The one that got away

[sumrof75]

Played hookie from work on Mon, to go part picken with a buddy of mine. At a local pick-a-part I found a 77 supreme in pretty good condition. Looked it over and decided to finish scouting the yard to see what else they had. Found the other 442 I missed at the auction a few weeks back and worked it over a bit. When I get back to the 77 the row was nearly cleared out, the 77 was two cars from the forks. I did a panic look, debating the window sweeps and then the guy with the big fork lift sprinted it away. With hopes they would see little was missing they would restage the car (thats how the other u-pick works). Left for a bit and returned to find out the car was already crushed! I wont go into what was good on the car, let it be said had I known I would have spent some serious time in disassembly, assuming as long as I am working on it they wont take it? Lesson learned, and I found a yard I need to keep a closer eye on.

[2blu442]

Been there before! I was pulling interior parts out of a 1972 Skylark as the forklift was picking up the car on the left and the right! I wish scrap metal prices wern't so high, a local yard called u-pull-it just finished crushing everything they had! My other wish is for 20 acres in the country and a huge barn to store all that treasure!!!
John

[texxas8902]

I have a saddle console and had a set of 77 Supreme grills that I pulled from a Cutlass about 5 or 6 months ago that was brought to the yard, drained of fluids and then put in line to be crushed. Not even going to be in the yard one whole day. I don't need the console and didn't need the grills. I sold the grills on eBay for around $50, they were nice and I'll list the console sometime soon when I get the chance. I would have gotten the front turn signals and the strato bucket seats if I'd have had the time. I know the yard owner and asked him to keep from crushing it a few days and he said no problem and marked it to save. Went back 2 days later and it was super flat and stacked and wrapped with the other cars. Crusher guy says he didn't see the SAVE on the windshield. They must have crushed it just enough to crack both turn signals. Front bumper was still nice. Everyday there are less and less of our cars left.

[ragz442]

A few [at least] years ago I went to a local yard for the hell of it. Needing some small misc console parts etc. and usually never seeing anything, I didn't have my hopes up. I spot a 73 Cutlass Supreme in decent shape, and figure no way it has buckets/console. I get up to it and cha-ching, this thing had every little stupid thing I needed, all in really nice shape. I look it over, and it still has the stainless opera window trim on it :D . I pop it off, put all the little console parts in my pocket, and go inside for the damages on the ss trim. Guy says $20, of course, I paid the man. When I looked it over initially, I also realized it had all 4 wheel well mldgs in perfect shape? :) . Not owning a 73-75 I didn't pull the ww trim, but figuring I could get a great deal on them, I went back the next day to snag em, car was crushed :( .

FWIW, I sold the opera trim to Olds Thunder off the yahoo list for $40, should have kept them, but thought I'd help out a fellow Forgotten Year owner ;) .

Damn texx, we posted at the exact same time..........whatada odds?

[zodiacblue442]

Most yards in CO are crush happy too. I have seen a BUNCH of really nice `73-`77 Cutlasses get smashed. The yards go after the early `70's to early `80's American iron first because it weighs the most. Heck, a `73 Olds 98 Regency probably weighs what 2 1/2 Toyotas do!

Back when I was gathering parts for my `73 442, (summer of 1998) there was a Wedgewood Blue `73 S (350 car) that came into a yard I go to occasionally. Other than a tweaked left front bumper guard and a weathered vinyl top, this car was perfect. I know I could have put gas in the tank, put a battery in it, and it would have fired right up. Next to NO RUST (what I wouldn't give for those rear quarters now!) Obviously it was an elderly persons car, the car got donated to charity, and sold at auction for scrap. I was able to get a bunch of stuff off the car for my 442, (interior parts, trim, lenses, bumper jack, bumpers, etc.) but I wish I would have gotten more. Here's the kicker... along with the owner's manual and other paperwork, there was a receipt in the glovebox from 1973 that showed a warranty repair at the Olds dealership where it was purchased. Seems the car had a cracked transmission case and was leaking fluid. The owners manual and all the paperwork looked like it was in a time capusle in show condition. The manual, etc. is now in my 442. Oh, believe it or not, the spare tire had never been on the ground! Still had the rubber "bristles" on the tread and the green coating on the whitewall, mounted on an NOS rim! I bought that too and sold it on ebay. Didn't get much for it, but the guy that bought it was happy to have it for his restoration.

Later, there was a `74 Supreme w/ 455 at the same yard, another old person's car donated to charity and sold at auction. It was almost as nice as the `73. This `74 Supreme was the light milky green color with black interior. I don't really care for the green but the car was in really nice shape except for some action on the right front fender. I pulled the exhaust manifolds, the driveshaft, the steering wheel (that's on my 442 now), and some other parts. Went back the next weekend to get more, and the car was gone.

