Mad scrappers

[tryingbe]

Or maybe, we are dealing with the type of cars that attracts certain type of people...

The type of people that wants everything for nothing or short on cash all the time or wants fast cars with no money or don't understand that somebody else $500 12 second car can not be his daily driver or.... you get the idea.

[22dodge]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tryingbe Or maybe, we are dealing with the type of cars that attracts certain type of people... The type of people that wants everything for nothing or short on cash all the time or wants fast cars with no money or.... you get the idea.

The Quad 4 guys are just about as bad.

[91shelby]

i gotcha, and i know what you mean.

[87glhs]

So, anyone have an '86 Charger or '87 GLHS they're parting out? Need interior parts and a working tranny for the GLHS--

[mmtphoto]

I didn't know about this forum until I got my daytona running after it sat in my garage for four yrs, and have been shocked and saddened finding that these cars are not worth much on the market.

I went to a junkyard to find parts, a junkyard that I have gone to for the past 20 plus years but have not been to in atleast three of four=they had maybe 40 cars, the back used to have hundreds, now it is a completely empty field. After having driven 20 miles to that one, I drove another 30 to another I had never been to-they had a lot of cars, but I can't help but think that, with scrap being worth so much and gas getting crazy, this is going to get worse.

Who knows, everything as we know it with regard to automobiles may be different in 5 years-no gas, or shortages, and a marginal car with parts availablilty problems will only be worth scrap.

[ljbprrfmof]

Not worth much? Check out values for insuring the cars as a classic car.

NADA consumer price guide Classic car tab lists a 1987 Shelby Daytona with a high book of $7500.

The Gold Book from Manheim Auction lists 85 & 86 Shelby Chargers in excellent condition as $6000 and show condition as $9000

You guys are parting out diamonds in the rough.

[mmtphoto]

I am not parting out my 88 daytona shelby z that i have owned since NEW (day before thanksgiving, 1987)-but, walking through an empty field that used to be a junkyard, looking on line (ebay) and seeing what looks like very nice shelby z's not even getting opening bids, much less reserves make me wonder-I know the economy is not great now, and even though these cars are mostly 4-bangers and if you keep your foot out of it, they will get decent mileage even by today's standards, these are not really daily drivers-mine has always been a little temprmental, creaks and groans, out of the blue and weird problems-if crushers are making parts hard to get, what exactly is the future?

My drivers are all kind of interesting, but different-2003 4.0 aurora, 2002 3.5 intrigue, 96 lincoln mark 8-the 2 olds are the real 'drivers' but as they get older they will be retired and I will get other 'drivers'-I do virtually all of my wrenching, and I make it a point if something is wrong, to park it, research and fix it-but the next driver will probably be high economy, low mileage, econoboxes, more mainstream so I won't have to wonder what I am going to do when I can't get parts anymore. I have a 98 Jeep TJ with a 4.0-still relatively easy to get parts for, but limited to when and where to drive it-terrible on gas, a ragtop and thus not real secure, no AC...sometimes I look at New Camrys or Accords and think "maybe"...then I snap out of it...

honestly, I doubt anyone would pay $7500 in today's economy for a 87 Daytona Shelby z-I, right now, do not need to sell it, so it doesn't matter-but a car is only worth what someone will pay for it.

[turbokid]

I can agree with you on some points. The muscle car not too long ago wasn't worth much either. Now in this new gas saving mantality of those feeling tv gas crunch I can only see appreciation in value of these cars in the future. Never been in it for the money on these cars. Its definitely cheaper to pay for repairs on these cars then it is trying to restore my charger(66). I mean I bought a lebaron for 100 bucks with new top, fairly new paint and new tires with a blown head. I put a head, head gasket, rack, all brakes, new vacuum lines, hoses , belts, water pump, fluids and engine wiring and have the car as a dd. That was 2 years ago and I probably hve less than 1000 dollars in the car and get 28mpg in the city! Its been a fantastic reliable car with proper upkeep! If anything sounds funny I inspect it and replace it if need be! If more people took care of their cars and would maintanence the car as it should be maintanenced they can make a fantastic daily driver and weekend cruiser.
THIS CAR WAS LINED FOR THE CRUSHER! Now its prolly worth 3,000 dollars and its a total show car with nearly no work done to it!
Another example would be a week later I bought an 86 laser xt ttop car from the same salvage yard. 63,000 miles, new tires, leather, came with ttop keys and bags, loaded to the gills! Had a rod knock.
Dragged one of the t1 log motors out the back of the yard (where the td's sit) and rebuilt it with forged trw internals (ebay IS AWESOME) for less than 700 bucks! Car runs and drives like a champ
By the time It gets painted I will have a little less than 1,500 bucks in the car! When we pulled the old motor out of the car it had a nearly brand new t1 garret on it!
I mean seriously when I get finished with this car I wouldn't ask for anything under 3,500! Its absolutely solid and a fantastic driver!
THose td's that are gone with rust and bad body I can almost understand scrapping (still makes me cringe) but those cars that are in perfect driving order that go... its just a waste!
Sorry for the long post but I feel very strongly about this subject cause I love these cars and more and more are disappearing!
I want to find an 87 csx and keep it forever cause I just love the car!
That is why I am sorry to hear your crushing... sure money is money... but i love these cars too much to really think that money is my only ambition. Sure I am trying to sell my Lebaron right now but only to buy an 87 CSX!!!!

