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.

[Hawk258]

If I had the Resources, I would love to open a yard. Though, I think considering the cost and possible loss would make me consider having it as a "Members only" yard. sorta like oregon's bi-mart store chain. You pay $5 to be a member, get stuff at a discount, and your money stays with Oregon (minus the product cost). Though I wouldn't feel comfortable without "SOME" supervision. even if it was just for insurance sake

[shanebo]

There was a junkyard for sale a few years back out east from me. It was fully stocked with cars ranging from the 30's to the early 2000's....somthing like 350 cars....it was just under a million bucks...I would love to have gotten that thing and made it the ultimate man cave....Ill take that over a mansion in the hills any day

[maddog]

There was a junkyard for sale a few years back out east from me. It was fully stocked with cars ranging from the 30's to the early 2000's....somthing like 350 cars....it was just under a million bucks...I would love to have gotten that thing and made it the ultimate man cave....Ill take that over a mansion in the hills any day

X2

[AMC lifer]

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.

When I do get to opportunity to go through a yard that allows me to pull parts, I try to put the car back together as best as it can for others. (e.g. put door panels back on, put dash back in place, etc.)

[shanebo]

I wish everyone did that. When I was at the junk yard a few weeks ago there were 2 guys trying to get a stereo out of the dash of a late model Status, they had used a pry bar to literally rip the entire dash apart ot get it. There was bits and pieces of that dash every where. Granted there were like 12 other stratus' there, but still...its just so wasteful and destructive.

[Hawk258]

Agreed, I wish people would stop and think, "Gee, I am not the only one that needs parts" or "Why break this? I might need it later" A little common sense and personal responsibility goes along way. people would sure think about life if there was a "You break it you bought it" clause.

[shanebo]

Yup, If I had a dollar for every time I went to get a part just to find it had been destroyed by the jerk that was there before me Id have enough money to buy buy another Eagle

[Steve F]

The destruction of cars and parts in the "pick-a-part" lots is probable why more and more of them are not allowing  us to "pick a part" that we need and have to pay more for them to pick it for us. I know of only 1 place in the Mid-Coast area of Maine that still allows you to search for and pick your own parts. You have to provide your own tools (which is a good idea anyway). If they check those that went in with no tools but came out with parts to buy, I would think they would charge them for destroying the parts car since they would be losing money on future parts from that car.

[Eddie Stakes]

At the Houston area pick a parts, www.houstonpickapart.com years ago I would find a 71-74 AMX with rally pack gauges and be dismayed people had destroyed the gauge cluster to get out 4 cent bulbs on back. So here is a 140mph speedometer, fuel, temp, oil, amp and 8000rpm tachometer with clock setup laying upside down on floor ruined. This was for many cars, not just AMCs although no more AMCs at the pick a parts yards here now. But I would go out to the PYP's weekly and pull tons of stuff, it's how I ended up with 22 tons of cr*p. Hated to waste anything. If you google 'altered amcs' there is one of many fils talking about the thousands of aMCs that were crushed here locally. Part of the problem then, and now is 99% of the people at the 'self serve' places know little about removal of a part. Hammers & pliers rule. Want the plastics behind back glass bust it out. Want those torx screws from dash, bust them out. Go ahead and cut the remote cables on mirrors with pocket knife since you didn't bring a 3/8 tool! Grilles easy to break with tire irons and pipes scattered on ground, keep in mind that some of this mentality extends to yard operations due to rules. Here, all gas tanks are yanked and crused before cars put in yard. All oils, fluids drained from engine, trans also. They also cut out many emissions parts like smog equipment, and cat converters too. Not all wrecking yards like that but it depends on ordinances in that state city or county. Happy hunting, Eddie Stakes

[shanebo]

These large chain pull and pay yards really dont care about how valuable these parts are to guys like us, they only care about the money. They could save a few dollars in destroyed parts if they enforced responsible parts pulling, but they would loose double that by having to add many more people on the payrole to help enforce the pulling practices of the customers. What it all boyles down to is they pay scrap value for the car. Sell a few hundred dollars of parts off it and then send it to the crusher and get back what they gave. for it...

[El Matador]

There's yet another prime example of this in my local Pick-n-Pull right now. 

A 1986 Eagle wagon arrived a few weeks ago.  Unfortunately, some neanderthal got to it before I had a chance to pick it over.

He destroyed the dash, and the floor console with gauges.  I'm not even sure what he was after.  Among all of the bits of broken plastic scattered everywhere, nothing seemed to actually be missing.  Apparently he wanted the power window and lock parts, and demolished whatever he had to in order to get them.  Interior door panels were trashed, remote mirror cables were cut, and the wiring harness was hacked to bits.  That last part was particularly irksome because I actually needed that for Vader.

This idiot must have been armed with nothing but wire cutters, a hammer, and a single digit brain cell count.  I did manage to salvage some interior items that survived the massacre, but many good parts were destroyed.

It pains me to think that somewhere in this city is an Eagle owner who is that inconsiderate to fellow owners.

