. $350+/- a piece new .....$4.99 ea. at PNP.

Most are trashed but I've managed to snag a spare for each side.

I found a 73 2002 in very good condition, ran perfectly, for $1,000.00 in a Las Vegas yard.

I got a fiberglass covertible boot for a 1972 ponitac, for 30 bucks... and a set of original Cragar SS's for 32 bucks. (the wheels took 2 yards... that is why they were cheap, neither had a full set.)

I got, like, six horns from big Yank Tanks for $5.

What to look for? Find the imaginary 3.308 7" ring and pinion from a B2000. Not the 7.5" version. Just to prove it really does exist.

Wagoneer edition of the XJ Cherokee. Came with a Dana 44 rear. I paid $100 for mine but Jeep guys will pay 5+ times that.

the rear end went out in the chevelle because the guy who put it together(not me) didn't torque the pinion nut correctly and it backed off/bad things happened. i was like oh great how do i find a chevelle rear end without paying out the nose and taking forever. a week later i went to pull a part to get stuff for my astro van and they had a 72 monte sitting there, complete rear axle intact. i lopped the control arms with the sawzall, unbolted the shocks, left the drums because they add to the price, and i had my new rear end for $68 in 20 minutes.

Full size trucks, dana 60 front axle. Sometimes you can get the whole axle for sub 100. then sell it for 800

Standard bore 340 '68 cast date replacement block (no VIN) found in a Dodge van. Wilmington PYP (Los Angeles). He got it for $50, The same guy found a set of 1.18 Torsion bars in a turd brown POS looking '74 Plymouth Valiant 4 door, I got the Wildwood calipers off the same car.

+1 on the D60. if i ever find them i would pull them.

we did score a 9" ford limited slip disc brake rear for $120 at pull a part too.

90-91 Civic EX front knuckles, they let you use Integra brakes on an EF without any grinding or spacers. Not exactly junkyard gold but I flipped a couple sets for a small profit.

'65-66 Mustang fastbacks have a piece of interior trim just below the rear window that's about the size of a postage stamp and held on with a single screw. They were pretty much unobtanium and they were not being reproduced. They were always misplaced during restorations. I bought one out of a nasty car that was for sale by the side of the road for ten bucks.

I never scored anything that fantastic in a junkyard, but I was in one way up in the hills of rural Pennsylvania. Came around a pile of old Cadillacs and face to face with a huge billygoat eating a Bible. It just kept eating the Good Book and staring at me... I thought Satan was going to appear in a puff of smoke and offer me a nice front clip from a '67 Le Mans in exchange for my soul.

There's an article in one of the normal car rags this month about the junkyard in Detroit that had four of the original Autorama dream cars. Hell of a find and a story.

I used to go to you-pull type yards at least once a week for gold to sell on eBay back when I was a starving college student. I may need to do that again...

Hasbro wrote: I found a 73 2002 in very good condition, ran perfectly, for $1,000.00 in a Las Vegas yard.

Which yard was that?? I've never been to one that sells cars whole!

Any part for my 240 because the ricers always get there first.

Found dropped spindles on a truck, sold them real quick on a lowrider forum.

The appropriate 5-speed for an M20 swap into a 2002 from an apparently grey-market E21 320-6.

Not an absolute steal, and I have to thank Ditchdigger for locating them, but finding a yard that was parting a reasonably straight '63 Ranchero body (on a Toyota PU chassis) the same day I found a '63 Ranchero needing quarter panels... Sometimes the pieces just fall into place.

There is a 59 jaguar MK9 for sale at the pick and pull by my house, they want $5k for it though, and large parts of it are made from screen and bondo (and rust), and it has a lot of mystery parts from someone trying to turn it into a hotrod lol. As far as valuable stuff thats cheap at the junkyard, 1976 mercedes 300D intakes are worth ~$200 or so, 67-72 chevy/gmc 4x4 tow hooks are worth a few hundred, 67-72 suburbans have a trim piece by the inside of the tailgate thats is worth $50 or so (radio delete plates, am/fm radios, and gauge clusters with odd additions like tach, vacuum gauge, speed warning, etc from 67-72 trucks are worth $$$ too). Side marker lights from alfa milanos are worth a lot for some reason too.

The internet has changed the junkyard flip. Many yards will check the going rate for parts before giving you a price, so they know what they are looking at just as much as you.

If you can score a 1997-03 Dodge Dakota rear bumper that's rust free and in good shape for around $50, you could flip it for double the money in the Rust Belt or the Northeast. Around here, they become skeletal remains in short order and rust with a force. When I bought my Dakota last year, everyone on Craigslist wanted at least $100 for one. New aftermarket ones were at least $250-300 around here, and that's without any of the hardware, brackets, etc...

I scored both my front and rear bumpers at a local boneyard for under $100.

Nothing too amazing, but when I was working on the '90 Civic DX I pulled everything you could from a set of Integras and a CRX Si for $75. I wound up with complete rear-disc brake conversion, sway bars, shocks, wheels, shifter knobs, brake pads, MPFI setup (mini me swap), electrical connectors and fuses, radio, emblems, strut tower braces...a trunk full of stuff for under $100.

I love junkyards.

All the junkyards within 100 miles from me suck.

Best for me still was my convertible RX7 parts car....

Shortly after getting my (former) '88 FC Vert with its seized engine and rear and damage, I went looking for a new rear bumper for it- and was shocked to find that the only really local junkyard actually had a S4 vert with most of the parts I wanted/needed. After looking it over and making a list of what I wanted (this wasn't a U-Pull-It lot), I went back to the office and asked for a quote for a good-sized list of parts- and added, "And depending on the cost, I might be interested in the engine too," figuring at least it would be good for spare parts when I got into figuring out what was wrong with my car's 13B. The owner thought about it for a short while and then said, "You can have the whole car for $300." I didn't think twice before saying yes and calling up a flatbed to take it back to my place.

When I got into checking it out, I discovered that the engine turned freely and appeared to be compressing properly- and ended up swapping it in and driving on it for several years until I got around to rebuilding my car's original engine. Between the parts I used in fixing up my FC, scrap from the frame (which was unsalvagable before I got it), and parts sold off of it, I made a good bit on it and it got my own car on the road much more quickly than it would otherwise.