[crusty shadow]

you know you could at least pull some of the valuable parts then scrap the cars, like turbos, swingvalves , ecu's forged cranks tII rods, intercoolers. someone may not be able to buy the whole car at the moment, but removing the coice parts at least ensures that people can still get ahold of them. and they wont reduce the weight of the car by much at all so you'll still get the cash you want out of scrapping it plus more for offloading the good stuff that people still want. every time i see a steel crank on ebay it gets bid on like crazy. they are usually going for anywhere from 150-250 depending on whos bidding. i know its not worth 150 bucks in scrap. think about it. if you're looking to make cash then do it the right way and pinch every penny out of those cars instead of just being lazy and scrapping the whole thing.
i swear if i had the resources id open up a chrysler only JY, and save some of the older cars as well as make decent cash selling parts and scrap.
reducing the number of cars does NOT make it more valuable. collectors etc will actually devalue a car if its being scrapped frequently, caus eit appears the no one wants them(untrue) and the parts have become harder to find, making the cars less desirable to collect.
anyone wana go in on buying 30 acres with me?

[91shelby]

Thats what i love bout my t2 daytona i get roun 25mpg in the city and up to 33 on the highway and when i wanna go fast i have the power on tap, im soo glad i bought this because driving my 14mpg truck would kill me right now.

[upandgone]

I kind of agree with what 22 dodge is doing. They may be numbered cars and what not and he could save some parts of them, but why? So he can have cranks, turbos, heads and stuff layin all over his garage so that someone can buy them in the future? I wouldnt want my garage full of stuff. Time is money, and pulling individual parts takes lots of time. Just easier to throw junk engines, garbage, and scrap steel into the car and bring it to the crusher. When I worked at a junkyard in mn, I think we sold two 2.2/2.5's the whole 5 years I worked there. The cars sit there and do nothing but rust, not a single interest in any parts on them but maybe an alt or radiator. So why keep them? Think in the ways of a buisness. Would you want products that dont sell on your shelves?

[87glhs]

The problem with most salvage yards is (primarily) in their lack of organization--like maintaining an accurate inventory on a computer for one--as well as a general lack of ambition to actively eBay/advertise parts for classic cars. I'm not saying that they shouldn't cash in while the market is high, that's good business, but most of these guys are complaining about not moving any parts? How much effort does it take to maintain a website these days? It's this whole instant gratification/ADD phenomenom that's taking us down.

Like everything else, the bottom will eventually fall out of the scrap steel market. Best estimate is appx. 2-3 yrs--this is when China is expected to start bringing their new mills on-line and they stop buying steel on the open market (same thing causing high gas prices)--it's then that these guys will realize that their lack of foresight will leave them with nothing left to sell except a lot of contaminated real estate.

So, if you intend to hang on to your classic, you should stock up now. Think about this--a couple of years ago I was able to buy a used tail-light assm from a local yard because Mopar/aftermarket could not supply--now they're gone.

[ljbprrfmof]

"anyone wana go in on buying 30 acres with me?"

You may be able to find an old warehouse cheaper. Put the car on pallets, the pallets on shelves and just pull the whole thing down when you need to get something. That is if you haven't already pulled the parts off and inventoried them.

[turbokid]

we have 28 acres. Probably about 5 acres in the back of our yard is just for older Chrysler. We dont sell a lot out of those cars but we can afford to leave those cars back there. If yards had an appreciation for the older cars ( we have kept older chevy's and fords as well). sure if you are an arrogant moron time is money? But how long does it honestly take an experienced td'er to pull a head. And if you break a bolt off in the block does it matter? If you can afford to store 30 cars a lil stack of parts will not hurt. I would know. I do the same thing with cars and parts. Its not hard

[upandgone]

not trying to be arrogant or piss anyone off, but to some people they have better things to do besides spend a couple hours pulling the parts off. Like I said about the dodge cars, no one really was after anything on them. SO If no one is buying anything, why save it. I wont lie, I have spare parts for my shadow, but thats because I will use them someday. I would pull some parts off a junk car for me, but if no one is gonna show an interest or pay an honest price for my time of taking me away from my other projects or family, why bother for other people who are gonna kick around the bush or lowball you? Im not the type of guy who wouldnt help ya out if you asked me, or If your a dime short for a soda, let you go thirsty even if I dont know you. Its just a couple hours time is something I could be using towards doing something needed around the house. I mean if you got the time and space, great, do it. I wouldnt mind seeing another junkyard open, more the merrier, as some bigger cities see them as an eyesore and are trying to close them. But thats not for me or some people. I have limited space and work a full 45 a week, so my schedual is usually already full by friday so any "bonus" money I could get the fastest (i guess instant gratification) would help me live easier and go towards something I need for another project. This is not only applying to just dodges, but any car the wasnt running or easily fixed would get sent to the crusher if no one was willing to shell out cash to buy it themselves, hell Id even let it go for some less than what Id get at the scrap yard if they did all running to get it gone.

Also lots of yards do have their older cars, but arent where customers could see them. Only time anyone we would let anyone back there is if they specifically asked for a certain car that we had. Its safer to do that then to let someone looking for a corsica gas door or integra dip stick rummage through them breaking things or taking smaller parts of value.