Hi Everyone,
Yesterday my son Sean and I visited two Pull-A-Part yards in Cleveland which is aboout 160 miles North of here. I have nothing but good things to say about the places. They are clean, well organized and the people there were great. Compared to the junkyards I've been to in my past 50 plus years of rooting for parts, they are light years ahead in every way including down to Earth prices. None of the Stab-In-The-Back opperations can touch these guys. The yards were completely level and covered with crushed and packed limestone. They have a place to wash up, all the doors are automatic and they have spacious paved parking lots.

I have posted a few pictures on my www.Darkside53.info webpage or CLICK HERE to go to the immediate page.

Today is the last day of my son's visit. Tomorrow he heads back to Atlanta. I know I am really going to miss him a lot. It's been a really great week with him. I can't wait until the next time we are wrenching together. Maybe I can get down there and help him with his '53 soon.

Later Folks...

 

I called all three of those types of places here in the Omaha area... Every one of them laughed when I asked if they had a '49 Ford in the yard.

 

Some of them actually do have some older vehicles down South. Birmingham, AL had some old Ford trucks. However, you are right, for the most part there will not be anything older than '80s stuff. I saw mostly '90s stuff. I don't go to Pull-A-Part for the old stuff. I'm a Darksider and I go there to get stuff to moderrnize the old stuff.

Later Man...

 

<o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com<img src=" http:="" images.ford-trucks.com="" forums="" images="" smilies="" redface.gif="" border="0" alt="" title="Embarrassment" smilieid="3" class="inlineimg"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <wontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]>******** classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id=ieooui>*********> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> One of my joys as a teenager was visiting the junk yards and rummaging for parts. Some treated the junk as gold and would not allow you in the yard whereas others did. Lady Bird Johnson was responsible for the Beautification Act of 1965 and soon after many of the junkyards began to disappear. All the junkyards in the <st1><st1:city w:st="on">Pittsburgh</st1:city></st1> area where I grew up are now gone.
<o></o>
There may have been a “grandfather” clause as some of the old, classic junkyards still exist. While living in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1>Richmond</st1></st1:city> I moved before visiting the Philbates junk yard, a classic for old iron. There’s something about recognizing a car/truck of your childhood with just a glimpse of a body part.

 

I've toured our Pull-a-part in Memphis. We did have one early sixties F100, but the motor was gone when I 1st saw it. I almost bought the motor and trans out of a 97 Cougar that showed 93K on the odometer, but I didn't. I spent too much time deciding on keeping fuel injection or removing all of it and going with a carb. Looks like the prices are unbeatable compared with other yards here in Memphis, but I don't know how I'm going to get it unbolted and out to my truck!

 

I'v been by the one in Memphis a few times myself looking for seats. Be a while before I need the seats which allows me to be picky. I like pull a part myself everything is set up in sections instead of being everywhere.

 

The one on 60th & Q WOULD laugh!

~Jason

 

I visited my local Pull-A-Part last week looking for a drive shaft for my 55. The yard was as previously described, very neatly arranged, all cars up in the air where you can get under them, graveled yard and really great prices compared to some of the other local yards. Going into the yard you tell them what you are looking for and they give you a printout giving locations where you will find that type of car.

Spent a couple or so hours crawling under cars measuring driveshafts. Found three shafts that were exactly the size I needed, but guess what, every driveshaft that I looked at was bent. As I found out later, they pick up all their cars with a fork lift and that bends the driveshaft. Wasted my time, but I still enjoyed looking around. I was surprised to see some older models in the yard, a 66 chevy pickup, 68 cutlass, and a few others that I don't recall.

I did find a driveshaft that day. A long time hot rodding friend checked his stash of driveshafts and came up with exactly what I needed. A little cleaning, pressed in the universals and it's ready to go.



Maybe a little paint might be in order!!

Andrew

 

Cool Andrew, hey did the storm do any damage over your way today?

 

Wandering junk yards is as much fun as wandering a big hardware store. You never know what you might find: some things that you can use and some that are just interesting to look at.

 

I gotta say, I've never been to anything but a pull a part yard, ever since I was in my teens, I've always enjoyed a day at the junk yard.
I will say the yards around here are not as nice as decribed above, but very reasonably priced, and no real big problems pulling your parts, except may certian times of the year.

 

Hey Donald,

No, we escaped with only some pea sized hail and a lot of rain. I didn't realize how bad it got until I turned on the radio and heard how hard Murfreesboro has been hit. Did you have any damage? I thought about you when I heard about the tornado. A real shame about the young mother and daughter that lost their life. Mother Nature can really show her nasty side in an instant.

Andrew

 

This type of yard is over due, IMO. Unfortunately, we don't have one in our area yet.

The existing junkyards that still have some old iron, at least around here, have nothing left but useless rusty wrecks that at one time had many usable parts. If these old yards had instituted a plan like the modern pick and pull lots they would have been able to sell the parts when they were still usable and they also would have had a lot more money in their pockets.

There's a yard in NW WI I've been to and it seems like most almost everyone in this part of the country knows the place, and it's owner. He's probably in his late 60s, early 70s. His yard still has a pretty decent supply of old parts but he thinks everything he has is plated in gold, in his words, "They don't make 'em anymore." Duh, they're old cars and trucks. If I was him I'd open my yard, make a menu list of parts and their cost, like the pick and pull places, and clear the place out before he no longer around and his kids get the nightmare of getting rid of the place.

I only wish some one had come up with the pick and pull concept 30-40 years ago.

 

Hey guys. I recently discovered Pull a part up in cleveland. Wow. I have to agree with the OP, this place is amazing both for their selection but for their prices. I wish it were not 2 hours away from me.

The question is, are their any good parts places in Pittsburgh? Or even a 4 hour radius. I'm really trying to find the 4.0SOHC motor from a 98+ exploder or 04+ Ranger to swap into my 98. So far everything I find at pull apart has a jillion miles or has had something like the heads removed.

 

I'm about 3 hours South of the Cleveland Yards. I do know what you mean about the engines. You can get on a notify list with them to let you know when one comes in that you want. When I look for enginse I check the local Buy, Sell and Trade pubs for vehicles being sold or parted out by individuals. It is often easier to buy a whole vehicle to get and engine or drive train part. You can sell off or junk the rest of it.

Later Man...