A Message For Parts Vendors

[Norm's Coupe]

This is just a note to the vendors who pick up old parts cars cheap, just so they can part it out to make a few bucks. Not complaining about prices you charge or anything like that. After all, you put out the money and your time to pull the parts off these cars to provide for those who can use the parts. Noting wrong with making a profit for the time and energy spent doing it.

That said, I know for a fact many of you don't make as much as you can off them, because you don't pull everything that can possibly be pulled. A good example is the wheels, brake drums, rear ends, etc. I even know a couple of you personally and know you don't do this. I also realize that you don't pull the wheels, etc. so you can have the car towed to a salvage yard to get rid of the shell. However, you are missing out on several hundred dollars or more in parts by doing that.

You could make a lot more extra money off the parts that come off the chassis also. Of course, then the shell could not be towed away afterward. However, it doesn't take much time or energy to run reciprocating through the remaining body to cut into small pieces, which you can also sell to the salvage yard. Then once the body is off you can get all the running gear off the frame, body mounts, and cross members that could also be sold. If the frame is good, that could also be sold by itself. If not, just use the reciprocating saw again and cut it up and add it to the sheet metal for more salvage prices. Cut it small enough and it'll fit in the trunk or your car, back of your pickup or van, or trailer to haul to the salvage yard, saving the expense of a tow truck coming to pick up the shell.

As mentioned, this would not only give you more parts to sell, but also be a great help to those who seem to always be looking for such parts. In short, don't waste the parts you have. Use them all to your benefit, as well as those who need them.

Removing all that stuff off the frame doesn't take much time either. I know, because I removed all that stuff off a 47 Plymouth chassis I had a few years ago to save for spare parts.

Granted, these are not shinny glory parts, but they are parts, and parts are like money in your pocket when you sell them.

[Young Ed]

I agree Norm. I saved as much as I could from the 2 p15 parts cars I've done. The last one there were a few items I just didn't have room for that went bye bye though. Like the seat frames. I kept the adjusters though. The front doors were iffy so they went and so did 1 back door(all of them minus the guts) I didn't keep anything off the frame really and the engine was pretty questionable since a bunch of water came out of it. I kept the crank in place of a different one I had which had rusty journals.

[PatS....]

Judging by the pics of most yards, they don't even do as you suggest, and miss out on hundreds of dollars in parts.

Not sure why that is. If your in this to sell parts, sell parts!!!!

Good point, Norm.

I got rid of the DeSoto parts car shell, no wheels, drums, A-frames or other parts but the guy came with a tilting flatdeck and winched it on in 3 minutes and it was gone.

[kiwi mopar]

I agree Norm to.

i had a friend who had a 1937 dodge sedan witch he had got for the running gear and doors and trim. he was about to throw it away. i ask if i could have what was left over. he gave me it for free as he said you will have to dump it.

for about half days work i got and sold. fire wall and door piller and the back window fame all to one guy.

and the sold the frame to another person. and the back side of the car from the back door back

end up with a little pile of rust.

work out to be about $100 an hour for 3 hours work.

here in New Zealand parts are so hard to come by. i know of a person who had to make one good door out of 3 badly rusty doors.

[Normspeed]

Norm, your post led me to put up a new thread for some 50 Plym parts. Not worth moving it to me but someone may see a part they could use.

[Norm's Coupe]

  Normspeed said:

Norm, your post led me to put up a new thread for some 50 Plym parts. Not worth moving it to me but someone may see a part they could use.

Norm, I can understand why you may not want to haul those parts with you. But.........then again, you aren't in the parts selling business on a regular basis. That said, wish I was close enough to you, I'd probably snap up those lower control arms if the spring perch was the same size as the P15's. Mine are ok on my coupe. However, when I took them off the extra chassis I had, one of those was almost rusted through. Tells me that could be a problem in the future on anyone's old car. I did keep the bad one though thinking it could be repaired if I needed it later. But..........that's a prime example of the parts that regular vendors probably throw away. If someone really needed one of those it would be hard to find without buying the whole car to get it. Even if the control arm won't fit anything but the 50 Plymouth, that perch may fit some other model and could be removed from your control arm.

What really led to me posting this thread was the recent post by someone looking for rear drums. Started me thinking of just how much vendors seem to waste.

[BobT-47P15]

Back in the 70s or 80s I bought two or three Dodges or Plymouths for parts.

Got things I wanted at the time, then took them to a salvage yard when

done. They would have had a lot of stuff still on them folks are looking for

today....probably in pretty good condition. But, back then, I thought I did

good by getting what I did. There were still plenty junkyards with old cars

at that time. Who could see this far into the future? And I live in town,

not out where one would have space to keep automotive remains.

[Norm's Coupe]

Bob,

I live in the city too. And, like you say you can't get away with a bunch of junk parts laying around the yard, without the city getting after you. However, you can usually hide it in various places. I have a good extra P15 left rear fender up in my attic. Have parts that came off the extra chassis I once had stored in the shed. Also have other small spare parts like the right side P15 dual heater in a cabinet in the garage. If I were to pick up a parts car for more extra parts, I'd put the big parts behind the garage and shed. Then build a tall privacy fence with a roof on top of the fence to hide the parts. Then, plant some shrubs or flowers around the fence. If the city said something about it, I'd just say it's a garden storage shed. Sheds are considered a temporary building, not a permanent building, so no permit needed for it.

That said, with parts becoming harder to get today, we shouldn't throw them out if not needed, as long as they are usable. Even if you don't have room to store the extra parts and don't want the hassle of selling them one by one, you can sell them all at once. Just contact a parts vendor and give him a deal he can't refuse and you could probably get rid of them real fast. At least they stay in circulation that way.