When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Just thinking how many salvage yards I frequented growing up.
They were my favorite shopping place and I couldn’t have survived without them. This one place knew my Dad so I generally got a better price there, but he had a way, didn’t want to be hurried. I would gather my parts together and take it to the front “office”. Then sit on one of the seats there that was taken out of a car, and visit with him for awhile. We’d talk about anything and everything. He’d put a weed straw in his mouth and I’d do the same. After a while, we would agree on a price. Miss those days.
Now I only live about 5 miles from several salvage yards but they don’t have the old stuff anymore, and what they do have is expensive and non-negotiable.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C1 of Year Winner (performance mods)
2017 Corvette of the Year Finalist
2016 C2 of Year
2015 C3 of Year Finalist
They are a thing of the past in Mass. I loved going to Central Salvage in Needham, Mass when I was a kid.
They all became Superfund sites earmarked for cleanup as they felt that they polluted the ground water.
At least you still have some in Texas.
Some of the yards I frequented in the '80s are still here in Los Angeles, but the cars are vastly different. We still have several Pick-Your-Part yards where you do the removals, as well as yards where they just sell parts and the public is not allowed to roam. Obviously, I prefer the former.
the neatest junk yard I frequented as a youngster was Floyd Richardson's in bennettssville, SC. old Floyd had hundreds of c-1's and maybe 50 c-2's .. Some of the c-1's had been there long enough for trees 6" in diameter to grow out of their engine compartments. that was about 1970. I needed a radio for a recently acquired 57 vet. I bought one for $35. the wife and kids and I would stop at Floyds after our yearly camping trips to Hunting Island off the coast of SC. Towards the end, Floyd lost part of his foot to diabetes. I later learned he died and his junk yard was bought by someone in the northeast. was said to have taken MANY tractor trailer loads to clear the salvage yard of corvettes and parts. He had a 53 vet and 55 vin#1001 in his work shop. they weren't for sale (and I couldn't have afforded them anyway). His rollback truck he used to haul old vets to his yard was unique: its truck cab had been removed and a 56 or 57 corvette body was fastened to the truck chassis.
Just last year, I passed the fields where Floyds junk yard was located. only hay grows there now. mike mccagh
My favorite yard in eastern PA was a “You Pick It”. I had a basic, lightweight tool kit I would take with me into the yard. Periodically, they would have a $25 all you can carry Saturday. We would pay our $25, find a hood from a 70’s land yacht, and pile all our parts on it, dragging it up front. Quite entertaining and I still have some of those parts. When I built my ‘54 Studebaker Champion, I stripped an ‘81 Firebird of its steering column, brake pedal assembly, MC, and booster. I also got a couple front seats, matching backseat, and center console. All for $25!
I miss those days, but not the scar I still have on my right hand from a jagged piece of rusty steel or the many tetanus shots.
the neatest junk yard I frequented as a youngster was Floyd Richardson's in bennettssville, SC. old Floyd had hundreds of c-1's and maybe 50 c-2's .. Some of the c-1's had been there long enough for trees 6" in diameter to grow out of their engine compartments. that was about 1970. I needed a radio for a recently acquired 57 vet. I bought one for $35. the wife and kids and I would stop at Floyds after our yearly camping trips to Hunting Island off the coast of SC. Towards the end, Floyd lost part of his foot to diabetes. I later learned he died and his junk yard was bought by someone in the northeast. was said to have taken MANY tractor trailer loads to clear the salvage yard of corvettes and parts. He had a 53 vet and 55 vin#1001 in his work shop. they weren't for sale (and I couldn't have afforded them anyway). His rollback truck he used to haul old vets to his yard was unique: its truck cab had been removed and a 56 or 57 corvette body was fastened to the truck chassis.
Just last year, I passed the fields where Floyds junk yard was located. only hay grows there now. mike mccagh
Surprised anything grows there. I remember many pools of motor oil about.
