Scrapyard visiting

[bezzabsa]

First time in ages tomorrow - i'm off on a scrapyard hunt, need a parcel shelf for pinky skoda, and glovebox and sun visor for reddy punto...... not had a good rummage in ages

[stripped fred]

Have fun. I didn't think they let you rummage nowadays.

[Felly Magic]

I know the scrappies around here have all the saleable parts on shelves in a warehouse & containers, you go to the counter & they pick em for you, cars are stripped in another unit, then taken away & crushed at their main site. I think most are like this now due to H&S regs

[Matt]

I know the scrappies around here have all the saleable parts on shelves in a warehouse & containers, you go to the counter & they pick em for you, cars are stripped in another unit, then taken away & crushed at their main site. I think most are like this now due to H&S regs

 

Shite if you need obscure and stupid little things. Thankfully the yards around me aren't like this!

[Wack]

In the 70s I snapped a half shaft in a Mk 3 cortina , apparently 1.6 cortinas don't do burnouts

 

I rang a local scrapyard , yeah we've got one, so I make the 10 mile trip, when I got there it was 5 cars high and he wouldn't get it down , they probably thought it'd be funny watching me trying to get it out

[bezzabsa]

been there done that for some MK5 cortina front headrests...............They don't half hurt when you fall from 4 cars up!!!!!

[mk2_craig]

Scrapyard foraging was one of my FAVE pastimes 20 years ago and I still love it when given the chance. Got banned from my preferred place for a while though, for the heinous crime of smuggling out a few screws and bulbs in my toolbox.

[dave j]

I regularly go to my local yard although it has been for passat and mk4 golf trim parts- they usually have a couple of each down there. Amy parts I take off and buy are usually really cheap!

[sierraman]

I like going to the breakers, for the most part they are the type you go in and dismantle the bits yourself. There’s a few where they have the bits on the shelf but the prices are on the dear side, you might just as well save yourself the inconvenience and buy recon or off eBay.

 

Scrapyard proprietors can be tricky people to deal with. The price is dictated by his mood and whether he likes you or not. If you come across a bit ‘green’ and he thinks your a bit of a novice you’ll pay probably 50% more. Some of them are downright awkward. I can see why though, they get no end of people trying pinching stuff, constant hassle from the plod and dealing with nobheads all day.

 

Forget any notion of getting something for below the going rate. In my experience they know the value of EVERYTHING.

[Guest Hooli]

In the 70s I snapped a half shaft in a Mk 3 cortina , apparently 1.6 cortinas don't do burnouts

 

I rang a local scrapyard , yeah we've got one, so I make the 10 mile trip, when I got there it was 5 cars high and he wouldn't get it down , they probably thought it'd be funny watching me trying to get it out

 

I got the suspension off a XR3i that was three cars up. Did you know that if you pull a breaker bar enough to get the front struts out you also pull the car off the stack? No, nor did I! I'm damn glad it slid the other way & not across my legs.

[D Spares & Tyres]

Any good ones left by you? Saltbrook used to be my favourite til they sold it

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

I can't even find any decent scrappers over here without a bit of lateral thinking........ they don't advertise at all (understandable) and it needs to be word of mouth to find them out in the boonies to where the 'real' scrappers are located. Sadly the local population are over 72% company car drivers so they don't tend to be the scrap yard hunters and classic owners tend to go cheque book charlie on most of them.

 

I've found most of the places by going to the autocross events as the guys tend to drive anything worth running in the events there and advertise on the side....... so finding the yards tends to be almost as much fun as rummaging itself!

 

Miss the old days with my old man hunting down a new rear axle for a Cortina or Viva gearbox, Hunter prop etc.... the amount of times cars got tipped/dropped/slid off the stack was unbelievable. Was always a fantastic day out though!

[richardthestag]

Atkinsons in Colliers Wood, Sarf Lunnun used to be my Saturday!, every Saturday in my formative years.

 

Wondering around looking at shite, clambering up piles, rescuing valuable bits that looked in good shape from Moggies, 105e Anglias and P6 Rovers. The chaps in the office knew me, I never got caught nicking anything and I could get them to haggle, especially if the part was still on the car. 

 

Holidays (when I stopped going with my folks) used to include a scrappy visit. One in Cornwall was a field with stacks of cars around the edges, they were 4 or 5 deep at the base of the pile and at least 5 cars high. stuff in the middle could be seen but not accessed. stuff at the bottom was 50s and 60s fodder but some way past it. Wish I had taken some piccies, spent hours in there wandering around. owner was a bit suspicious to start with but when you go in with details of what you are looking for they tend to relax. 

 

Cornish breakers were a bit Straw Dogs though.

 

Breakers round here are like ECP with glossy shop front and clean overalls. Prices reflect

[tooSavvy]

I cannot believe 16 'top condition' FORD cone/alloy nuts were all mine for £10. And a guy scrambled 'up 4 high' to get me them!

 

.... then I realised = Tyneside :/

 

 

Who said 'no upside'?

 

 

TS

[castros_bro]

My favourite scrappy

 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@41.8182459,-4.5802538,3a,75y,301.99h,96.54t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sMyx6dnepLomieyDUunG0wA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[sierraman]

Going in ‘for a look round’ will get you a response ending with off.

