Responsible part pulling.

[shanebo]

I'm not sure where to post this but...Me an Maddog met up today at the 29th street junkyard in Pueblo. Its a great no crush yard has about 10 Eagles and Concords not to mention many other AMC's. He has cars from the early 40's all the way to the present. There is one section that the public is allowed into where you can grab what you want...but then he has the treasure trove!! In this vast area you must be escorted in and you tell the guy what you want and he pulls it for you...you are not permitted to open hoods or really look through the cars ....although Maddog and I did sneak a few peaks. The guy will only sell engine parts if it doesn't run...if it does it must be sold as a complete unit. I guess what I'm getting at is the issue of responsible pulling. These AMC's along with countless other cars including Studebaker's, Hudson's, and a slew of other old cars looked virtually untouched!! Many of these cars have been there since the Late 70's early 80's according to a few legible tags I saw. I found this whole "escort" thing to be a little overboard..but as Me and maddog drooled over all these cars it hit me....the reason there are so many complete and unmolested vehicles there is because responsible part pulling is being practiced. I started to recall all the nice cars I have seen in junk yards just to go back the next day to find they have been  completely mutilated for a single part....Ive seen a perfect door literally ripped from the hinges and demo sawed to remove a door handle....Ill bet in most cases upwards of 50% of a junk yard cars useable parts are destroyed in the careless removal of other parts.

[shaggimo]

  Some of the butchering that goes on in junk yards is most annoying, it's one thing if you break something that's already junk, or accidentally, but intentionally destroying something because it's in your way is another. I went to a u pull it yard about a year ago tht had a couple sx4's I was grabbing parts off, someone had thrown bumpers through the rear hatch glass' on both cars  (not that I needed one, but I would've bought at least one to have on hand). I know of a couple good yards that shut their doors completely due to stuff like this, they didn't want to deal with the bs anymore. Can't blame em......

[El Matador]

Here's another touchy subject for me.  As someone who spends a lot of time in the yard, I know first hand how the concept of "yard etiquette" is lost on 98% of people.

When I'm stripping a car there, I approach it like I'm performing surgery.  I don't break parts unless they're already badly damaged or I know the car is going to the crusher in a day or two.  I don't cut wires unless I absolutely have to.  Before I leave, I gather up any loose parts I don't want and place them inside the car to keep them out of the way, and out of the weather, in case someone else needs them.

There's nothing worse than finding a car with parts you might want, only to discover that some ham-handed neanderthal has destroyed half the dash just to remove a headlight switch.  Or that some near mint door panels have been removed and thrown on the ground, and then stepped on and rained on.  I could fill a full screen with specific examples of what I've seen.

I've also witnessed idiots breaking windows, taillights, etc. just for the fun of it. 

Just imagine if these yards had a way to enforce a "you break it, you bought it" policy.

[85AmCfreak]

I frequent the junkyards In P.A. and I can tell you first hand I know Exactly what your talking about. My friends always ask me "why do you bring so many tools with you" I  teach them the correct way to remove a part they want, not to just rip it out and destroy other parts people may want. I even leave bolts and nuts screws and other fasteners in there correct holes just in case. I have seen some sad cases in the yards Oh what people will do with a sawzall its sad

[jim]

I certainly agree with responsible part pulling.  However, I have seen some yards do some bad things, too, such as destroy body parts with a fork lift and use a torch to get a part off for a customer.

[shanebo]

I never put much thought into it until I saw how nice the cars were that were not available to the public.

[shanebo]

The nationwide chain yards like the pull-n-pay ones seem to be alot more careless with their inventory....especially if its not late model or considered a collectable.

[mojobean]

I've witnessed this as well. While pulling parts myself, as i'm dismantling i'm placing things i don't want nicely towards the rear (when glass is intact) and aware of the 'dirtyness' or cleanliness and weight of what i'm stacking. whats breakable and whats punctureable. Purely so that if there is somehow another AMC lover looking.. they end up with a decent part.
I've returned after some of these outings to find a door panel under the car smothered in oil/grease and used as a tarp so the guy/gal pulling the axle doesn't get himself/herself soiled. And someone pulling an instrument panel who ripped/mangled/sawed a mint dash apart to get the dash gauges out.
it is highly infuriating. HEAR HEAR!! for the responsible part pulling yard etiquette and those that abide/enforce it!!!!

[83Eagle!]

The intentionally breaking crap drives me crazy.  Makes it really hard to get anything nice.  I watched 3 cars get brought in while I was at U-Pull-It today to inspect a mangled SX/4 and find the dog house bolts I need for the motor home.  Less than 10 minutes later a guy went one by one and pried the hoods and the trunks open.  2 of the 3 I could have popped open from inside.  Irritating.  The place 2 lots South does the responsible part pulling, but the owner's a gigantic #$%^&* and his prices are way too high.

[Sunny]

I can 100% agree to this.
One or two of the yards around here have put up signs about no torches/sawsalls allowed in the u-pick yard, but it doesn't stop people.

I've seen some pretty mangled cars to get small parts.
Which as a business idea, doesn't make sense.

The yard lets them damage 500$ in parts, to get a 10$ part.

[shanebo]

Thats so true Sunny!...Thats cash out of their pockets. One 5 dollar door handle sold....a 65 dollar door destroyed...Just doesnt seem right!

[83Eagle!]

I think the one that irritates me is how around here they pry things open instead of actually opening them.  I cannot count the number of times the front ends and hoods are damaged from some guy's pry bar.  I lost a perfectly good XJ Cherokee front clip I needed that way (Still need the grille, headlight surrounds and bumper if anyone has seen one).  There's a mangled SX/4 here at U-Pull-It.  Shattering windows is another thing I don't get.  I have yet to see a locked vehicle at U-Pull-It, even on cars they bring in.  So I do not get why people shatter windows.  Just open the door.

Most of the time I see people pry crap open they just do it and move on; not picking anything. 

[lonestar1947]

I found an SX/4 with the Sport Package in Suffolk, VA back in 1996; I needed a few parts for my Concord at that time.

I was careful about taking the parts I needed off it; then later, I realized what a great car that was, after seeing a few sorry examples of AMC's around Norfolk.

I ended up getting them to sell it to me.

I was so glad I was careful, because I had to put everything back together again!

I still have that car; but back here in Michigan.

[shanebo]

That's a very good point. I once went to get the fan/heater controls from a junk yard. I had a heck of a time getting the face plate off and as much as i wanted to just rip it off I kept my cool and removed it properly....which was a blessing in disguise cuz when I went to remove my faceplate to install my new heater fan/heater control it busted clean in half....so i went back to the junk yard and purchased the faceplate I had so badly wanted to rip apart the day before.

[big_iron]

ive considered opening a lot just for the fact there arent that many close to me. but with all the idiots that do break things im not sure it would be as profitable as they seem with out a mech shop and what not with it.