Salvage yards

[enjenjo]

I have noticed the whole salvage yard philosophy has changed. They used to be junk yards, with hundreds, even thousands of cars in them. Now days most of them pull all the fast selling parts that are good and store them out of the weather. They pull the parts with core value, and sell them, and what is left goes into the crusher right away. One local yard that used to have a couple thousand cars in it, now typically has 50 to 100 cars waiting disassembly, and that is it. This means that all the little brackets, and widgets that you could find in the yards are no longer there. It has changed the way I build cars.

On the other hand, the younger generation is keeping tabs on what the yards are getting in, and if it;s a model with a following, the info is shared on line, and they waste no time in getting  the hard to find parts off these cars right away.

[idrivejunk]

Perhaps the term "Auto Dismantler" is more applicable to whats out there now. Environmentalists cannot tolerate any large gatherings of obsolete cars, I guess. Our younger generation seems to have fully embraced the Chinese automotive philosophy of "Throw away when break, is no place fix. PlastiDip when fade. Two year old now, buy new." and the "Repair Everything" philosophy we treasured is met with blank stares. Like with chain guns vs flintlocks, we are dead meat. Ain't it nifty?

What grinds my gears is having to special order oil and filters and other simple stuff. I take it as a hint, that I had better find something late model to love. Our hand is being forced into a different way of life. It will become virtually impossible to maintain an old school "sanity preservation vehicle" so I just barely sip on the one I have left.

[idrivejunk]

Well now I feel bad for being doom and gloomy.  

But I drive junk to set an example for the world!

Here are a couple of my slideshows that may help restore one's faith in humanity ... or not. Private stashes are where its at now, shhh.

http://s878.photobucket.com/user/drivejunk/slideshow/vintage%20pontiac%20stash

edit: this second link isn't working right for me currently. You can navigate to "vintage Chevy stash" from the "vintage Pontiac stash" page if it doesn't work for you, just close the Pontiac slideshow and look around on the left side of the page.

http://s878.photobucket.com/user/drivejunk/library/vintage%20chevy%20stash

[Harry]

Up here in British Columbia our auto insurance is run by the province. They write off cars with very little damage. Most can be repaired. Then the wrecks are put up for auction. The junk yards have to bid really high to get cars for their yards. Autobody shops bid high, get the cars and repair them, and sell them for close to retail. The junkyards are disappearing rapidly.