[Snipes]

I remember being 3 cars high, trying to hammer a set of alloys (now known as “bottletops”) that had gotten stuck to the hubs on an e30.

 

They looked nice on a golf.

[Wack]

Scrapyard foraging was one of my FAVE pastimes 20 years ago and I still love it when given the chance. Got banned from my preferred place for a while though, for the heinous crime of smuggling out a few screws and bulbs in my toolbox.

 

 

I knew people that smuggled out all sorts sellotaped to their trouser legs, 70s Oxford bags , you could get 1/2 a car in there until one guy got caught sounding like the tin man as he left, after that they frisked you.

 

There were 2 scrapyards a few miles apart, the 2 owners didn't get on until one of them had an american car in the other one wanted so he rang him up

 

I know we've had our differences in the past but business is business, can we agree on a price for it

 

sure we can

 

so they agree a price and he comes over to collect it , when he gets there it's been picked up by the grab through the roof and is dangling mid air outside the gate

 

Ok where do you want it

[Wack]

My favourite scrappy

 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@41.8182459,-4.5802538,3a,75y,301.99h,96.54t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sMyx6dnepLomieyDUunG0wA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

 

About 10 years ago I had to take an axle to an army base in Yorkshire, it was right the other side of the base, I was utterly astounded how much gear they had, all kinds of military vehicle from tanks to personnel carriers but dozens of each all lined up , some in desert camo but most in green, I just stood starting at it thinking, this is one base in one county and there's 100s of millions of £££ here

 

Imagine the world we could have if  this budget could be spent elsewhere worldwide , no famine , much less tax so we could all have a better life but it'll never happen because politics 

[bramz7]

Harry Bucklands is the best yard I've ever been to. No staff harassing you, good prices and an insane amount of older stuff processed.

[DaveDorson]

There's a great scrapyard near me, Seaton Station, near Uppingham.

 

Used him for years, knows my family, is mega cheap, and sometimes has interesting chod in.

[tooSavvy]

Backworth...

 

TS

[mk2_craig]

I got the suspension off a XR3i that was three cars up. Did you know that if you pull a breaker bar enough to get the front struts out you also pull the car off the stack? No, nor did I! I'm damn glad it slid the other way & not across my legs.

Fond* memories of removing a towbar from an ex taxi Mk2 Mondeo three cars up, while standing behind it on the oily/muddy bonnet of a Rover 800 two cars up. On my own. And the bolts were hardly finger tight. At least someone else had helpfully removed the bumper first.

[Mr A Lawrence]

Jacksons in queensferry let you wander about and have a few chod pieces in there.

 

There's a Citroen AX and the remains of a TR7 plus a few older bits.

 

They only stack 2 high too.

[bezzabsa]

well got most of what I wanted..Glove box. ashtray and sunvisor for the Punto.

Bugger all for the Felicia but also managed to get a parcel shelf for a mates Megane scenic..

All picked by out fair hands.....in borrowed Hi viz jackets (WHY????) 

 

and I also 'found a few things in my tool bag after.. *cough cough* 

[bezzabsa]

Any good ones left by you? Saltbrook used to be my favourite til they sold it

used to use them for years..Tiggys as the locals called it....had a complete dolomite dashboard years back for £10

 

then 2 years ago wondered in for a few bits for My Mondeo estate...came away with 4 door cards, full Leather interior, chrome grill, up specced dash etc for £80

 

shame he got burnt out a couple of times before he sold it..........still think it was another yard that did it...competition and all that!!!

[strangeangel]

While I totally don't subscribe to all that 'it was better in the olden days' honk, it must be said that scrap yards are a notable exception.

 

Grestys in Old Trafford (the only reason I would ever be found in Rag territory) RIP M9.

[omegod]

You'll struggle to beat Mallie in Haydock, absolute gem of a fella with a yard that's knee deep in mud in the winter and fucking lethal all year round 

[Pillock]

I found the best way to get a "look around" was to ask about something to fit something else.

Like, "I'm building a kit car and I need some seats with runners 25.6 inches apart and bolt holes every 2 inches"

 

They won't want the arseache of measuring stuff so generally let you in to find them yourself.

 

At which point you leave empty handed after 3 hours, but with an entire Zetec engine in your sock.

[Chris2cv]

There used to be a few in Croydon that i would go to when I was first running the 2cv, on virtually no money. I amassed quite a stock of heater pipes, window catches and similar tat that was often no better than what i already had, and is probably still in the garage! I often used to nip in during breaks betweern college lectures with my massive college bag, occasionally being accused of nicking stuff at Honest Brothers (not appropriately named, now a Mcdonalds) I could always prove that there was only college stuff in my bag. Of course if they had looked in my many coat pockets ............

 

  On a linked subject, I had about three hours between lectures one day, so nipped to the breakers and returned via the centre of Croydon, weighed down by a set of rubber mats (full carpet size), hoses and God knows what, when I saw that Spike Milligan was appearing at W H Smiths. The great man saw me and said "Well he clearly can't afford to pay these prices" and handed me a signed copy of his latest book! The manager was clearly not pleased, so I thanked Spike and got out of there quick. I was (and am) a fan and have most of his books, and this meant a lot. 20+ years on, that book is only a few feet from me now.