Your most difficult junkyard pick?

A

atikovi

Joined
Apr 27, 2010
Messages
18,447
Location
Suburban Washington DC
I'm sure mine wasn't all that hard in the grand scheme of things, so think about some of yours and which was the worse.

In this case I need a muffler for the 03 Sequoia as well as at least one of the pipes to the cat which isn't available separately, to get it through a Virginia inspection. Aftermarket mufflers are around $250 and the cats even more so I was determined to find something on the cheap. Found another Sequoia at the junkyard that still had the wheels and tires on it just so I had a fighting chance. Most of them didn't and were sitting on the ground. This one did have 3 flat tires but luckily the one near the muffler was good.

If you're ever tried to pull under body parts from a car you know what a pain it can be. Thank goodness the two cats were already cut off and I only had to make one cut behind the muffler with a chain strap type cutter. Not fun with your face inches from the floor and your arm stretched out working that thing. The half a dozen rubber hangers were no picnic either but after an hour and a half I was able to get it out. Thing must weigh over 50 pounds. Paid $31.25 for everything but I have a feeling I'm going to pay for it even more next morning.

IMG_4504.JPG
 
You got lucky. Mine was pulling a gas tank from 1977 Olds Starfire that still had some residual gas in it. Needless to say I smelled like a pump jockey all the way home. I had all the windows down and it was winter time.
 
I'm a Junkyard-lite kind of guy. If I can't take it off with some wrenches or screw driverers I'm not taking it. I admire the guys I see on their backs on gravel or mud, risking life and limb working a sawzall or taking out a tranny or motor. One thing for sure, you learn how to be resourceful when you're on row 78 and don't have all the tools you need for a job.
 
I was looking for some trim for a car. The yard owner was drunk and walked me back to the car and right into a junkyard German Shepherd on a long chain. She bit me good just below the buttocks on my leg. I ran and fell down and as I was falling the dogs fangs caught my pants and split them open from the knee down. Fortunately the dog had come to the end of its chain. That thing wanted to kill me. From time to time I look down on the puncture scars on my leg from years ago. And guess what kind of dog I own today :LOL:
 
Either the trailer hitch for my Jeep, or the left rear backing plate which requires pulling the axle shaft.

Oh, also pulled an 8.25 rear axle out of a Cherokee. Should have kept that one.
 
Saturn s-series transmission.

Junkyard was a nice sandy affair, and it was a 95 degree day.

This was early in my wrenching days so I didn't have much for tooling. Yard had lots of mounted tires, so I jacked the car up on two stacks of two sideways tires under the firewall/ frame rails.

I brought a 2x4 to put across the fenders to support the engine, but didn't have any chain. So I used the cargo net from a station wagon. Turns out it held the aluminum engine just fine-- was made of nylon similar to 550 paracord.
 
Back in the late 90's I had an mid- 80's Honda my dad gave me that was in good shape but had a cracked subframe (rust). I was working full time during the day and going to school full time at night, had two toddlers and no money. I really needed this car and absolutely had to fix this.

Over the weekend, not far from home I found one in the junkyard that had a good subframe with almost no rust , engine and transmission were out, problem is the car was sitting on the ground, no tires. I had to crawl under and start digging out the dirt, enough to get a wrench in there to undo the bolts holding it to the car. I dug and dug and dug, using every screwdriver and tire iron I could find. Probably spent two hours digging, and finally dug down enough to get to the bolts. I was covered in dirt and mud and grease and everything else, when I got it out and went up front the guys at the desk were laughing like crazy at how dirty I was, it was embarrassing but you do what you have to do when you're young, in school, working, have kids and no money at all. Got the subframe out, got home, went to support the engine and transmission on my car and discovered…. the subframe I got was a the wrong one. Front bolts lined up fine, aft bolts werent even close. I seriously wanted to cry. I think I did, life was hard at the time...

Luckily a few days later they got another batch of cars in and I found the right one that came out easy. Drove the car another 2-3 years and probably 60k+ miles. But digging out that first subframe still causes nightmares 25 years later.
 