Moral of the story, if ya see it, make time to get it then! It's amazing what gets junked out there. :( In most of the CO junkyards these days, it's uncommon to see anything older than late `80's cars. All this crushing has taken it's toll on trying to find parts for our cars. :mad:

[texxas8902]

Okay did you see a trend there? I attend those charity auctions when I can afford it and have the time.
In the last 5 years or so I have bought these cars at charity auctions and missed or tried to get dozens more.
76 Olds 442 $900, still have it.
75 Cutlass Salon, $125 sold after a week for $1100. Every plastic piece in it was so sticky from leaching softeners in the plastic that I couldn't get it to clean up with degreaser or detergent or anything I tried.
74 Olds Cutlass Supreme $475, sold for $1450 about a week later.
73 Ford Bronco $950, sold after 5 years for $5600.
77 Pontiac Grand Prix $400, sold after a month for $1100.
84 Mercury Capri $125, sold for blue book at the time a week later, $1650(at the auction it had a bad harmonic balancer, the rubber was gone and the outer metal rim would move back and hit the front of the block in a way that sounded just like a rod knock, fixed it for $10 bucks and the car had 43,000 one owner miles):D
67 Olds Cutlass Supreme, $900, still have it.
67 Olds Cutlass convertible, $2500, still have it.
68 Dodge Charger $900, sold for $3800 a month later.
84 Toyota Cressida $125 sold for $1200 a year later.
76 GMC Sierra 3/4 ton truck, $1200 sold after 2 years for $1500.
73 Buick Centurion Convertible, 455, $250, sold after 2 weeks $1300
63 Buick Le Sabre, $125, used in the movie JFK, sold after a week $1100.
76 Cadilliac Talisman Sedan De Ville, $125 sold for $1750 to a local Cadilliac restoration guy who put a windshield and bumper fills in it and sold it for $7500. Biggest car I ever saw that only sat 4 people because of some funky front and rear consoles. Pretty rare car.
67 GMC 1/2 ton truck, $400 sold for $850 a couple of weeks later to a young guy and his grandpa who restored it and it looks great.
There have been other I am forgetting about and I see many of the cars at these auctions go to scrap yard buyers, and then I see them later in the yards.
I recently bought and sold a 78 Cadilliac Seville that I bought at the wrecking yard for $700. It had been donated and then sold to the yard. It was triple yellow, one owner and hadn't run in 2 years. 104,000 miles Put $400 in it and sold it a year to the day from when I bought it for $3600.(book on this car was $5500 but I couldn't get that for it, I tried) This car was beautiful and near perfect, sitting in a wrecking yard. I put rear bumper fillers from Replica plastics in it, they looked great and they make fillers for our year Cutlass'. I just bought some from them for my 76 442.
My point is if you are looking for parts and have a place to put a parts car you can get the cars the yards are getting by bidding just $25 more than they will. Around here the scrappers used to only pay $100 for a car at auction but with metal prices being what they are I've seen them pay $150. Of course around here these are pretty much no rust Texas cars. And with a little looking you can get a car that will run fine for the cost of a parts car.
Go take a look you may be surprised.

[ragz442]

Must be nice to live in CO or TX :( :p :D .

[sledhead2]

I'll say tex make sure your fit them replica pieces before you paint them.

[texxas8902]

I'll say tex make sure your fit them replica pieces before you paint them.
Oh yeah, I pre fit them on the Cadillac then had them painted. I'll do the same on the 442 and then paint them off the car along with my sport mirrors, front grills and front bumper fills. I'm going to have to paint the passenger door jam and the trunk lid interior too because I'm replacing those pieces on my car. I'm probably still a year out on my paint job, but I'm getting all the pieces together. I still need t top weatherstrip before paint and I'd like to get the rear wheel gravel guards. I know a lot of people just leave them off. So you just had your car painted, did you take any special steps, dis-assembly and such or did you have the painter do it all?

[sledhead2]

Texxas, Ragz and I took car apart, painter did the rest. if you look at photos on cardomin you can see how far apart. It was for the best because painter told me it would be all dusty when done and it was.

[zodiacblue442]

Lots of nice cars here in CO. Unfortunately, the winters are hard on vehicles thanks to the liquid magnesium chloride, rock salt and sand, and whatever else they throw down on the roads. Keep the cars washed in the winter and they'll last forever. The state govt. really isn't "old car friendly." Could be worse though, that's for sure. Walking through the junkyards, I thought to myself many times that guys on the East Coast would cry if they saw what's getting scrapped out here. Heck, it makes ME cry! :( Wish I had some warehouses or old airplane hangars, and about 40 acres... :rolleyes:


Must be nice to live in CO or TX.