Describe it, show it and tell us if you used it on the truck. It don't even gotta be a truck part.....just something real cool. Maybe even something like toilet seat hinges.....

See since I don't have a lot of spare time to visit the local purveyor of forgotten treasures I thought I would maybe try and live vicariously through some of you folks.

 

my '48 F1 originally came from the local junkyard, as well as my '66 bronco, and '62 Meteor. He has a '56, several 48-50's and a couple 51/52's. Short of the obvious: Cudas and other muscle cars, he has just about everything old...and rusted. He has a few restored Falcons as well.

PS: I've heard good things about Windy Hill outside the twin cities for old parts, too. http://www.windyhillautoparts.com/

 

My best find was my panel, I'm having the timr of my life trying to make it work again. lol

 

As I'm probably the only Ford guy in our town, I get stuff nobody else wants. I had my wrecker guy call me and tell me he had a '93 Cougar that was burnt for $100. Needless to say I bought it!! It has IRS and a good HO 302 and AOD trans That's probably my best find lately. As far as some of my best deals, I bought my South Bend 16" Metal lathe from a local machine shop that had it forever for $650, and I bought my Cincinnati vertical mill for $250 from the same guy. He even delivered them!! Then I had to build a rotary phase convertor to run them, since they are 3phase. Now I have some real good stuff!! I love my shop!!!!

 

I have been savaging junk yards since I started working on my F-2, 25+ year ago. I have found quite a few good deals.

I needed a backing plate for one front wheel and brake drum for the other. I went to a junk yard that at the time had a lot of old iron and an old time owner. I told him what I needed and headed on back to take a look. I got back by the old Fords and turned a corner to find a F-2 with the front right corner up on a block and the backing, with drum, hanging from the truck only by the brake hose. I found a piece of glass, cut the hose and was on my way for $25.

A couple of years ago I went to a junk yard up north, about two hours away, and found quite a bit of old iron but the owner thought everything he had was gold and didn't want to sell anything. I did manage to buy the stainless trim for the '48-50 for $50. It was absolutely perfect except for some tarnish. It was protected by a grill guard. I also got a vintage tack out of a '51 F-7 dump truck for $25, complete with the sending unit. I don't know if it works but it still looks cool.

This isn't really a junk yard find but the guy I bought it from had a yard that looked like a junk yard. I bought a complete Ford script flatbed for my F-4 for $200. The metal frame only has two small rust outs and two shallow dents. The guy had it on a '57 Ch**y truck and didn't want it on there. What amazed me was it had ever single piece of hardware on it. The wood is pretty much rotted and as I took it apart to load onto a trailer the wood on the sides just disintegrated, I don't know how all of the hardware stayed on with all the wood being so rotted, I guess I just lucked out.

 

My favorite junkyard find was years ago. A car had overturned, and burnt to nothing. All the pot metal, and aluminum had melted, down to the roof, and then puddled. It looked like rivulets streaming to a large lake a the bottom. Hard to describe, had to see it. It was about 4' X 3'. Hung over my fireplace and various walls over the years, but alas, fell once and broke all the "arms" off...just wasn't the same after that.

R

 

Not really a find today but the one I can,t forget from the past that I passed on at the time. Just out of highschool and had a 56 2dr post ford. In the wreacking yard I used the man had just hauled in a 56 crown-vic white over black with the wide chrome band across the roof I would have bought it but thought $300.00 was to much and he would not come down on it. Heres where I start kicking myself in the b**. Mark

 

2 NOS 1957 E Bird dual quad aircleaners. Paid 40 bucks for the pair. Sold both for over a grand each. That was 30 yrs ago.

Same time frame, same yard. 500 Ford NOS w/shield washer kits. Paid 2 bucks each.

A case (1000) of NOS Ford red Sea Clear w/s washer bags, which fit 1962/64 Fords. This was before anyone made reproductions. I paid .50 cents for the bags each...sold them for as much as 20 bucks each. Those were the days....long gone.

All these parts had been at the Long Beach CA Ford assembly plant..when Ford moved to production to Pico Rivera, they scrapped tons of parts....The scrap yard is where I found the parts.

 

Cougar Tilt/Swing Away Column for my 29 A Sedan..... $30 buck-a roos

 

RC - that sounded like it was a pretty cool blob....like a one of a kind piece of art....who knows maybe there was a piece of Art (the guy driving the car) in there.....

Bobj - it sounds as though the backing plate knew you were comming.

ND - Is that where you got your start selling NOS parts?

Keep the Junk Yard finds comming.....

 

A blacksmith friend of mine went to the junkyard to buy steel to build an air powered forging hammer. When he got there just inside the gate was a very nice 100 pound Little Giant power hammer that someone had just droped off. The Little Giant was much nicer than a homebuilt hammer. Needless to say, he gave up on the air hammer idea. A deal like this only comes around about once in a lifetime, for 1 out of every 10 people.

 

I found this jack rusting in a field while looking at old cars. The owner let me have it for $5. It is VERY heavy. Added oil and it works! But after sitting a few days, it leaks oil all over the floor. Not bad for sitting in a field for 15-20 years. I think it is a 4 ton Atlas.
John
NNY

 

While I haven't had any great finds but last year I went to the local do it yourself junkyard and found a 74 Torino. Popped the hood to find a 351W, I was like "Hell ya". I grabbed the heads for $45. They are one of the better factory heads (D0OE). I then rebuilt them at school for $150.

 

When I was still in NV, my friends and I went to the wrecking yard to check on getting the old single wide hauled off. They said no, but we ended up short chaining a 53 F-6 that had been swapped to a Y-block back for $300 bucks. We rigged the ignition, and threw some fuel to her, and she fired right up. Had brakes, clutch, and air on the tires. Perfect. We hooked her up to the single wide, and Iwent for a wild ride down the side of a hill. It was awesome. He screwed up and got involved in some bad
s!@#, and ended up losing the property and everything on it, including the '53.

 

No, I started selling NOS in 1964. I found the scrap yard in 1967. The first swap meet I attended was the Long Beach Ford Model T Club meet held (then) at Southern Park in South Gate. At one time, this was the largest swap meet on the West Coast.

But all the parts I bought at that scrap yard sure boosted my inventory!

Keep in mind that while I was selling at swap meets, I was also a Ford partman at a dealership (1962/97).

btw: That scrap yard = there are still tons of goodies there today.

Anyone need a pair of NOS front fenders for a 1957/60 F700? How about a 1966 Bronco soft top roof kit, or a Lincoln Mark II rear bumper, or a .... They're still there.