Mine wasn't so much "difficult" as it was tedious. I needed a hood for a Chevy Cobalt and of course it was in the aforementioned Row 78 in the most remote and distant corner of the junkyard. I got it off the car in just a few minutes but had to carry it all the way back to the office with one hand; the other hand carrying my toolbox. Why I didn't do it in two trips, I don't remember.... Anyway, by the time I got there to pay for it both arms were stretched to my ankles and were aching from carrying the heavy hood and heavy toolbox. Then I had to load it into the car.... Believe it or not, it fit OK inside the car, basically held up by all hour headrests. I drove home (over an hour) with my head squashed under the hood, peering through just a 3-inch gap under the hood and over the dash. Every time I hit a bump, I'd bang my head on the underside of the hood. I'm sure my head was covered in bruises under my hair!
 
I think it’s good for a guy to go down to pick and pull. If you’re too high class for that, how are you ever going to survive the apocalypse? I pulled a good muffler for my 2005 Taurus for when it goes. ( and it will ). Toughest job was getting some locking lug nuts off to get the mags on an Oldsmobile.
 
I've had a few doozies:
1. 8.8" disc brake rear-end out of a 5.0L Ford Explorer (my buddy and I had super fun getting this out)
2. Front springs off a fox body Mustang. Anybody familiar with how these go in know that if you don't have a spring compressor, this is a nightmare (it was a nightmare)
3. Motor mount mounting plates out of a V8 F-250 to convert my I6 into a V8. Had to unbolt the engine and jack it up, which is super fun on non-solid ground in a yard
 
My picks have all been pretty easy... I've often been blessed by previous pickers taking off parts needed to get to what I wanted...

Grabbed a head for my Ranger 2.3 and someone had already yanked the intake manifold. Needed a rack for my Fusion and someone had unhooked the tie rods and dropped the subframe. Needed a lock actuator on my Odyssey and someone had pulled the door card off so it was an easy pick. Pulled an A/C compressor for a Focus, front end bumper damage made it easy to access.
 
walterjay said:
I was looking for some trim for a car. The yard owner was drunk and walked me back to the car and right into a junkyard German Shepherd on a long chain. She bit me good just below the buttocks on my leg. I ran and fell down and as I was falling the dogs fangs caught my pants and split them open from the knee down. Fortunately the dog had come to the end of its chain. That thing wanted to kill me. From time to time I look down on the puncture scars on my leg from years ago. And guess what kind of dog I own today :LOL:
Click to expand...
If he was drinking Carlo Rossi I know what yard that was, I've been there..

Quoted me $100 for a license plate light over the phone... and I was prepared to pay it.. turned out being $35..... alcohol..
 
I actually AVOIDED a yard, based on Google reviews insisting they were scammers. Listing everything as low mileage, asking for payment in advance, and not coming through. Again, exactly like an experience with a mobile in Ohio. Asks for payment. Disappears. So I avoided the yard.

Ended up using EBay, that's a great resource that avoids going to the yard.....

Most difficult pick/locating it, had to travel.. was a transmission for a Buick Reatta.
 
atikovi said:
Click to expand...

I’ve been to those pick a parts in fburg and stafford many times. A friend and I went to pull a transfer case out of bronco for my f150 but it was very muddy where it was located. I got the guy in the rubber tire loader to pick the bronco up and move it to a dry location. We stacked many loose wheels and tires underneath it to get it high enough to work under. Man that was super sketchy looking back on it now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

A
  • Locked
Fabing an interchangeable muffler delete pipe for Volvo S60R
Replies
13
Views
635
Astro14
A
How much to custom make this muffler delete pipe?
2
Replies
37
Views
2K
Zee09
F
Stock Junkyard Radio - "Locked"
Replies
11
Views
672
Snagglefoot
N
Resonator Vs Muffler instead of Test Pipes?
Replies
18
Views
921
NICAT
OVERKILL
Interesting clamp failure
2
Replies
30
Views
2K
MSCH
Back
Top