My favorite yard in eastern PA was a “You Pick It”. I had a basic, lightweight tool kit I would take with me into the yard. Periodically, they would have a $25 all you can carry Saturday. We would pay our $25, find a hood from a 70’s land yacht, and pile all our parts on it, dragging it up front. Quite entertaining and I still have some of those parts. When I built my ‘54 Studebaker Champion, I stripped an ‘81 Firebird of its steering column, brake pedal assembly, MC, and booster. I also got a couple front seats, matching backseat, and center console. All for $25!
I miss those days, but not the scar I still have on my right hand from a jagged piece of rusty steel or the many tetanus shots.
I remember this one yard had a young woman working there. I was kinda shocked, never had I seen a woman working at a salvage yard! She was amazing, knew where every part was out there in the yard. Knew what part fits what and what was interchangeable. My kinda gal!
St. Jude Donor '09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-'18-‘19-'20-'21-'22-'23-'24
Originally Posted by 59BlueSilver
I remember this one yard had a young woman working there. I was kinda shocked, never had I seen a woman working at a salvage yard! She was amazing, knew where every part was out there in the yard. Knew what part fits what and what was interchangeable. My kinda gal!
How times have changed! I went to a FLAPS a while back, woman behind the counter ( a "manager" no less) had trouble finding the number in the computer. After a while she said "Sorry to ask, but who makes Corvette?" When I said Chevy, she brightened. "Oh, OK, no wonder, I've been trying to enter it as a Pontiac".
I'm sure liability (of course pricing) has allot to do with no more pick your own.
Cuts, parts fallng and even cars shifting would be an injury lawyer's dream.
I'm sure liability (of course pricing) has allot to do with no more pick your own.
Cuts, parts fallng and even cars shifting would be an injury lawyer's dream.
I'm sure liability (of course pricing) has allot to do with no more pick your own.
Cuts, parts fallng and even cars shifting would be an injury lawyer's dream.
We still have one in Omaha, U Pull-It, and they have two different yards.
They even provide engine hoists for free. No old stuff though...
My favorite yard in eastern PA was a “You Pick It”. I had a basic, lightweight tool kit I would take with me into the yard. Periodically, they would have a $25 all you can carry Saturday. We would pay our $25, find a hood from a 70’s land yacht, and pile all our parts on it, dragging it up front. Quite entertaining and I still have some of those parts. When I built my ‘54 Studebaker Champion, I stripped an ‘81 Firebird of its steering column, brake pedal assembly, MC, and booster. I also got a couple front seats, matching backseat, and center console. All for $25!
I miss those days, but not the scar I still have on my right hand from a jagged piece of rusty steel or the many tetanus shots.
Harry's U pull It in Hazleton, Pa still going strong and they now have 3 locations
I'm sure liability (of course pricing) has allot to do with no more pick your own.
Cuts, parts fallng and even cars shifting would be an injury lawyer's dream.
I dunno about that--we still have pick your own junkyards in TX and get this--they charge a fee per person to go in and look. I went to one to find a replacement rim for a teenager's Mitsubishi and he and I both went to the junkyard. When they said the fee was per person, I told the teen, "I'm gonna sit right here, you go look and text me pictures of the wheels you find, and I'll tell you which one looks good".
Rich Industries in Raytown, MO, used to be exclusively corvettes and had a back yard full of wrecked corvettes........they also worked on them IIRC. I bought a hardtop from them in 1970/71 for for my 1962, while attending UMKC. Car cost me $750 and so did the hardtop. Made a world of difference in comfort, as it was my daily driver in winter. Sometime in the 70's, Rich changed to import car salvage and became much larger and is still in business today.
The HS junk yards in the 60's were great. Bought engines, fenders, bumpers, taillights and a 63 SS interior (buckets) for my 60 impala. The big fad back then was making all 6 taillights on a 1958 and up Chevy work as brake and TS lights. Junkyard was the only way to go for those.
Back in the 60's when I was in my teens and building hot rods, junk yards were my favorite haunts. They had no computers back then, every part seemed to be in the owners or managers head. They knew where most all the parts where magically. You had to bring your own wrenches and screw drivers and such to retrieve your parts. Unless, you needed something from the bottom of a car pile. Then, of course, the heavy equipment would come out, plus the cutting torches. Those were the good old days!
11-01-2022, 09:17 AM
Salvage Yards