[shanebo]

That always blew my.mind....I haven't seen another eagle on the road for months yet some one always gets to em at the junkyards before I do, usually armed with a hammer and snips. where do these inconsiderate phantom eagle owners come from...you would think as quick as these things get ravaged you would see a few of them around.

[maddog]

i've seen some pretty odd ones before. one of the ones i remember best is when i was looking for a spoiler for my 91 sunbird race car i found one at a local yard but didn't have the money till a few days later and when i went to go get it it was gone but the idiot that grabbed it didn't use any tools to remove it he just yanked it of and ripped out three of bolts from the spoiler leaving them in the trunk . i bet he felt like an idiot when he got home and tried to put it on his car.

[standup650]

You guys are lucky the jacka$$ yards around me crush anything that's not a late model.      plus if the part is 100 bucks new then they want 80 for it with 200000 miles on it. I cant even tell how many times i have said a new one is only 20bucks more and heard in return well buy that one then. Greedy  hole!! And they love to remove with a freaking torch. They torch everything out, thanks i needed the speedo cable heat treated.

[PR1AWRet]

I pulled a nice head liner out for one of my cars and placed it outside until I gathered my tools an got out of the car.  By the time I did that, someone came by to see what I was doing and stepped on the pristine head liner with greasy boots and broke it in 1/2.  Needless to say my Navy side of my vulgarity came out.

[eaglebeek]

I pulled a nice head liner out for one of my cars and placed it outside until I gathered my tools an got out of the car.  By the time I did that, someone came by to see what I was doing and stepped on the pristine head liner with greasy boots and broke it in 1/2.  Needless to say my Navy side of my vulgarity came out.

It didn't take a background in the Navy for me to do likewise when I removed some parts from an Eagle in the pull'n'pay, then went in to pay for them and came back out to the sight of the car along with the parts in the jaws of the crusher

[shanebo]

Theres no worse sight than a car still full of good parts being crushed. I was at a scrap yard a few years back and there was an Eagle wagon along with several other cars in a pile...They wouldnt even let me take the plastic headlight buckets off it.

[Eddie Stakes]

On etiquette, at the Houston Pick A Part yards it is self serve wrecking yards. So you on your own out there. In the 10,000+ AMCs I have seen crushed since 1983...there has not been a AMC ANYTHING in them for 4-5 years. In that time period, there used to be 3-4 rows of AMC cars at the pick a parts, then 2 rows, then 1 row, then mixed in with Chryslers then gone. If you google ALTERED AMCS one of the oldest files comes up off my site about the destruction.

It was depresing to say the least that I would go out to them, all 3 in one day, document the cars, pull 'rare' or 'unique' items off them, then call area AMCers, put in newsletter, even using my own customer base to tell people that these cars had maybe 6 weeks left before crusher. So I would go back out and nothing had been pulled, it was like many people I guess thought there would be this wishing well of endless parts supply forever.

On top of that, you had people that might rip whole 71-74 AMX dash out of car, destroying it, just to get the 50 cent bulb holders in the gauges, something they probably tossed in pocket anyways, but could have easily found in local auto parts stores Help! section cheap.

To make matters worse, the sound of breaking tempered glass always bothered me. This was the workers of the place, minimum wagers who were told to walk around yard and pick up any loose parts, and they would unceremoniously thrown them thru back glass of the nearest car. Granted if it was a brand x or Renualt then no harm no foul, but it didn't matter, if a wheel, driveshaft, whatever laying near that car they automatically assumed it came from that car and wheee thru back glass it goes. While it is all water undre bridge now from time long ago when many AMCs were in junkyards, still bums me out to think about it, especially the low miler cars like 18,000 mile Hornet, or SCCA SX/4 race car, police Ambassadors & Matdors, AMXs, Javelins, didn't matter was all scrap weight to them. Can't save them all you know but too bad so many were wasted to begin with.

[captspillane]

I've seen hundreds of Eagles here in PA junkyards. When I was in high school the junkyard had two dozen new ones every month. I purchased my red Eagle SX4 for $250 from a junkyard for my 15th birthday. Nearly all of the Eagles I saw in the junkyard were in better mechanical condition than mine. It was depressing.

What gives me peace with it is the simple fact that there remains more Eagles in this world than people willing to fix them. I don't care that mythbusters killed two or that dozens still get scrapped every month. If you're willing to spend more than $1,000 on an AMC Eagle than you are among a very small group of people. Half the Eagles left in this world could be scrapped and there would still be enough to go around for us. I only cringe to think about how many Spirit GT armrests or Turbocast rims or other rare parts have been crushed because I'm still on the hunt to get some.

Let's be honest here. The chances of a stock AMC car running for a year without a shorted wire, stalling problem, wierd annoying whistle developing, or some other aggravating problem arising is very low. They were very well designed very tough cheap crummy cars. To own one you need patience, lots of time, lots of money, and a spare car to drive. We are are very blessed in this life if we have the luxury to afford an antique AMC car.